FISHING GEAR

Traditional fishing gear excluded women from fishing because it was expensive, too heavy and neccessitated fishing at night. Strings and baits helped to overcome these challenges. Strings with baits attached are hanged in between mangrove trees close to homes. Women cast them early morning and collect their catch next day early morning.

Mangroves have a high accumulation of micro-organisms, phytoplankton and other life forms that constitute the diet of different species of fish. Mangroves receive high concentration of nutrients from rivers and adjacent riparian ecosystems. Mangroves also provide shelter against predators and allows long-time fishing and safe breeding.  Other enabling factors: provision of security against theft and destruction by livestock, cooperation and commitment from spouses, sound management of toxic waste and market mechanisms.

We have learnt the following lessons: changes in power relations that can be brought about is important, the mangrove forest must be of the size that is adequate for all in order to avoid conflicts over the right of fishing in a particular area, the focus should not be only on fishing but on other social, economic and ecological issues as well e.g. waste management, financial management and marketing, broader protection of the environment, nutrition and health, gender equality, human rights, etc.

The fight against poaching, illegal trade and killing of wild animals.

Poaching poses serious threats to wildlife conservation and efforts at preserving wildlife through the establishment of protected areas are under threat by poaching of wildlife in the central High Atlas of Morocco.  The enforcement of the existing law against illegal capturing, empoisoning and killing of wild encouraged the authorities to participate actively in the protection of wild species and to enforce the law in certain cases. Raising awareness among residents and creating jobs in ecotourism and geotourism also participate in the fight against poaching. For example, in the Ouzoud site, the fight against poaching and the trade of macaques was one of the main factors responsible for the Barbary macaque population increase. We have actively participated since 2008 in collaboration with local authorities in the fight against illegal work (poaching, tree felling, etc.). We worked with some residents to obtain the necessary information on this work. in this context, we took part in stopping certain wild animal capture operations and we released a large number of animals in their original habitats.

In recent years, local people have actively participated in the fight against poaching and the wildlife trade. The ecological and economical roles of wildlife in ecosystems have been more widely appreciated among local people in the central High Atlas of Morocco. The creation of employment in ecotourism and in the field of medicinal plants has encouraged the inhabitants to participate in the fight against work with a negative impact on ecosystems.

Poaching and trade in wild animals is practiced mainly by young habitats who have no work and who have no ideas about the consequences of these activities on wild populations. Integrating these people into development projects can transform them into protectors of wildlife. Helping people find jobs and helping them improve their ecological knowledge will help conserve habitats.

Encouraging development projects to conserve biodiversity

Encouraging development projects promote the local economy and participate in increasing the income of residents. We participated in the training of tourist guides to work in tourist places, especially in the Ouzoud site. Some locals who previously worked as poachers have become good tour guides. They acquired information on the local fauna, in particular the Barbary macaque. The training of guides was carried out in collaboration with associations and local and regional authorities. Other people were trained in the field of medicinal plants and they improved their income.

The three protected areas contain many sites of ecological (6) and geological (22) interest which can be exploited to encourage ecotourism and geotourism. They also have a great diversity of habitats and of plant and animal species with existence of many local products with a strong territorial link and a real potential for economic development.

By promoting the local economy and education, local inhabitants actively participate in the conservation of biodiversity. Poachers and people who work in the forests have other opportunities to increase their income without having a negative effect on biodiversity.

Sustainable programs to enhance the well being of the locals

Ajloun Reserve which was established in 1987 covers 12 km2 from the remaining fragile and fragmented forest patches in northern Jordan, In 2004 eco-tourism concept was introduced to the reserve, 10 tented bungalows and a summer restaurant were built, we created various hiking trails that connect the reserve with the surrounding villages and archeological sites. In 2009 we built 5 new cabins with private facilities, the occupancy rates increased significantly and the demand for the cabins was very high hence in 2012 we received a grant from the Ministry of Planning to build 8 cabins and a winter restaurant.

In 2009 HRM King Abdullah II laid the foundation stone of the Royal Academy for Nature Conservation and it was officially opened by HRH the Crown Prince. The building consists of an educational center, Socioeconomic projects for the locals and a restaurant. In 2016 we converted the old bungalows to new cabins with private facilities.

The reserve became a very famous and unique tourist attraction, we receive visitors from all the different social classes including HRM the Queen and other members of the Royal family.

 

 

The natural resources help to develop this concept. 

- People are suffering from poverty and unequal opportunities. 

- Gaining wider public support to proceed developing the programs. 

- Local community engagement is a key factor. 

- Gaining the support from donors to develop this concept.

