In June 2019, RRFB started the first larval propagation project in Bonaire in collaboration with SECORE International. The goal of the partnership is to establish a technical cooperation in which RRFB provides local knowledge, manpower, field logistics, and a facility, and shares all field trial results, monitoring data, and qualitative feedback on methodologies and technologies provided by SECORE Int. In return, SECORE Int. provides techniques, methodologies, expertise and training sessions on larval propagation. This partnership's knowledge was crucial for successfully implementing larval propagation techniques in Bonaire. By consistently sharing results and lessons learned, the technique was improved, leading to greater success and scalability for future project replication.

We established 5 nurseries in the network of opened channels and raised 5600 propagules, mostly red mangroves but also black mangroves. Recently we have studied the white mangroves to assess their importance and have done a pilot on white mangrove propagation. Most of these propagules grew out into healthy saplings and have been outplanted in 5 events. Afterwards, the outplants have been monitored by interns. A successful nursery will increase mangrove plants available for reforestation efforts, emphasizing the need for an ecosystem-based approach to building resilience on the island.

An excellent communication plan/network with different stakeholders was initiated across different levels. From the inception of the project, the community and other stakeholders were constantly capacitated on how the project is going. A relay of relevant vulture conservation and policy issues was achieved to the target stakeholders within the communities and KAZA TFCA.

The water in the mangrove forest needs to refresh and be of good quality (salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH) in order for the mangroves and the organisms that are part of the mangrove habitat to flourish, like fish, sponges, anemones and mangrove oysters. The force behind the water circulation is the tidal flow; there is no river feeding the mangroves. The water moves through the roots as sheet flow, the channels and the lagoons. The growth of roots and accumulation of sediments reduce the capacity of the system to bring water in a timely fashion to all parts of the mangrove forest - especially the part farthest removed from the open ocean is most under stress.

Larval propagation is a restoration method that assists coral sexual reproduction to increase the genetic diversity of corals. This technique can be used with numerous coral species and morphologies and, because of the large production of gametes during spawning events, it has the potential to scale up the number of outplanted corals on the reef. RRFB uses innovative technologies to reduce the labor, and handling time and increase the survivorship of coral larvae at large scales. After assisting fertilization, recently formed embryos are poured into floating pools (CRIB, Coral rearing in-situ Basin) designed by SECORE Int., where larvae settlement is facilitated on specially designed substrates which are then outplanted on the reef.  

The achieved results relied heavily on the collaboration and cooperation partnerships among various stakeholders, including government agencies, conservation organizations, scientists, and local communities. Collaboration with the Ministries/Government departments was key in sensitizing the communities on issues around human-wildlife conflict and suggested environmentally friendly ways to mitigate the conflict. The scientists were there to collect information related to wildlife poisoning and give feedback to the government ministries. The communities were the key stakeholder since they are the sole custodians of the environment.

IMET is an integrative tool. It requires input from people who are in charge of the protected area, and also those who have a recognizable interest in the area but are not directly in charge. Prior to implementation, we determined who the right stakeholders were, such as key Government agencies, including the Forestry Department, which was in charge of managing the forest reserve, and the office of the Surveyor General, who were not directly connected to the management of the reserve but were custodians of the reserve maps. Equally important among stakeholders are Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), local community groups, and traditional leaders. Government and CSOs were engaged in project design and implementation. We engaged the stakeholders first by writing official letters with simplified explanations of the IMET process. The letters outlined the information gaps specific to each stakeholder. That way, the stakeholders were able to provide relevant information and documents that would feed into the IMET evaluation. Secondly, the stakeholders were invited to attend two workshops; 1. data collection, and 2. data collection and validation. These workshops aimed to create ownership and validation of the results generated.

There were two training sessions of the local NGO Toromiki no Mangareva conducted by SOP Manu. The NGO was recently created to protect the fauna and flora of Mangareva and the surrounding uninhabited islets and to involve children of the island in the protection of the environment. The two training sessions with Toromiki no Mangareva were an opportunity to spread knowledge and talk about the Kamaka restoration project. Many members are primary and secondary school teachers from Mangareva, who were able to deliver key messages to children of the island about seabirds, their threats and biosecurity.

Several members of the NGO are active members of the Gambier community (employees of the town hall, the Air Tahiti office, school teachers, and firefighters), and therefore have a lot of influence on the local population. Their involvement through training will help protect Kamaka in the future – as they were asked to communicate about this project and biosecurity measures to the local community.

Ya’axché employs an integrated landscape management approach which results in healthy ecosystems with high levels of biodiversity for protected areas under its care. Biodiversity monitoring has indicated that the populations of indicator species have remained comparable over the years. Because of the linkages between ecosystem health and human well-being, Ya’axché-through its conservation and sustainable development work positively impacts the lives of the people buffering the GSCP, securing watershed that provides important services and other forestry goods/services such as food, housing, medicinal plants, clean air, inter alia. 

The management of the Kisite Mpunguti MPA is mandated to the Kenya Wildlife Service and the Wildlife Research and Training Institute. It was therefore critical to have buy-in from the managers of these institutions in the implementation of project activities including WIO-COMPAS. This ensured the endorsement of the WIO-COMPAS programme and its subsequent recognition for career development.

For this reason, the two institutions were included in the process from inception to completion. This ensured the MPA staff that this venture would add value, at individual levels, to their careers, and not just to the MPA management. This was crucial, as the WIO-COMPAS assessment preparation process is quite daunting, and a motivating factor is necessary to ensure their participation.