Monitoring | PANORAMA

Advanced technologies enhance surveillance

In the radar control room, Reef Guardian staff monitor potential boat intrusion to SIMCA.

Reef Guardian

Blast detector in the reef to record number of fishing blast over period of time

Reef Guardian/ Achier Chung

Investment in a radar tracking system for broader monitoring of the area. The radar tracking system is real-time monitoring speed, and directional heading of the boat in the marine protected area's vicinity. The radar information can infer the type of activity of the boat is likely to be engaged in the sea. For example, a fish trawler boat that is trawling tends to move at a slower speed of 7-10 kph than a passing trawler that usually travels at a speed of 16 – 20 kph. Furthermore, five blast detectors were installed to monitor and analyse blast fishing activities within SIMCA. The blast detector's information enables the Reef Guardian enforcement team to do strategic sea patrol to increase enforcement presence in the hot spot where illegal fish bombing often occurred.

Investment from a partner organization (Conservation International Philippine) on a radar tracking system in 2009.
Joint partnership with Reef Defender from Hong Kong since 2014 in the mission to reduce fish bombing in the region.

Information from the radar reduces operational cost (boat fuel) where the team show enforcement presence on the hot spot areas, instead of patrolling the entire marine protected area.
Radar information is best for night enforcement activities. The information giving a higher chance to intercept illegal fishing activities on the spot which lead to higher success on detection and detention rates.

Participatory conservation of pilgrimage paths

Depending on their location, pilgrimage routes are owned by individuals, local or national governments who take care of their maintenance. Local inhabitants and Non-Profit Organizations (NPO) participate as well of the restoration, conservation and maintenance of some of the pilgrimage routes. For example, many preservation societies are active on the Iseji pilgrimage route where they conduct daily cleaning activities on the mountain passes where old roads remain. They also collaborate with patrolling after typhoons and heavy rains. These activities are recorded in the report and submitted to the respective Prefectural Board of Education via the respective Municipal Board of Education.

Japanese culture emphasizes on the caring for the public space and the benefit of the community as a whole, as well as supports a strong identification with and caring for the environment.
Support from the government and other agencies to facilitate citizen participation in volunteering activities, such as collection and distribution of donations.

The government will cooperate with citizens who initiate volunteer activities.
In the World Heritage property, some of the activities need a permission. This is something that needs to be confirmed in advance by the volunteers and the government.

Development of a participatory management plan

The parties of the Laponia Process envisioned to create a new management plan for the property using the values within three areas: the natural environment and its high values; the living Sámi culture and reindeer industry; and the historical heritage arising from previous usage of the land. This participatory management plan is based on a shared understanding of the World Heritage property by all stakeholders involved in the process and the implementation of the plan. Besides the governing institutions (municipalities, county, governmental agencies in charge of heritage conservation), important stakeholders to be considered and integrated in this participatory process are the Sámi villages which are organizations responsible for the reindeer husbandry within a specific area. It is a legal entity and they are organized through village meetings.

The platform for dialogue created with the Laponia Process.
Reindeer Husbandry Act (member of a Sámi village organization).
The constitution provides special protection to Sámi people and their rights.
The Sámi are the Indigenous people of Sweden (determined by the Parliament) which gives them a special legal status in Swedish law.
The Right of Public Access.
Willingness from the authority to try something new, new working methods for management.

Management plans where different stakeholders have to compromise all the time might be too unspecific. There can be themes in the management plan that the organization have no prerequisites to implement and then people will be disappointed if the organization is not working with them. For instance, in our management plan, there are sentences that state how we should be working with the Sámi language, and therefore, we are doing it to some extent. But language is not our main focus and then sometimes people may be disappointed with the results.

Implementation

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local

Subnational

Establishment of an inclusive dialogue process: the Laponia Process

The Laponia Process was an approach to dialogue created and developed by a diversity of stakeholders in the Laponian Area World Heritage property. Since Laponia is a large area which consists of several protected areas, to establish a coordinated management system as a whole has been very challenging since its inscription in the World Heritage List. The County Administrative Board of Norbotten and the Sámi communities and municipalities of Jokkmokk and Gällivare started originally to prepare their conservation programs independently. The Laponia Process started by the initiative of the Governor of Norrbotten in 2005 including all stakeholders in a process of dialogue based on a set of common values, which would lead the parties to agree in crucial issues and the terms in which the Laponian Area should be managed. All decisions were determined to be taken by consensus, and new regulations for the national parks and nature reserves were requested. In 2006, the parties signed a common agreement which they sent to the Government, which contained:

A set of common basic values
Common intentions for a number of efforts
The establishment of a temporary Laponia delegation
Preparations for the start of a World Heritage management group with a Sámi majority on the committee.