 

- determination leads you to success 

- particapatory approach is very important at the local comunities 

- failing is an important knowledge tool 

- by supporting the local comunity and building their capacities you suport the whole comunity 

Promote sustainable use of wild guanaco populations through demonstrative experiences of live shearing in La Payunia.

The annual shearing of guanacos by the Payún Matrú Cooperative is being closely supervised by the Mendoza Department of Renewable Natural Resources to ensure that the potential economic income provided by guanaco wool is feasible and sustainable. At the same time, Cooperative members understand that by making "good practices" they receive "good benefits". CONICET has tested and developed methods for minimizing the stress of individual guanacos during capture and handling, that reduce negative impacts at the population level.  Our knowledge of ecological, physiological, and behavioral processes that "constrain" these camelids in La Payunia, based on more than 10 years of study, put us in a unique position for advising and teaching the cooperative and government stakeholders how to minimize impacts of live shearing on this population. We will continue training members of Payún Matrú Cooperative in "good practices" to make capture and shearing of wild guanacos within Wildlife Friendly Actions. The following activities will be carried out at this stage:

 

1)Pre-shearing surveys on population parameters, 2)Training of the personnel (without experience) in charge of guanacos handling during herding, within the corrals, and during shearing is key to the success of the activities. 3)Management of wild guanacos: Capture, shear, and release of wild guanacos will be carried out in two events, between September and November. 4)Physiological indicators: physiological stress in the function of handling conditions.5)Post-shearing surveys on population parameters such as social structure and population density.

 

-As we are working with wildlife, pre-shearing surveys on population parameters help us to select the best area to build the management structure.  

-Training of the personnel is fundamental (and the key for the success of this solution) for the good management of the animals, avoiding guanaco mortalities and operator injuries. The management of wild guanacos is different from any other domestic animal, and it is necessary to use particular structures and tools, as well as to learn specific maneuvers for their manipulation, keeping animal welfare in mind.

-Stress approach give us a key physiological indicator to reduce stress in relation to handling time.

-Post-shearing surveys give us key population parameters such as social structure and population allow us to compared with data before the live-shearing experience and define the impact on social disruption.

 

Welterbe Gastgeber – certified World Heritage Host

World Heritage Hosts (Welterbe Gastgeber) are certified quality hosts providing accommodation and services inside the World Heritage property of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley. The programme was initiated in 2007 by the Upper Middle Rhine Valley World Heritage Association with the aim to improve the local tourism offer and avoid the loss of quality in the services provided. Today 18 businesses are certified as World Heritage Hosts. They are known for their high quality accommodation and services. They also act as ambassadors for the region having exceptionally knowledge about the many castles, legends, sights and adventure opportunities in the region as well as local products, including wine and cherries.

The certification is awarded to businesses that play a key role in the promotion of the wider World Heritage area on the basis of four criteria: quality of information and communication on the World Heritage value; active participation in local networks; quality of the products and services provided; relevance in relation to the World Heritage status.

In order to obtain the certificate, local hospitality businesses need to be certified by a national quality procedure (Service Quality Germany) and/or graded in accordance to the DEHOGA standards (German Hotel and Catering Federation).

The application for the certification is managed by the Upper Middle Rhine Valley World Heritage Association and the criteria for the award of the certificate have been developed by the tourism working group of the Association together with the European Institute of Tourism/Europäisches Tourismus Institut GmbH (ETI) in Trier.

  • The Word Heritage Host certification has helped create greater awareness for the quality of services and customer experiences.
  • The project has brought together competing businesses and enabled them to learn from each other. As a result, businesses have benefited from the exchange and improved their services.
  • The Upper Middle Rhine World Heritage Association is not a touristic marketing organisation. Therefore, there are limitations in the marketing of the World Heritage Hosts.
World Heritage Academy

The World Heritage Academy (Welterbe Akademie) is a training opportunity created to raise awareness on the OUV of the World Heritage property, other heritage values and the wider heritage of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley. The academy aims at fostering local traditional knowledge, professional and practical expertise to build capacity in local communities and local actors living and working within and nearby the World Heritage site. The academy organizes seminars and workshops in cooperation with local artisans and professionals as well as experts in the field of restoration and heritage, and topics treated vary from important and central themes like tourism, green energy, and specific building and conservation techniques like the construction and restoration of dry stone walls.

The Academy offers inclusive and innovative means of engagement for local stakeholders and actors to build knowledge and capacities to face future challenges.

The World Heritage Academy was born within the framework of the LEADER project (BB2), an EU-funded initiative aimed at initiating pilot projects to strengthen the sustainability of territorial regions and local economies.

