Catch data from the last centuries collected from research institutes, libraries and maritime museums, and through surveys.

Good, reliable, detailed, accurate and current information is crucial. Either the authority/body providing the information needs to provide the information as GIS-compatible, or the solution implementer needs to convert various types of data into GIS data.

An education and outreach programme (e.g. community theatre, radio campaign, community events) is implemented to raise awareness of waste management, stimulate initial dialogue and influence attitude and behaviour changes. Community theatre is a very successful tool to achieve this. Up to 5 members of the community are trained as data collectors and spend a week interviewing citizens and key stakeholders in order to collect ‘data’ on attitudes, behaviors and perceptions towards waste management Data are analyzed and translated into a series of storylines. A second group of citizens (up to 15) are trained as ‘artists’ and participate in a week of training (story-telling, role playing and scripting) and rehearsals. At the end of the week the theatre performance takes place. At critical points in the performance, an MC invites the audience to ask questions, exchange ideas and experiences, and debate solutions to waste management challenges. The community theatre is followed up with practical outreach activities such as beach clean-ups to introduce the concept of the four R’s (refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle). Village leaders are encouraged to take part in practical activities to promote good governance and strong leadership.

The collection of technical data to assess the carrying-capacity is needed to start a participatory process with the tourism operators. This data was important to convince the local operators on the potential impacts of recreational activities and to convince them on maintaining a low use level on the reef and promote a high quality service for the tourists. Creating a joint understanding of potential impacts of recreational marine activities thus includes participatory meetings with local tourism operators to explain impacts of intensive recreational activities and the threats these implement on their livelihoods in order to develop the planning process.

Rare’s Pride Program training is a two-year process through which local conservation leaders receive formal university training, followed by periods of field-based formative research and results analyses. Participants learn how to change attitudes and behaviors, mobilize support for environmental protection, and reduce threats to natural resources. Rare’s local partners not only receive classroom training, but also implement an entire social marketing campaign in their communities, designed around a specific conservation goal. Participants in the program receive a toolkit for community outreach: Training 1 provides trainees with basic community engagement tools, so that they can start embedding themselves in the target audience and earn their trust. Training 2 takes place after a period of 1-2 months of field embedding, and teaches research techniques for qualitative and quantitative formative research. Training 3 takes place after 2-3 months of data collection and information gathering, to analyze data collected and design the Pride Campaign. Training 4 takes place upon campaign conclusion, to evaluate results and produce final report.

Shifting the thinking of individual fishers from solo owner-operators to being part of commercial sector with shared obligations, responsibilities and social license and a common desire to promote better fishing practices to ensure the sustainability and growth of the snapper biomass. All independent commercial fishers, fishing vessel owners, SNA1 quota owners, Licensed Fish Receivers of snapper and snapper processing plants were identified and invited to attend the same meeting. Over a period of five months three meetings were held, repeated in four locations based on the commercial fishers ‘local port’. The first meeting identified the issues fishers felt they were being criticised about; the second meeting set out possible solutions and called for discussion before being voted on. At the third meeting the agreed solutions were framed as a Voluntary Agreement with six rules, debated and voted on before being given to government officials, who then worked with commercial fishers on the logistics of recording and reporting on success.

Experts determine the type and degree of damage and identify the causes of mangrove loss such as changes in temperature, water pollution, hydrological modifications and sedimentation. This helps decision makers develop site specific restoration and reforestation plans.

Access rights, such as individual quotas or territorial use rights (TURFS), delimited based on scientific findings and participatory processes, help to avoid overfishing and recover fish populations. They assure fishermen stable fishing over time and exclusive benefits from sustainable management, increasing their stewardship and compliance.

Communities and stakeholders participate in all aspects of the management process, including biological and Participatory Rural Appraisal surveys for baseline data collection and sharing. Together with community groups, stakeholder consultation on locally managed marine area (LMMA) zoning and later management operations are conducted. The results and thus the identified area to be protected are displayed using a 3D model. These activities are accompanied by awareness raising activities about coastal resource protection as well as co-management requirements.

To build a long-term and lasting management plan, all perspectives, uses and needs are taken into account. Provincial workshops facilitate a collective understanding. Community input is ensured through the use of participatory risk assessments (rural appraisal tool) at village level. Provincial workshops connect the local knowledge to the official level. Working groups and workshops held during the drafting phase of the plan ensure a strong governance system.