Participatory Planning
The Israel Marine Plan’s basic approach emphasizes that the marine space is essentially (ultimately) public. It aspires to view the different interests of all the stakeholders fairly and guarantee the provision of its ecosystem services over time. Through its goals, the plan offers way for informed and responsible management of the sea, applying an overall ecological approach. It aims to develop marine knowledge, to improve public awareness of what exists in the marine space, and to shape the way it is depicted spatially. Stakeholders are actively involved in the planning process and accompanied by local and international professional scientific advisory committees. The planning process is supported by the use of the interactive GIS tool that helps to visualize resource use, potential conflicts, and management scenarios and thus enables comprehensive planning.
1) Time needed to showcase and use the tool 2) Enthusiasm by those involved 3) Public relations for use of the tool (i.e., mentioning it at every opportunity, etc.)
Lack of support among the core-team staff was a problem. Diversity of members on the team should be maintained (i.e., background, age, expertise, etc.). Time is crucial so that efforts are not rushed and full professionalism is maintained, especially for the compatibility matrices. This "solution" will not be appropriate in all situations; it depends on the level of funding, use of the internet and digital tools among the general population. After we started developing the tool we discovered that other organizations/entities had similar tools available. We could have tapped into these to avoid redundancy & improve base data. It would have been helpful to tie the information from the compatibility matrices to the ASDA tool so that one could see the compatibility and/or conflict found each areas as competing uses are selected. Monitoring usage of the tool would have been very helpful. High usage (and diverse usage) would generate more support for tool development and promotion.
Documenting and sharing the success story
This building block focuses on documenting and disseminating results so that the experience can be captured and replicated elsewhere. Sharing and disseminating successful project results can encourage other interested parties to conduct site visits to observe the project first hand and meet the people involved. This kind of peer to peer learning can often be the first step towards replication. Documentation can also be used as a powerful advocacy tool to create leverage for greater commitment to waste management policies at regional and national scales. Documentation can be in many different formats ranging from a brief project summary or personal testimonies from the people involved, to powerful images that show the project in action or short film clips that can be embedded in websites and shared on social media etc. The greater variety of visual documentation the project has, the greater influence it can have on decision making processes related to waste management (or any other issue of concern). Documentation of results also plays an important role in the review and evaluation phase so that project leaders can identify the contribution of each building block to the overall outcome.
Ability to document project results in a visually appealing way, access to dissemination pathways.
One of the most powerful media for sharing results is through personal testimonies on film. However, this can be expensive if done through a professional media house. However, there is plenty of free, online digital editing software available that can be used to produce a film clip ‘in-house’ for a fraction of the cost.
Theory of Change (ToC)
A Theory of Change (ToC) is a road map that plots the journey from where we are now to where we want to be. The ToC serves to create a common vision of long-term goals, how they will be reached, and how progress will be measured along the way. A ToC forms the basis for strategic planning, and it clearly articulates how shifting behaviors and social norms will reduce threats to biodiversity. There are seven elements of a Pride campaign ToC: Conservation Result points to the conservation target (ecosystem or species) the campaign is trying to conserve, and what the expected long-term result is. Threat Reduction points to the main threats to the conservation target that can be reduced. Behavior Change focus on the human behavior that must change in order to reduce the identified threat. Barrier Removal identifies the barriers to adoption of the new behavior and how can they be removed. Interpersonal Communication describes what conversations are needed to encourage people to adopt the new behavior. Attitude identifies what attitudes must shift for these conversations to happen. Knowledge is the cognition needed to increase awareness and help shift these attitudes.
• Campaign site and thematic knowledge and experience • A prior analysis of site conditions including geographic scope, conservations targets, threats and contributing factors. • Clear long-term goals of implementing partner
Some of the key elements of success related to the ToC include, a clear, unequivocal connection between the expected conservation result, and the threat the campaign is trying to reduce. Even though the selected threat may not always be the most important menace to the conservation target, it has to be one that can be mitigated through human behavior change. Likewise, identifying a specific behavior change that is directly linked to the selected threat is vital.
Social license
Networking and linking up with other organisations to support fishers’ initiatives.
Availability of social media
Networking and linking up with other organisations is an important way to grow awareness and support for the fishers’ initiatives, for the first couple of years this was note done well.
Control of lionfish populations
Lionfish management requires the involvement of all affected parties, coupled with tailored strategies to reflect ecological, cultural and social differences within the region. Legal policies regulate the aquarium trade of lionfish, as well as conditions and gear for lionfish removal.
Committment to cooperate and share knowledge and experiences.