45% of the costs of implementation of the Academy were sustained by the LEADER project.

Due to the Corona pandemic, the start of the World Heritage Academy was postponed. We are optimistic that we can start the project in 2021.

Raising awareness about wildlife conservation

Conservation behaviors  are considered essential actions that tremendously influence ecosystems. Environmental behaviors are essential to ecological conservation and to environmental protection.It is important to involve the citizens in the domain of the conservation of the environment and biodiversity conservation. Our scientific studies revealed that the respondents reported a lower level of practices in the conservation of species. Solutions have been initiated, the most important of which is to educate the inhabitants to encourage them to conserve the species. Education sessions were carried out by the author and his collaborators during the two las decades with local inhabitants, students, associations and authorities. As part of their scientific research, they visited most of the villages. They discuss with people the ecological and economic roles of biodiversity and the importance of conserving it.

In recent years, the roles of wild animals in their ecosystems have been more widely appreciated and today, the management of biodiversity is a priority for the Moroccan Government, authorities, NGO and civil society.

The local people opinion plays a vital role in the conservation of biodiversity and environment. In general, when inhabitants understand the ecological and economic roles of wild fauna, they spontaneously participate in its conservation.

Developing effective local people-wildlife conflict mitigation strategies

The human-local people conflict may act as factors in the decline of biodiversity. Our scientific studies showed that there is an increasing in the local people-wildlife conflict in the central High Atlas.The predation of livestock (carnivore species) and Crop raiding (wild boar, Barbary macaque, etc.) are the main causes of the local people-wildlife conflict and of negative attitudes toward the wild species. Several techniques were proposed to reduce the risk of depredation of livestock by wilds predators and and the risk of crop damage by Herbivorous species:

- 1. Education to raise the awareness of the local people about the ecological and economical roles of wildlife and provide the public with information on the benefits of wild animals and their ecological and economical roles.

2. Encourage residents to use some techniques to protect livestock and to keep wild animals away, such as a livestock guard dogs, prompt and proper disposal of livestock carcasses to eliminate attractants that could draw carnivores, and monitoring and pasturing of livestock and fields.

3. We are currently preparing a compensation programs to assist local people by reimbursing them for losses attributable to wild canids.

 

 

1. The contributor is a researcher who was born and lived in the central High Atlas for 40 years. He is known in the region, which facilitates the transmission of messages about biodiversity conservation. He communicates with the local inhabitants through the Tamazight language, which is the native language of the contributor. He also participates in several educational, cultural and scientific activities in this region.

2. The central High Atlas encompass an area of 10 502 km² and have a rich and varied biological diversity.
 

 

Education and the awareness-Raising Session for Local Officials and Communities on the Importance of wildlife conservation, and the use of possible and simple techniques to keep wild animals away  mitigate the conflict between local people and wildlife and and it resulted the conservation of species and habitats .

Identification and sthrength of OECM in Colombia

For the last 60 years, a great number of rightsholders in Colombia have promoted sustainable management and biodiversity conservation of their territories beyond protected areas, even though their conservation efforts have not been recognized as important elements of climate-smart land planning and have very little governmental support. 

 

The project’s overarching goal is to strengthen and make visible the culturally rich and socially diverse conservation and sustainable production initiatives that different Colombian actors are implementing, as a contribution to sustainable development that does not impoverish the country's natural patrimony.

 

As their identification as Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECM) is an opportunity to visualize those efforts, Resnatur and partners have been working for several years in adapting the OECM identification criteria to the Colombian context together with 27 initiatives, according to the international framework. 

 

This project contributes to the implementation in Colombia of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Decision 14/8 of 2018 that “Encourages Parties and invites others, in collaboration with indigenous peoples and local communities, to apply … …advice on OECMs”; … “Identifying OECMs and their diverse options within their jurisdiction;”

  • The adaptation of the international framework and especially the OECM criteria of the IUCN guidelines and the Decision 14/8 of 2018 to the Colombian context.
  • The application of OECM criteria on a case by case basis.
  • The development of two methodological processes to apply the OECM criteria and to identify the elements to be strengthened.

• OECM framework allows to recognize other forms of conservation and governance.

• Capacity building is needed to apply the OECM criteria in a bigger scale.

• National authorities should be involved in the discussion on how to apply the criteria.

• More resources will be needed to identify OECMs and to monitor the biodiversity outcomes.

• OECMs must be areas maintaining high biodiversity value. There is a necessity to develop participative monitoring methodologies.

• OECMs are an oportunity to increase connectivity, effectiveness and climate change adaptation of protected areas systems.

• OECMs are key elements to Post 2020 Biodiversity framework goals.