Abstract
Harnessing the traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of local communities has the potential to enhance conservation planning in developing regions. Marine protected areas (MPAs) that incorporate traditional beliefs about reef tenure are generally more successful in reaching conservation goals and ensuring the participation of local fishermen on vulnerable tropical reef systems. Fiji possesses a unique system of traditional reef management in which local clans or villages, called mataqali, control individual units of a reef, known as qoliqoli, and make independent management decisions based on traditional beliefs and conservation concerns. This is an example of a system, known as customary marine tenure, which has attracted interest from conservation scientists hoping to set up MPAs in vulnerable regions. As one example of this grassroots participation, Nagigi village on the Fijian island of Vanua Levu has expressed interest in setting up an MPA in part of its qoliqoli because of concerns about overfishing. In response to this interest, we took a two-pronged approach to assessing Nagigi's fishery status and conservation needs, first conducting a fishery-independent species survey using destructive sampling and then focusing on fisheries targets identified through fisher interviews. These interviews allowed us to identify heavily targeted species, assess villagers' understanding of reef dynamics over 30 or 40 years of fisheries expansion, and evaluate village support and expectations for a proposed conservation program. Based on our findings we recommend a temporary closure to be in effect for at least three years, allowing one of the more important fishery targets, Lethrinus harak (Forsskål, 1775; Lethrinidae), to complete at least one generation within the reserve. The methodology of matching the proposed marine protected area with the life histories and ecologies of heavily targeted species identified through fisherman and -woman interviews can offer a template for future conservation projects that seek to synthesize indigenous peoples' needs and knowledge with ecological data.
Highlights
The last thirty years have seen a surge in interest from ecologists and conservation scientists in trying to couple formal management strategies with local indigenous communities’ strategies for exploiting and managing their natural resources
Decisions concerning when or where resource exploitation is prohibited and what resources are to be utilized at any given time are traditionally made by local leaders recognized by their community for their high status and/or harvesting prowess [2,3]. These traditional management techniques vary across indigenous communities and between habitat types
In Fiji, reef tenure takes the form of coastal tenure areas called qoliqoli that are legally controlled by individual patrilineal clans known as mataqali [8,10]
Summary
The last thirty years have seen a surge in interest from ecologists and conservation scientists in trying to couple formal management strategies with local indigenous communities’ strategies for exploiting and managing their natural resources. The most widespread form of community-based marine management in the region is the reef and lagoon tenure system, known as customary marine tenure [5,6,7,8] To manage their crucial marine resources, many cultures developed tenure systems in which a chief, clan, or family controlled a particular area of coast and regulated its exploitation for successive generations. It was in the best interests of a particular tenureholder to harvest from the reef in moderation, ensuring consistently high yields and avoiding social censure for overharvesting. As development brought greater mobility, clans dispersed, and this control moved to individual villages, which could make the communal decision to temporarily ban fishing on portions of a qoliqoli in response to overfishing and other causes, helping to maintain a healthy coastal ecosystem over many generations
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