Strategies and tools for control differ depending on local variables and the spatial scale at which control is enacted. Sharing knowledge on removal tools and techniques can ensure the use of best practices in the Region. Partnerships with reef-reliant industries such as the fishery and tourism sector enhance resources available for removal.
Presenting work in Petropavlovsk to local people & groups
We presented our work in the local schools and community centres through talks and slides, and we were interviewed by local newspapers to explain our work and gain support within the community. We also offered to talk about our work on tourist ships. Outreach is an important part of gaining community support among local people, including researchers, fishers, and of course media. The rationale is that without their support, marine habitat protection will be less likely to be respected.
Openness of some schools and tourist ship companies to allow us to present.
The ability to communicate scientific information to the public, as well as persistence, is needed to get messages across. Knowledge about whales, dolphins and the marine environment is limited and the idea of marine protection is new to many.
Broad discussion of the community rules with the community
Strong communication efforts (exchanges, meetings, popular debates, interactive radio in local languages) throughout the process of establishing and operating Kawawana. This has given fruits, as today other community conserved areas have been created close to Kawawana and more are in progress. .
Only available in French. To read this section in French, please download the document "Blue Solution Template in French: ‘L’aire du patrimoine communautaire KAWAWANA: La bonne vie retrouvée par la conservation’” from the bottom of this page, under 'Resources'.
Only available in French. To read this section in French, please download the document "Blue Solution Template in French: ‘L’aire du patrimoine communautaire KAWAWANA: La bonne vie retrouvée par la conservation’” from the bottom of this page, under 'Resources'.
Monitoring and evaluation
Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) are vital components of every Pride campaign, without which assessment of the effectiveness of the intervention cannot be conducted. M&E takes place in every component of the Theory of Change (please refer to the building block 'Theory of Change' for a brief description of each component). Monitoring keeps score on how effectively capacities are built, how effectively social marketing efforts lead to changes in behavior, and if those behavior changes lead to desired conservation outcomes. Monitoring basically tracks every component of the ToC. M&E of knowledge, attitude, interpersonal communications and behavior change is based on pre and post campaign surveys of the fishers, while threat reduction and conservation results use specific protocols validated by experts.
• Having a local monitoring partner or consultant is key to develop timely baseline data and monitor threat reduction and conservation results. • As with any project or program, having adequate and sufficient funding is key. Teams may rely on existing human, equipment, facilities, and financial capacities to reduce costs. • Sites with long term tradition of monitoring are better suited to produce a solid baseline of biological monitoring indicators.
An important lesson related to biological monitoring is when there is the possibility of having a two person team for each campaign, a Campaign Manager (CM) and a Fisheries Fellow (FF). This arrangement allows for one person to concentrate on the fisheries technical aspects, including the necessary time for biological monitoring. The level of involvement of the FF in the monitoring component depends on his/her personal inclination towards science. There are examples where the FF devoted a considerable amount of time and effort to conducting monitoring and analyzing data, while others did not participate at all. This could improve with a clearer definition of the FF’s role in regards to biological monitoring. Having a person dedicated to monitoring in Rare’s team ensured all fisheries campaigns had baseline and post campaign impact data.
Coral reef restoration toolkit
The purpose of this Toolkit is to share the knowledge gained by the Reef Rescuers team. It aims to fill a void in the practical know-how of coral reef restoration By sharing what was learned and tested in the field, it is hoped that the success of others implementing similar projects elsewhere will be improved. It aims to be a companion for scientists, managers, practitioners and local communities who are facing a coral reef restoration challenge and need guidance using low-cost field tested methods, as well as how to fix problems encountered in field conditions. The team explains what they did in the coral reef restoration project and how they solved the problems encountered using low cost solutions and the limited resources found in a developing nation.
• Feasibility and desirability of coral reef restoration in the specific site • Adequate project funding or private sector investment • Buy-in and collaboration of government, communities and NGOs • Coral reef practitioners/biologists working in the project
• One size doesn’t fit all. The experimental methods which were used in the project didn’t all work and there was a lot of trial and error. The toolkit explains these. This is why the guide was not called “Best Practice”. • The toolkit doesn’t make you an instant expert. The toolkit cannot be used by amateurs and communities without the design and supervision by experienced coral reef scientists. Otherwise it becomes tinkering and more harm than good can be done. • It’s complicated. Potential users of the Toolkit need to keep in mind that reef restoration is complex , time consuming, costly, and not always recommended. In fact, as regards the latter the Toolkit presents a flowchart to decide whether or not reef restoration is necessary or even feasible in a given situation
Dissemination and training
The results of the monitoring programme are presented to the relevant local communities and through academic channels. Environmental education campaigns focus on local populations and address people with different levels of education. Information is shared via presentations, courses, trainings and workshops.
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