Community-based Marine Protected Areas Research Articles

Biomass accrual benefits of community-based marine protected areas outweigh their operational costs

The costs and benefits of customary top-down Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have been studied at length. But the costs and benefits of community-based MPAs –an increasingly common tool in conservation and fisheries management– remain understudied. Here, we quantify the operational costs of maintaining community-based MPA monitoring programs in nine small-scale fishing communities in Mexico. We then compare these costs to the potential extractive use value of invertebrate and fish biomass contained in the reserves. We find that the annual monitoring costs (median: 1,130 MXN/ha; range: 23-3,561 MXN/ha) represent between 0.3% and 55% of the extractive use value of the biomass contained in the reserves (median: 21.31 thousand MXN/ha; 5.22 - 49/12 thousand MXN/ha). These results suggest that the direct monetary benefits of community-based marine conservation can outweigh the costs of monitoring programs, providing further support for these types of management schemes. While further research should explore other mechanisms that would allow fishers to leverage the non-extractive use value of reserves (e.g., tourism) or the non-use value (i.e. existence value of biodiversity) to sustainably finance their conservation efforts, a stop-gap measure to ensuring long-term monitoring costs are covered might include limited extractive use of resources contained in the reserves.

Creating a common ground for the implementation of a community-based Marine Protected Area – a case study in Algarve, Portugal

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a key tool for the worldwide strategy to halt the decline of biodiversity, yet they can also escalate conflicts between different human activities, conservation and other societal interests. Enabling conditions to secure MPAs effectiveness and the ability to deliver the desired socio-ecological outcomes often include the application of participatory approaches. One example of these approaches are collective visioning exercises where stakeholders can work together, projecting into the future their expectations and goals for MPAs. Our study presents a visioning exercise, using an adaptation of the Territory Game technique, as a starting point of a long and comprehensive participatory process to implement a community-based MPA in the southern part of Portugal. This particular MPA aims at protecting one of the largest rocky reefs of the Portuguese coast, an important biodiversity and human activities' hotspot, stressing the need to accommodate different interests into its design and planning. To the best of our knowledge, and in the context of an MPA, this is one of the few studies in the literature where the process of creating a stakeholders’ shared vision is described. Stakeholder mapping and raising interest activities were used to motivate their participation. A total of 7 visions were co-created by 50 stakeholders of 30 different institutions. From this set we were able to congregate a shared vision that became the flag of the subsequent participatory process. The visioning exercise made explicit that the MPA is a long-term investment, that includes immediate costs and benefits, some that will only arrive later. Considering the immediate costs, the desire to identify compensatory measures was also made explicit. Our results show that using visioning exercises in the early stages of an MPA design broadens the discussions and paves the way for less consensual tasks such as MPA zoning and regulation.

Sustainable financing of a national Marine Protected Area network in Fiji

Marine Protected Areas (MPA) are mostly studied from an environmental context. A review of available information identified a lack of knowledge in sustainable mechanisms to finance MPA networks. At the United Nations Ocean Conference in 2017, Fiji reaffirmed its voluntary commitment to make 30% of its inshore and offshore marine area MPAs by 2020 under Sustainable Development Goal 14. The work presented here uses empirical data to explore potential benefits from selected community-based MPAs to recipient local stakeholders. A Willingness to Pay (WTP) and Willingness to Contribute Time (WtCT) method was used to explore the extent to which bottom-up governance systems represent a potential financing mechanism of a MPA network. Results of 115 interviews concluded that proximity to a fishing market, dependence on marine resources, food security, income and international commitments were significant variables influencing stakeholder's WTP and WtCT to manage a MPA. We argue that there is a discrepancy between WtCT and WTP driven by income constraints. Thus, by using WTP and WtCT to support financing of a MPA network, a Provincial Trust Fund (PTF) could promote an equitable and benefits-based contribution. Equally important, a PTF has a polycentric and decentralized governance model, which endorses sustainable management of traditional fishing communities. The conclusions provide insight into a bottom-up approach for long-term financial sustainability of Fiji's national MPA commitments.