The political will of the Governor of Norbotten, the Sámi village organizations through the association Midjá Ednam, the interest of the municipalities of Jokkmokk and Gällivare, and the endorsement of the SEPA were essential conditions for starting the process. The initiative originates in the acceptance of the different realities of the parties involved and the strong will to co-create a new management for the Laponian Area. Moreover, there was enough financing for the project and each group participated with the same economical prerequisites.

To be able to establish an organization based on consensus and develop a new way of management, one needs to listen to people and try to learn why they are thinking and doing like they are (it is norms and values that forms their ideas and practise) but also openly explain why one is thinking and doing in the way one is, because that also depends on the norms and values one has in life. This process takes time, and it is about learning new knowledge from each other and accept it. This is also a process one cannot do in the office, one needs to go out and meet people in their ordinary life regularly. It cannot be rushed or think it can be a quick fix. The Laponia Process took six years until all stakeholders involved could agree upon a common organization and management plan.

To do a process like the Laponia Process – you need to have time, financing, and the “right” people involved. Listen to each other. Time to take home tricky questions and discuss them with other representatives for the stakeholders, before decisions are made.

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local

Subnational

Key elements for ecosystem conservation are also anthropic

As part of PAMIC, great consideration on the dynamics of landscape transformation is being made. There is an attempt to identify and conserve those elements that are key for ecosystem conservation, whether they are of natural or anthropic origin. In PAMIC´s philosophy, conservation does not mean maintaining pristine ecosystems. On the contrary, conservation includes restoring managed landscapes and using sustainable practices. This allows the maintenance of the whole socio-ecological system through a sustainable use of the land, as demonstrated by shade-grown coffee production, agro-silvo-pastoral and community forest management projects, which support both livelihoods and ecosystems.

Confidence in the social and environmental benefits of sustainable community management
Institutional learning about the long term limitations of the "do not touch" vision of conservation as a means of conserving ecosystems;
Network of actors with knowledge on land use and water management
Long term mentoring of the producers;
It is vital to make use of existing local cooperatives to generate, lead and manage the introduction of new approaches to existing productive activities

When communities feel that their productive activities are not being threatened, they are more willing to get involved and undertake self-organized initiatives for the sustainable management of ecosystems.
Likewise, when they identify the project as a window of opportunity to obtain support and possible financing to improve their productive activities, the commitment and interest to sustainably manage the ecosystem increases.

Visioning for the future of the Denali region

Wildlife is an important environmental feature threatened by landscape change

Van Riper Lab

Boreal forests in Interior Alaska are expected to undergo more frequent and intense wildfires as a result of climate change

National Park Service

Mushing in Interior Alaska is one form of off-season tourism that may expand in the future

Alaska Dogsled Tours

The purpose of visioning for the future of the Denali region is to evaluate stakeholder preferences and trade-offs they are willing to make when thinking about the future of the region. Identifying distinct visions for the future is important in places like Interior Alaska where impacts from climate change are magnified and anticipated to rapidly transform the social-ecological landscape. This information can inform decision-makers about priorities for the future across a gamut of stakeholders and serve as a foundation for participatory planning. This study evaluated visions as part of a mixed mode household survey administered to residents across the Denali region.

To identify preferences and trade-offs for future conditions, a discrete choice experiment that evaluated the strengths of preferences and trade-offs for future conditions of the Denali region was included. Survey data were used to understand preferences for attributes including wildlife populations, off-season tourism, and fire management, as well as the cost of maintaining current conditions of these attributes. Results showed that all of these factors influenced preferences for the future, and that the range of environmental attitudes held by stakeholder groups accounted for variation in the strength of preferences reported by survey respondents.

Previous work that qualitatively evaluated residents’ perceptions of landscape change and knowledge were instrumental in the success of this building block. In particular, an in-depth understanding of relevant landscape features was built prior to developing the parameters in our discrete choice experiment. The collection of pilot testing data was also important to refine the language used in our survey and range of changes that were considered realistic future conditions in the region.

Evaluating residents’ preferences for future landscape conditions and trade-offs they are willing to make when thinking about the future yielded important insights about residents’ priorities. This is crucial information for decision-makers to more effectively meet the needs of their constituencies. The development of this building block also taught lessons about the value of creative, mixed-mode strategies for data collection that would increase the likelihood of diverse perspectives being reflected in the final sample. Overall, working with local stakeholders to understand visions for the future was useful for generating empirical evidence that showed the relative importance of features that describe the Denali landscape. Results are also useful for anticipating resident support or resistance to changes in visions for the future in ways that can help decision-makers understand distinct stakeholders' viewpoints.

