Environmental Guide: Wildlife Friendly Roads

This guide is the tool used to collect wildlife data on roads to identify the impact and recommed measures for Costa Rica. It can be inpmenented on new road projects and for existing roads. Since 2015, this guide is used by Costa Rican Government to implement masures on new road projects. We started implementing it on exisitng roads since 2020. 

1. Government participation;

2. Funding for the data collection;

3. Legislation requesting measures to reduce development impact on wildlife;

4. Inclusion on the Environmental Impact Assesment;

5. Funding for the implementation of measures to prevent or reduce road impact;

In many countries of Mesoamerican region, guidance is needed to reduce road impact. So this document can be adapted to local characteristics and to legislation of the country to start the implementaiton of measures on roads for wildlife;

Coral Restoration

Only govermentally approved people are allowed to conduct these activities, however we do involved non-approved divers and non divers to assist in Coral restoration to help with maintenance work that does not involve collection or transplantation of any coral fragments (like cleaning coral tags etc)

Coral fragments are collected around the reef edge. These "corals of opportunity" are broken fragments that will enventually die if we do not collect them. Once collected, they are transplanted to artificial structures to help increase the coral diversity and population.

Some corals are adopted as part of our Adopt A Coral Program.The adopted coral is transplanted and named, then monitored, photographed and measured every 3 months. The data is published online and is freely available for research into coral growth. This program also helps provide data into coral growth and health states.

 

  • Goverment approval
  • Social media
  • Environmentally minded individuals
  • Logistics (scuba diving, dive boats)
     

The actual process of transplantation is quite simple. The other factors that we did not take in to account initially is the time that is required to keep the areas clean of fouling organisms, collect measurement data and photography records of corals. All the post care maintenance is vitally important to secure a high survival rate of coral transplants.
 

Governmental Approval

Some of our programs involve coral transplantation. In Thailand it is illegal to touch or damage coral, so we had to seek approval for some of our programs.

To receive approval from the government involves first submitted a proposal for a coral reef restoration zone. Including with this proposal are the techniques for transplantation, the people involved and their experience and qualifications, and a long term plan for monitoring and maintenance.

The DMCR has fully approved our restoration related activities and we conduct transplant research and provide them with that data.

  • Coral restoration experience
  • Long term plan
  • Proposal to government
  • Assessment and approval

This is a long process to get approved. Being able to show that our programs are successful and being assessed and approved took over 2 years of communication, submissions, and assessments.

To be able to obtain permission requires a group of committed volunteers that have relevant experience and are willing to participate in the program for a long term period of time.

Asset Balance Sheets

Asset balance sheets log the stocks of assets and their values in the national accounts. Whereas flows of economic production--goods and services--have been used as primary indicators of the "health" of an economy, these measures do not take into account depreciation or degradation of the asset base form which these flows stem. Changes in the asset balance sheet would reflect, for example, the reduction in value of depleted fisheries stocks. 

An asset balance sheet is useful for natural capital accounting and assessing the blue economy requires periodic assessments of asset stocks that are systematically collected and comparable. This would mean regular assessments of fishery stocks, undersea ocean and mineral deposits, and port infrastructure to name a few. Monetary accounts require prices for non-market natural capital assets. 

  1. While monetary accounts are the ideal, physical accounts (e.g. kg spawning stock biomass) can be useful where market prices do not exist. 
  2. Tracking changes in the asset balance sheet are more important than a comprehensive asset balance sheet compiled as a one-off exercise. These data must be collected with regularity to be useful for tracking the sustainability of the blue economy.
Accreditation process

There is a five-tiered process to becoming a WHS.

1. An initial online application that ensures there are no fundamental prohibitive issues. 

2. A candidacy review of the initial application is carried out by impartial representatives.

3. Technical advice to discuss and advise on areas for improvement and on how to submit an application with the greatest chance of success.

4. Final application including supporting evidence, a justification for the geographical delineation of the site and a detailed explanation of how the site achieves each of the criteria. 

5. If successful, Whale Heritage Site (WHS) designation. It must then prepare and submit annual reports explaining how criteria are met.

 

By going through the accreditation process, The Bluff had to show that they could ensure responsible, sustainable practices and livelihoods would be continually improved thus ensuring the health and welfare of whales, dolphins and porpoises and their ocean habitats. 

They were assessed against conditions including supportive legislation, culture, as well as environmental, social and economic sustainability.

They had to provide supporting evidence including statistics relevant to livelihoods, cultural activities, tourists visiting the area, whale-watch tour operators, protected areas, etc.

The Bluff was also obliged to show that community-based research, education, and awareness activities were being conducted. 

Having a clear goal with a clear path towards it, is essential. For a program such as the Whale Heritage site accreditation, there are high standards that must be achieved but there must be a supportive process to help a community navigate their way through it and ultimately achieve that status.  

Local stakeholder steering group and community empowerment

The building block is built on the principle that a community based initiative to protect cetaceans and their habitats is best done when owned by the local communities itself. It incentivizes, empowers and engages a community and its businesses so that they benefit directly from a healthy and thriving ocean. 

 

To coordinate and facilitate the development of a WHS initiative, a steering committee is formed by local stakeholders. These are enthusiastic, creative and passionate individuals who steer the process and help launch, maintain, and sustain the application process.

 

An effective WHS steering committee should be fully diverse and inclusive and representative of the community and include staff, volunteers, and community members. Its purpose is to serve as a mobilizing force, not a bureaucracy. Making the process meaningful and purposeful for everyone involved. Within the process there is guidance on establishing sub-committees or workgroups to focus on specific goals and activities. 