Will small MPAs work?: The case of small-sized MPAs in Southern Iloilo, Philippines

Most of the marine protected areas (MPAs) in the Philippines are small-sized and community-based, and their contribution to the conservation efforts have been usually overlooked.This paper will present the results of the biological assessment study conducted in three community-based MPAs in Southern Iloilo, Philippines. Each MPA has a 2-ha no-take zone and this size is way below the recommended optimal size of 10–100 km2. Results show that fish biomass showed an overall increase of about 1–5 times. This is attributed to both an increase in abundance and in fish size. Fish in this survey conducted in 2013 were about 2.3–3.3 times the size of fish in the 2007 baseline data. Macroepifaunal abundance increased 2 to 8 times across the three MPA sites. However, live hard coral cover showed a parallel ∼40% decrease across all sites, which can be attributed to several factors.The conservation goals of these MPAs have been attained. However, the results of biological assessments still need to be correlated with a study on the socioeconomic impact of the MPAs in the community to be able to arrive at good management decisions.

Perceptions of ecosystem services and benefits to human well-being from community-based marine protected areas in Kenya

Marine protected areas (MPAs) have historically been implemented and managed in a top-down way, excluding resource-dependent users from planning and management. In response to conflict and non-compliance, the governance of marine resources is increasingly embracing community-based approaches, assuming that by putting communities at the forefront of planning and management, participation will increase, causing positive social and ecological impacts. Given the relative newness of community-based MPAs, this study explores how resource users perceive their impacts on ecosystem services (ES) and human well-being (HWB). This study explores two community-based MPAs called tengefus in Kenya using mixed qualitative methods, including a participatory photography method called photovoice. Participation in and donor support for tengefus influences how resource users perceived tengefus and their impacts on ES and HWB. Individuals who were engaged in the tengefu from the inception or held official positions perceived more positive impacts on ES and HWB compared to those not as involved. Tengefus were often viewed by communities as attractors for external support and funding, positively influencing attitudes and feelings towards conservation. One site, the first tengefu in Kenya, had more external support and was surrounded by positive perceptions, while the other site had little external support and was surrounded by more conflict and mixed perceptions. This study exemplifies the complex social-political dynamics that MPAs create and are embedded within. Community-based MPA initiatives could benefit from ensuring widespread engagement throughout the inception, implementation and management, recognizing and managing expectations around donor support, and not assuming that benefits spillover throughout the community.

A comparative analysis of three marine governance systems for implementing the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

Successful implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) requires critical reflection on governance structures especially in the biodiverse tropics where institutional capacity is weak and fragmented. This paper explores three modes of marine governance in Thailand and discusses the challenges each faces when delivering conservation and sustainable development objectives. Focusing on Marine Protected Areas (MPA), the dominant management approaches to biodiversity conservation, centralised, decentralised and shared governance, are scrutinised through a review of the literature and 24 key informant interviews with leading Thai academics, national and regional government officers and NGOs. We find both the centralised, state-managed MPA system and the decentralised, community-based MPA system to have severe limitations, for different reasons, in protecting biodiversity, whereas shared governance, despite being less common, is the best intermediate mode. Shared governance is the most viable option available in Thailand for working towards key CBD targets because: (1) local participation can legitimise much of the relationship with the centralised system and can help embed a decentralised system in natural resources management; (2) the centralised system will still remain in ultimate control, which, whilst not favoured by those who want decentralisation, will satisfy powerful elites, and offer more opportunity to empower local people to take responsibility for conservation targets; and (3) the capacity of both local and national stakeholders can be built to deal with the complexity of the marine environment.

Learning from disaster: community-based marine protected areas in Fiji

AbstractThis paper examines whether and how experiencing climate-related disasters can improve the rural poor's adaptation to climate change through community-based resource management. Original household survey data in Fiji capture the establishment of community-based marine protected areas following a tropical cyclone. Controlling for the endogeneity of household-level cyclone damage reveals that a household's exposure to the disaster increases its support for establishing marine protected areas, presumably for future safety nets. Evidence suggests that community members' social learning from disaster experience might facilitate their consensual decision making.

