GIS-Based Monitoring

The systematic monitoring of planted trees that is conducted by HAF and the gathering and registering of data of trees planted, including GPS locations, height, diameter, survival rates, and social benefits. The integrated tree monitoring system, called AKVO, was developed by Ecosia, a German organization which plants trees using revenue generated from their search engine. Trained in the use of this application, the monitoring team disperses throughout the regions, visiting the farmers and monitoring the trees that were planted during the previous planting season. Stored in a shared database, the information collected by the team in collaboration with local nursery caretakers will enhance informed decision-making at all levels of governance and across sectors by filling gaps in knowledge and precedence regarding practical application of resource management. 

GIS-based monitoring is enabled primarily through community partnerships. Local residents are able to support the monitoring staff and the massive effort that goes into to the monitoring and data collection process. Without an extensive network across the country, it would not be possible to implement this system. 

As a result of its monitoring actvities, HAF has developed an extensive database on tree survival, growth, and product yield from its fruit tree nurseries across several life zones that, combined with published studies, can develop trends in agriculture products and carbon sequestration by life zone as a function of climate conditions. Additional field work such as analyses of soil samples, measuring growth and precipitation, and doing so in all biozones, is vital in order to develop a database that covers all Morocco toward national impact. In addition, the procedures for analyses and guidelines for determinations in relation to planting, water consumption, impacts on food security, and measured advantages from renewable energy must be specialized.

Evaluating the contribution of stone tidal weirs in safeguarding biocultural diversity

Without doubt, stone tidal weirs contribute to marine biodiversity.  In comparison with intertidal zoneswithout stone tidal weir, those with stone tidal weirs have host diverse marine species.

Once stone tidal weirs are abandoned, the less fish is caught.  As the attention of local people shifts to destructive modern fishery,  all aspects connected to cultural diversity would also be disappeared.  In order to maintain coastal communities sustainable, they must not lose their biocultural diversity; stone tidal weirs could be served as an icon of such diversity as well. The UNESCO UNITWIN university network researches and studies how stone tidal weirs in safeguarding biocultural diversity.

The underwater cultural heritage of stone tidal weirs seems to have been an artificial womb for marine species and it is It one of the oldest fish catching methods for human beings.  Qualitative and quantitative data analysis are necessary to research the role of stone tidal weirds as marine ecosystems. As for the latter, both archaeological and historical research is the most helpful. 

When stone tidal weirs are studied, interdisciplinary collaboration between social science and natural science is really necessary.  In the US, archaeology and anthropology are included in social science.  Oceanographers or marine biologists provide natural scientific data upon biodiversity, while social scientists combine natural scientific data with social scientific one and use them for design and planning purposes.

Analyzing the vulnerability of stone tidal weirs against the global climate change such as sea level rise, coastal erosion, or destructive storms

Stone tidal weirs are the most vulnerable against global climate change.  Recent field surveys and participant-observations of them prove that many stone tidal weirs have been abandoned or simply left broken, owing mainly to ocean environmental change.  If sea levels rise more than 1 meter, all stone tidal weirs on the earth do not function as fishing gear.   Once they are destroyed by storms or high waves, some coastal communities cannot afford to repair them, leaving simply them abandoned.  All over the world, indeed, the underwater cultural heritage of stone tidal weirs is in danger of closing down, as cultural heritage as well as traditional fishing gear.  For the purpose of understanding their vulnerability properly, the assessment of long-termed tidal range changes around stone tidal weirs, the measuring of coastal erosions faced by them, and the impact monitor of typhoons or high waves which destroy stone tidal weirs have been conducted, occasionally by help of remote sensing data.

The university networks allows to raise awareness on the issue and provide research-based evidence.

Many national governments do not recognize stone tidal weirs as underwater cultural heritage or even as fishing gear, mainly because in their mind gears are modern fishing boats or nets owned by professional fishers. Stone tidal weirs are often owned by people living in coastal communities, not by fishermen, against whom especially global climate change would cause havoc. 

Unless local or national governments recognize stone tidal weirs as cultural heritage, there is no way they could become interested in their vulnerability against the global climate change.  It really is essential that multiple stakeholders, including policy makers, social scientists such as anthropologists, natural scientists such as oceanographers, environmentalists, NGO or NPO partners, or local people, work together on this matter. 

Documenting the traditional ecological knowledge on fishing, ritual, or other communal activities connected to stone tidal weirs

The underwater cultural heritage of stone tidal weirs was originally born as a local fishing mechanism. The processes are based on a rich local traditional ecological knowledge, which brought on by members of local coastal communities. Traditionally, local communities used stone tidal weirs twice a month during the spring tide; a custom that has been preventing overfishing by locals. At high tide they sometimes functioned as fishponds. 

The traditional ecological knowledge, for instance, on non-fishing periods, as well as that on fishery-related ritual activities such as beach opening ceremonies, is widely observed at coastal communities but it is rapidly disappearing before being recorded properly by anthropologists or archaeologists. As stone tidal weirs are easily broken by typhoons or high waves, frequent community-led repairing works based on traditional knowledge are absolutely needed. In case stone tidal weirs are abandoned, however, both communal spirit and traditional ecological knowledge would extinct.  