Monitoring

Local

COMMIT TO IMPLEMENT AGREED ACTIONS THE ‘RIGHT’ WAY AND EVALUATE THE IMPACT

Cultural burn in Arakwal National Park to restore the Byron Bay Graminoid Clay Heath

DPIE

The Arakwal people and NPWS staff committed to work together to implement the agreed actions. NPWS included actions in the annual operations plan and worked with Arakwal people to create opportunities for them to connect with the orchid and its heath habitat. They recognised this as an important part of maintaining and strengthening the cultural values. Before this project, the heath had not been burned for 30 years due to the difficulty of getting approval for a cultural burn of bushland next to a suburban area. Even though the cultural burn required a lot of resources, NPWS prepared and approved a burn plan and Arakwal people undertook cultural activities such as seed collection ahead of the fire. Fortunately, in 2018 all the conditions were suitable for a small cultural burn. The health of the heath has been surveyed by Arakwal NPWS staff post fire with additional sightings of Byron Bay orchid have been reported.

As a result of this project a seasonal planning calendar which highlights how management actions are scheduled through year, factoring in seasons, opportunities, weather and traditional practices was co-created. The calendar brings together culture, ecology and management actions in an easy to understand form that is both a communication and a scheduling tool.

Arakwal people and NPWS worked together to prioritise and undertake both cultural and ecological management activities with relatively small amounts of additional funding. Arakwal people were not constrained in what the money could be spent on as long as it was to support implementation which meant that cultural activities and bringing community members on Country could occur.

Everyone involved in the project realised the importance of celebrating success as a way to inspire the whole team and to realise the value of monitoring. Celebrating success led to people looking for ways to improve and to look to the future and new opportunities.

By using a new method to review priority actions through a cultural lens, the Arakwal NP Plan of Management was examined anew which refocussed management actions to protect and restore the cultural and ecological health of the clay heath.

Implementation

Monitoring

Local

3- Biodiversity Monitoring

Monitoreo de biodiversidad con trampas cámara

Fundación ProYungas

Monitoring is the sustained study of certain environmental indicators (flora, fauna, water resources, etc.) in order to establish a baseline that facilitates tracking the behavior of the environment in relation to the production systems. This information allows for implementing improvement measures in aspects related to land management while strengthening positive actions and mitigating, through corrective actions, components that may be unfavorable in the production-natural environment relationship.

Having a technical team nearby, with technical capacities to generate reliable monitoring and surveys. Also, the presence of certain “emblematic” species that generate empathy on the part of the property owners.

1- Monitoring mammals with camera traps plays a key role in developing empathy, on the part of producers, towards species that inhabit their territory.
2- Biodiversity monitoring cannot be an end in itself. It has to help solve a problem, it has to serve to change a reality, and for that it is very important to establish a baseline with sufficient data. Undoubtedly, monitoring is particularly useful to evaluate the efficiency of corrective measures in specific situations. One example is the evaluation and search for a favorable solution to irrigation channels.

Monitoring

Local

Infrastructural development

Boom trap used to catch plastic on rivers

The Litterboom Project

To prevent mismanagement of plastics waste from reaching beaches and the marine environment, the investment of litter booms, traps, and other technological solutions is and still a priority.

The litter booms and traps work efficiently when staff have been trained on the installation as well as maintenance including working with communities to manage waste at source to prevent river pollution.

Infrastructure maintenance is at the core of development.
Training and capacity building should be continuous.
Community engagement must be at the core of management.

South Africa aims to stop marine litter at its source

Adaptive Management

BFD has started using SMART as an adaptive management tool in the Sundarbans which is among the key potential benefits of the approach.

Presentation of reports to SMART enforcement committee helped the decision makers of BFD to plan patrols based on data queries and interpretations from actual SMART reports. This with on-board mentoring observations helped BFD decision makers to take further management decisions.

BFD is using SMART patrol reports and assess how patrol plans have been adapted based on the results of previous patrols and how effective these adaptations have been in increasing the effectiveness of SMART patrols as evidenced by the area covered, number of arrests and successful prosecutions of criminals committing serious wildlife, fisheries and forest crimes such as poaching and poison fishing; confiscations of boats, weapons, snares and traps, and wildlife carcasses and body parts; and trends (increasing, stable or decreasing) in sighting rates of key threatened wildlife species.

Awareness of managers on adaptive management and role of SMART data on that front

BFD need to enhance capacities of managers to play with SMART data and project/forecast changes/trends and incorporate forward looking measures towards conservation

Implementation

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local