Individual and village-level effects on community support for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Philippines

A crucial factor in the success of protected areas and conservation efforts in general is the support amongst the adjacent community. It is thought to be especially crucial for the success of small MPAs. Whilst the importance of community support has been highlighted in a number of studies, it has not yet been clearly defined or explicitly studied. Questionnaires were carried out (N=166) at three different villages within the Visayas region of the Philippines to determine individuals׳ support towards adjacent MPAs and individual characteristics that have previously been hypothesised to influence support. Multiple regressions analysis determined: (1) Which individual-level factors predict attitude towards MPAs, (2) whether attitudes of individuals are related to actions that benefit the adjacent MPA and (3) whether individual or community-level factors are better predictors of individual support for local community-based MPAs. Knowledge of MPA objectives, perceived participation in decision making, trust towards other fishers and differences between villages all significantly predicted attitudes towards MPAs. Weak relationships were found between attitudes and certain MPA related actions due to contextual factors. Village was not the only significant predictor of both attitudes and MPA related actions; individual characteristics irrespective of differences between villages, were also important in predicting support for the MPA. This study highlights the importance in distinguishing between attitudes and actions of individuals and suggests specific individual characteristics can be vital in influencing support towards MPAs.

Marine conservation in remote small island settings: Factors influencing marine protected area establishment in the Azores

Abstract This paper examines the establishment of marine protected areas (MPAs) in remote small island settings with specific reference to the Portuguese island of Corvo in the Azores. This case study represents different approaches to marine conservation, ranging from an informal community-based no-take MPA to a government-driven multi-purpose natural park, involving diverse local and external actors interacting over an extended period of time. In-depth interviews were used to explore the perceptions of local and expert stakeholders about positive and negative aspects of MPA establishment. This demonstrated how differing approaches have led to varying degrees of MPA effectiveness. From the community-based MPA, several key ingredients for effective MPA establishment were identified, including engaging and empowering local communities, clear definition of goals, visible MPA outputs and community enforcement based on high levels of support and peer group pressure. However, in a context of complex marine resource use, the limitations of community-based initiatives prevent them from achieving broad ecosystem conservation goals. These might be better achieved through government-driven MPAs, provided that they are integrated in a wider regional marine strategy and that there is political will to effectively implement conservation measures and to allocate resources for management, enforcement and monitoring.

Effects of small, Fijian community-based marine protected areas on exploited reef fishes

No-take marine protected areas (MPAs) are commonly applied in community-based management schemes to sustain and enhance coral-reef fisheries. However, many MPAs in Fiji and the South Pacific are relatively small (641 km2), and few data exist regarding the effects of these MPAs on populations of exploited species. We used hook-and-line fishing surveys to assess whether 4 relatively small (<1 km2) community-based MPAs in Fiji (3 current, 1 former) were providing any commonly sought benefits to exploited reef-fish stocks. All of the MPAs had maintained no-take status for over 4 yr, although the former MPA was opened to fishing 4 mo before this study. The current MPAs exhibited significantly greater catch and biomass per unit effort, individual fish biomass, and/or percentage of reproductive-size fish than paired, adjacent fished areas, while this was not the case with the former MPA. Sites with intact MPAs also exhibited greater catch diversity than the former MPA site. Additionally, tag and recapture data from the 17 recaptured of 2650 tagged fish suggest site fidelity of these fishes, although fishes initially captured in the MPA at all 4 sites were later caught in fished areas, indicating that there is movement of fishes from the MPAs to fished areas. While the combination of these findings supports the utility of even relatively small MPAs as effective tools for the conservation of certain target species, it also suggests that MPA benefits may be quickly depleted and that even closures of extended duration may be insufficient for long-term fisheries management if the MPAs are not maintained.

