Abstract
We evaluate the impact of a fisheries management program centered on the definition of Fish Conservation Zones on biodiversity, measured as the number of species caught in the last 12 months. Data comes from a set of 32 villages in central Lao PDR, of which half participated in the program, and the remaining are a set of matched control villages. The estimated causal effects are large (an increase between 29 and 32 species) and robust to the potential importance of unmeasured confounders. We also show that initial conditions may matter, as the program seems particularly effective in villages with high probability of participating in the program. These results are particularly important given the paucity of evidence regarding the impact of conservation programs on biodiversity, particularly in the context of freshwater ecosystems. Further directions of research suggested by these results are discussed.
Highlights
There is a widely accepted recognition that freshwater ecosystems are extraordinarily rich in terms of biodiversity: representing approximately 2.3% of the global land surface, fresh waters host approximately 9.5% of the described animal species [1]
There is a long history of local knowledge about the definition of no-take areas as a mechanism to manage local fisheries in Lao PDR [11]. Those areas rely on the exclusion of fishing in deep pools—parts of the stream where water level is high enough during the dry season so as to provide a suitable habitat year round, and where the slower flow creates a suitable place for spawning [19,20,21]. This knowledge has been incorporated in different fisheries conservation programs in Lao PDR, including the third phase of the Community Fisheries program (ComFishIII), implemented by WWF Laos, during the period 2012-2015, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) and with local participation of village authorities
This article presents evidence that, at least in a context such as the Mekong in Lao PDR, it is possible for freshwater conservation initiatives to achieve improvements in biodiversity
Summary
There is a widely accepted recognition that freshwater ecosystems are extraordinarily rich in terms of biodiversity: representing approximately 2.3% of the global land surface, fresh waters host approximately 9.5% of the described animal species [1]. As a result the rate of decline in biodiversity in freshwater systems has outpaced that of terrestrial ecosystems [3, 4]. The whole catchment becomes the natural boundary, but conservation encompassing this scale is rare [5]
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