 

As well as leading and manageing the process of application, the steering committee must show continual improvement across the community with its various initiatives, through annual reporting as a measure of WHS's excellence.

It took 2 years and the collaborative efforts of a local steering committee, made up of dedicated and passionate local stakeholder partners (individuals and local organisations), for The Bluff to achieve Whale Heritage Site status. Committee members now work together for positive change. Meeting on a regular basis and continually striving toward the ultimate goal of putting The Bluff front and centre for the conservation and preservation of cetaceans and all the benefits that this provides for the community. 

Enabling and empowering a community to work together requires a clear direction, benefits, and a core team of dedicated stakeholders to drive the project forward locally. It must be community owned at every stage of the process and be fully representative of the community, its needs, its vision and its priorities. 

Breed and Ecosystem conservation

The Van Gujjar Tribal Yuva Sanghatan has initiated several initiatives for the youth amongst them to turn towards education, both from schools as well as self—study groups which also initiate them towards traditional knowledge protection, bird watching, nature guiding, outdoor education through trails and games, handicrafts and cultural orientation of the community, to preserve their forest identities. The tribal identity is further promulgated in their sincere efforts to file for individual and community claims through the Forest Rights Act, 2006 as well as initiate community restoration drives, practices of herd mobility by empowering pastoral opportunities, prepare forest fire prevention squads and protect forests from poachers and cattle smugglers. They have currently undertaken a project to document the traditional knowledge and ecosystem benefits of 20 species of flora, which have food, medicinal, household or cultural uses for the community. 

The Van Gujjar Tribal Yuva Sanghatan has ensured members of the community do not engage in intermixing of breeds and promote the security and preservation of the indigenous Gojri breed within this landscape. The community is keen to safeguard  its traditional knowledge, customary practices and cultural values. The Van Gujjars are also cultivating new ways to undertake conservation drives through initiatives like Saila Parv that ensure trees beneficial to the livestock are planted.

It is hopeful that this activity of the Sanghatan will be incentivized by the Forest Department to ensure better management of the common pastures. The Sanghatan is willing to cooperate with all government and non-government institutions that are keen to propagate sustainable protection of the grassland through participative means to further its efforts in breed conservation and pasture management. It is also hopeful that the Sanghatan will soon form a cooperative of its own to ensure the breed finds viable means to develop and cherish with a complete agency of the Van Gujjars. Pastoralism as a livelihood needs a fillip through identifying such conservation strategies amidst humans, their livestock and other coexisting wild animals within the grassland. Several activities of the Sanghatan have ensured that coupled with the breed, several other species of fauna find utilization of the common property resource within which the Van Gujjars reside.

Restoration of Chilghoza forest ecosystem in Suleman range, Balochistan province, Pakistan

Rehabilitation of the irrigation system to mobilise alternative sources of income

 

The district's damaged irrigation canal had led to a loss of income from agricultural activities. The community could not afford maintenance. With the support of the programme, the irrigation system was put back into operation and the residents were able to successfully resume the cultivation of maize, barley and vegetables the following year. The financing of the 1.5km long canal provided a sustainable alternative source of income.

Technical and financial support to meet genuine needs.  

Support to meet genuine needs helps mobilize local communities.  

Restoration of Chilghoza forest ecosystem in Suleman range, Balochistan province, Pakistan

Participative dispute management

 

Out of several other potential solutions, the one that really worked was embedded deep in the community norms and culture. In order to solve longstanding communal conflicts that hindered the restoration of land and protection of the Chilgoza forest ecosystem, the programme seek consultation and advice from representatives and heads of the involved communities. Starting with a smaller group of forest owner families in conflict over an abandoned piece of communal agricultural land, the programme was able to set an successful example for a dispute settlement approach in the region that enabled further landscape restoration activities.

Trust of local community, participation of community leaders and government support.

The programmes facilitation to use local knowledge for identification of a solution supporting their culture and norms was crucial.  

Applied Research

Our ground-breaking applied research is focused on shark presence and behavioural ecology in Cape Town to inform public safety policy, conservation and management strategies and education and awareness. We drive an adaptive management approach to human-shark conflict which is responsive to conflict and proactive in using research and best practices. Shark Spotters also collates shark bite information and respond to all local incidents to collect factual and objective information.

We have published our results in multiple peer-reviewed journals (see attached) and presented at numerous scientific conferences.

Following the covid-19 pandemic, it has become even more imperative that we understand the negative impacts we are having on our environment to mitigate these timeously before they escalate into large, global issues. Our research focus is therefore shifting to not only understand the behaviour and distribution of sharks in our bay, but also to look at the role they play in maintaining ecosystem structure and resilience, and how human impacts, as well as environmental changes, influence this. We can then target our conservation strategies to ensure that the marine environment can continue to provide important ecosystem services that will help protect us from future pandemics or environmental disasters. 

Strong partnerships with academic institutions to ensure rigourous scientific protocols and procedures are followed.

Adequate funding for long term ecological monitoring.

Adaptive management approach - focusing on areas lacking adequate information and ensuring research priorities are relevant to a changing and dynamic ocean ecosystem as well as changing human needs.

The importance of disseminating information as quickly as possible, both for the conservation of threatened apex predators as well as for inclusion in public safety protocols and management.

The need for inter-disciplinary research and collaboration to understand the multiple interrelated aspects of marine ecology and conservation, and in order to identify issues and find solutions timeously.