Institutional Interplay in Networks of Marine Protected Areas with Community-Based Management

Institutional interplay, or the ability of one institution to affect another, is a key feature of multi-level environmental governance that can influence the performance of institutions, such as marine protected areas (MPAs). In the Western Indian Ocean (WIO), MPA networks are being created to meet top-down, internationally defined MPA targets, while simultaneously there is a strong regional focus on bottom-up, community-based marine management. These apparently contradictory trends can be bridged through networks of community-based MPAs. To explore whether institutional interplay affects the success of such MPA networks, and to provide guidance for MPA-making in the WIO, the literature on ten geographically diverse MPA networks with community-based MPAs was reviewed. Because this is a first exploration into the topic, not all causal links between institutional interplay and MPA effectiveness could be confirmed, neither was any indication of interplay-related costs found. However, the analysis suggests that institutional interplay is generally concerned with information exchanges and issues of control and authority and seemed to have positive effects on MPA success. As MPA networks expand in the WIO, MPA practitioners and managers in the region may consider different forms of institutional interplay to be tailored to their specific management and financial contexts.

Community-based conservation results in the recovery of reef fish spawning aggregations in the Coral Triangle

In the Coral Triangle community-based marine protected areas (MPAs) are being established at a prolific rate. Their establishment can benefit both fisheries and biodiversity, and they provide both a socially and economically acceptable means of managing coral reefs in developing nations. However, because such MPAs are typically small (usually <0.5 km 2), they will rarely provide protection to large mobile fishes. An exception to this limitation may exist when community-based MPAs are established to protect small sites where vital processes occur, such as fish spawning aggregations (FSAs). To test the effectiveness of small (0.1–0.2 km 2) MPAs for protecting FSAs, we monitored three FSA sites where brown-marbled grouper ( Epinephelus fuscoguttatus), camouflage grouper ( Epinephelus polyphekadion) and squaretail coralgrouper ( Plectropomus areolatus) aggregate to spawn. Sites were monitored during peak reproductive periods (several days prior to each new moon) between January 2005 and November 2009. All three sites are located in New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea, and had been exploited for decades, but in 2004 two sites were protected by the establishment of community-based MPAs. The third site continued to be exploited. Over the monitoring period densities of E. fuscoguttatus and E. polyphekadion increased at both MPAs, but not at the site that remained open to fishing. At one MPA the densities of E. polyphekadion increased tenfold. Our findings demonstrate that community-based MPAs that are appropriately designed and adequately enforced can lead to the recovery of populations of vulnerable species that aggregate to spawn.

Marine Protected Areas, Multiple-Agency Management, and Monumental Surprise in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

Large, regional-scale marine protected areas (MPAs) and MPA networks face different challenges in governance systems than locally managed or community-based MPAs. An emerging theme in large-scale MPA management is the prevalence of governance structures that rely on institutional collaboration, presenting new challenges as agencies with differing mandates and cultures work together to implement ecosystem-based management. We analyzed qualitative interview data to investigate multi-level social interactions and institutional responses to the surprise establishment of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (monument) in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI). The governance arrangement for the monument represents a new model in US MPA management, requiring two federal agencies and the State of Hawai‘i to collaboratively manage the NWHI. We elucidate the principal barriers to institutional cotrusteeship, characterize institutional transformations that have occurred among the partner agencies in the transition to collaborative management, and evaluate the governance arrangement for the monument as a model for MPAs. The lessons learned from the NWHI governance arrangement are critical as large-scale MPAs requiring multiple-agency management become a prevalent feature on the global seascape.

Factors Influencing Success of Marine Protected Areas in the Visayas, Philippines as Related to Increasing Protected Area Coverage

Throughout the world there is a general consensus among environmentalists that there should be an increase in the amount of marine area that should be reserved in marine protected areas (MPAs). In fact, the 1998 Philippines Fishery Code indicates a need for designation of at least 15% of municipal waters for fish refuges or sanctuaries. Such an increase in area would take productive fishing areas away from fishing communities that can ill-afford the loss. The larger the protected area, there will be a greater number of people impacted. This article examines the relationship between factors that influence the success of Community Based MPA (CBMPA) performance in the Visayas, Philippines and their significance in efforts to increase the size of protected areas.

Effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas in the Philippines for Biodiversity Conservation

Quantifying the extent to which existing reserves meet conservation objectives and identifying gaps in coverage are vital to developing systematic protected-area networks. Despite widespread recognition of the Philippines as a global priority for marine conservation, limited work has been undertaken to evaluate the conservation effectiveness of existing marine protected areas (MPAs). Targets for MPA coverage in the Philippines have been specified in the 1998 Fisheries Code legislation, which calls for 15% of coastal municipal waters (within 15 km of the coastline) to be protected within no-take MPAs, and the Philippine Marine Sanctuary Strategy (2004), which aims to protect 10% of coral reef area in no-take MPAs by 2020. We used a newly compiled database of nearly 1000 MPAs to measure progress toward these targets. We evaluated conservation effectiveness of MPAs in two ways. First, we determined the degree to which marine bioregions and conservation priority areas are represented within existing MPAs. Second, we assessed the size and spacing patterns of reserves in terms of best-practice recommendations. We found that the current extent and distribution of MPAs does not adequately represent biodiversity. At present just 0.5% of municipal waters and 2.7-3.4% of coral reef area in the Philippines are protected in no-take MPAs. Moreover, 85% of no-take area is in just two sites; 90% of MPAs are <1 km(2). Nevertheless, distances between existing MPAs should ensure larval connectivity between them, providing opportunities to develop regional-scale MPA networks. Despite the considerable success of community-based approaches to MPA implementation in the Philippines, this strategy will not be sufficient to meet conservation targets, even under a best-case scenario for future MPA establishment. We recommend that implementation of community-based MPAs be supplemented by designation of additional large no-take areas specifically located to address conservation targets.

A Property Rights Approach to Understanding Human Displacement from Protected Areas: the Case of Marine Protected Areas

The physical, economic, and sociocultural displacement of local peoples from protected areas generates intense discussion among scholars and policy makers. To foster greater precision and clarity in these discussions, we used a conceptual framework from the political economy literature to examine different forms of human displacement from protected areas. Using marine protected areas (MPAs) to ground our analysis, we characterized the 5 types of property rights that are reallocated (lost, secured, and gained) through the establishment of protected areas. All forms of MPA "displacement" involve reallocation of property rights, but the specific types and bundles of rights lost, secured, and gained dramatically shape the magnitude, extent, and equity of MPA impacts--positive and negative--on governance, economic well-being, health, education, social capital, and culture. The impacts of reallocating rights to MPA resources vary within and among social groups, inducing changes in society, in patterns of resource use, and in the environment. To create more environmentally sustainable and socially just conservation practice, a critical next step in conservation social science research is to document and explain variation in the social impacts of protected areas.

Integrated coastal management and marine protected areas in the Philippines: Concurrent developments

Integrated coastal management (ICM) in the Philippines has evolved as a result of initiatives that established community-based marine protected areas (MPAs) since the 1970s. Since then, the development of both ICM and MPAs have benefited from a number of factors that include devolution of management authority to local government, continued active engagement of local non-government organizations, strong support from the national government and from marine science academic and research institutions, and the influx of donor-assisted marine conservation programs in the past two decades. ICM and MPA programs in the Philippines implement a variety of components that include community organizing, participatory planning, alternative livelihood development, public education, research, regulating resource uses, and policy development that address various marine conservation issues. The unabated degradation of the marine environment and its resources continue to motivate efforts to improve the existing paradigm of community-based resource management and MPA establishment, which are carried out in various adaptations depending on the issues addressed and the socio-political context in which the initiatives are taking place. A number of recommendations are put forth in addressing the problems and obstacles faced by ICM and MPA initiatives and in improving their effectiveness for consideration by local practitioners and decision-makers.

Integrated coastal management and marine protected areas: Complementarity in the Philippines

Small marine protected areas (MPAs) were established in the Philippines as early as 1974. These models set forth a framework for coral reef management that has been shown to enhance fish yields to traditional fishers as well as protect and maintain near-shore coral reef habitats for biodiversity and multiple economic uses. The history of MPAs is described in relation to the evolution of integrated coastal management (ICM) in the Philippines. Devolution of authority for management of natural resources to local governments in 1991 was a major national policy shift that has supported more localized management efforts. This policy shift has encouraged more MPAs but not a higher rate of success. As the numbers of MPAs increased, the need for a support base beyond the MPA has become apparent. A convergence of MPAs within ICM programs was seen by 2000. Numerous experiments in coastal management have thus been conducted that range from broad area management planning for whole bays to small community-based MPA projects. Important lessons with implications for broader-based support systems required by MPAs within ICM, include: The importance of a well-articulated process that includes community participation and ownership in collaboration with single or multi-municipal governments; the role of multiple stakeholders, government and donor agencies in planning and management; the creative use of financial mechanisms to create long-term self-supporting MPAs; the need for localized periodic monitoring and evaluation to provide feedback to managers, and the need for nesting of MPAs within ICM through broad area planning and implementation.

Scientific Evaluation in Women’s Participatory Management: Monitoring Marine Invertebrate Refugia in the Solomon Islands

This paper summarizes the results of a women’s community-based marine protected area that has been successful in sustaining invertebrate biological resources and in promoting strong community support. We outline the project and the associated biological results, describe the processes involved in attaining a committed level of community participation, and review the lessons learned during the project’s implementation. We attribute the project’s preliminary success—improved shellfish biomass, enhanced local environmental awareness, and the reinvigoration of cultural management practices—to the following factors: 1) the high level of participatory involvement and community leadership; 2) the local perception that shell beds have recovered rapidly and the role that scientific evaluation has played in reinforcing this notion; 3) a research program that is cross-fertilizing indigenous and scientific ecological knowledge; 4) the unique marine tenure system that allows for the project’s development and the area’s policing; and 5) the tangible economic incentives created by the development project, which ultimately empowers local women. We hope that the project’s findings can be generalized to other regions of the world with operational sea-tenure regimes and that it can help to make the establishing of community-based marine protected areas (CBMPAs) across the Pacific region more effective.

Starting point or solution? Community-based marine protected areas in the Philippines

In 1985, in response to declining coral reef conditions, local residents and officials established small, no-take marine sanctuaries on Balicasag and Pamilacan Islands through a community-based process. The implementation of marine protected areas (MPAs) on Balicasag and Pamilacan Islands has been a partial success. As a direct result of protection, living hard coral cover has increased by 119% in Balicasag's sanctuary and by 67% in the non-sanctuary during the period 1984 to 1999, but Balicasag's reef is increasingly affected by breakage from anchors from dive boats and Crown-of-thorns starfish infestations. During the same period, living hard coral cover decreased by 20% in Pamilacan's sanctuary and by 45% in the non-sanctuary from 1984 to 1999. The decrease in living hard coral cover in Pamilacan's sanctuary is most likely a result of the 1998 bleaching event, Crown-of-thorn starfish and possible storm damage. Although there was an initial increase in the economically important target fish abundance in the Balicasag sanctuary and non-sanctuary and in the Pamilacan sanctuary during the first two years of implementation in the mid-1980s, there has since been a significant decline. Mean target fish abundance for the Balicasag non-sanctuary at 230 (±65) individuals per 500 m 2 is not significantly different from control sites without MPAs on nearby Panglao and Cabilao Islands at 164 (±67) individuals per 500 m 2. In general, fish abundance and diversity inside and outside the sanctuaries peaked in 1986, a year after the establishment of the sanctuaries when enforcement was strictest. Therefore, despite considerable success in enforcing regulations associated with these small MPAs at Balicasag and Pamilacan Islands, a trend of declining fish abundance and species richness among economically valuable species immediately outside the no-take areas highlights the limitations of small and isolated MPAs. This study contributes to the growing sentiment that it is not realistic for scattered, small no-take areas to maintain fish abundance and diversity on surrounding reefs when intensive fishing effort immediately adjacent to no-take areas removes most fish that exit these areas. This finding emphasizes the importance of nesting individual MPAs within broader management regimes that lead to overall fishing effort reduction and networking of MPAs. Among other recommendations, the authors advocate for continued support for community-based MPAs, a network of MPAs, reduced fishing effort in areas surrounding the MPAs and other management measures to improve the quality of the coral reef habitats.