The traditional ecological knowledge, which each coastal community owns, is not only the key for the conservation of stone tidal weirs but also for their wellbeing. Seafood from stone tidal weirs is sustainable and healthier than imported canned or processed food.

Through formal and informal partnerships between universities and coastal communities, educating younger generations with such knowledge is one of the important success factors in preserving traditional ecological knowledge.

 

Stone tidal weirs provide prosperity and sustainability for coastal communities, and documentation efforts support building local capacity and social capital for the long term.

Gathering data on them and their related traditional ecological knowledge is done both in the field and in archieves and libraries. As for the latter, such knowledge might have existed only in written archivel documentsas many communities have lost their traditions because of modernization and globalisation.

Sustainable conservation and management approaches for large sites

The nature of Herculaneum’s burial 2000 years ago meant that open-air excavation in the early 20th c. revealed an extraordinary level of preservation of the Roman town but had to be accompanied by the stabilization of these multistorey ruins, and the reinstatement of roads and drainage systems. The site today requires conservation of the archaeological fabric but also of these aging restoration interventions, and at an urban scale.

However, efforts at Herculaneum in the late 20th c. approached the site as a series of individual elements. This was partly due to limited access to interdisciplinary expertise and steady funding sources – sporadic capital funding for one-off localised projects predominated.

With the turn of the millennium, a new approach was taken that mapped conservation issues and interdependencies between them across the entire site, and acted on them. Initial efforts focused on resolving situations in areas at risk of collapse or with vulnerable decorative features. Over time the focus shifted to long-term strategies for reducing the causes of decay and developing site-wide maintenance cycles sustainable by the public authority alone so that the site would not revert back. With these now entirely sustained by the public partner the overarching objective has been achieved.

Developments in Italian legal frameworks in 2004 allowed the private partner to contract conservation works directly and ‘donate’ concrete results, instead of financial support only. This allowed the partnership to constitute genuine operational enhancement of the existing management system.

Further legal reforms for cultural heritage in the period 2014-2016 then enhanced the public partners’ flexibility and responsiveness to the site’s needs.

  • Interdisciplinary analysis and decision-making for large heritage sites can be enhanced through the use of user-led data management tools. Integrating interdisciplinary IT tools in conservation planning, implementation and monitoring was crucial to greater effectiveness in the use of limited resources; human, financial and intellectual.
  • The long timeframes available for the partnership and the year-round presence of an interdisciplinary team allowed the development of a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the site’s needs, and extensive testing of long-term strategies to address them, before handing over maintenance regimes to the public heritage authority.
  • Extensive and problematic 20th c. restoration interventions are a challenge faced by a lot of built heritage where more knowledge sharing is desirable.
  • The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the financial vulnerability of the institutional model in the absence of ticketing income and uncertainties regarding the capacity of the public partner to sustain the improvements to site conservation and maintenance in the long term.
Stewardship Planning Process

A Local Stewardship Council (LSC) is the main representative of a World Surfing Reserve and is in charge of implementing the Local Stewardship Plan. The LSC works together with Save The Waves Coalition to Protect, Steward, and Defend their surf ecosystem.

 

LSC members work on the ground and with the local community to carry out activities that result in the long-term conservation of the reserve as well as celebrate and honor the tradition of surfing and ocean recreation.  The Stewardship Planning Process brings together the LSC and important community members to map out the the critical threats to the region and come up with long term goals and objectives for permanent protection.  

 

The Stewardship Planning Process generally follows the outline in "Measures of Success" that includes building a Conceptual Model, developing a management plan that identifies goals, objectives, actions and timelines based on the threats to address.

Enabling Factors include:

 

  • A well developed Local Stewardship Council
  • Support from the local government or municipality
  • Maps of the region and coastline
  • A well developed inventory of threats to the environment
  • A comfortable physical meeting space

Our lessons learned from this project include:

 

  • Relationship building between the stakeholders is key
Surfonomics

“Surfonomics” aims to document surfing’s economic contributions to local and regional economies. Through Surfonomics research, we determine the economic value of a wave and surfing to local communities to help decision makers make better choices to protect their coastal resources and waves.

 

Using a beach survey of surfers in San Miguel, Ensenada, we were able to quantify that an average tourist spends approximately $111 US dollars a day. As the average surfer spends 10 days per year in the area, it is calculated that a visiting surfer spends $1,151 US dollars a year in Ensenada. 

 

These figures show that surfing helps drive the local economy of Ensenada and that decision-makers must take into account the importance of the surf zone in terms of coastal management.

  • Volunteers to carry out the survey instrument
  • Partnerships with academic institutions 
  • A broad coalition of stakeholders is needed to carry out a rigorous academic study like Surfonomics. Relationships and trust must be built with local hotels and rental agencies, business owners, tourism agencies, surf shops and businesses, and most importantly, the surf community itself.  All of these stakeholders must share information and participate in the study in order to get an accurate picture of the economy of surf tourism in a given area.

Key lessons include:

 

  • Understanding the economic contribution of surfing is key to getting stakeholders to agree on conservation initiatives.
  • Running a surfonomics study can help practitioners understand the attitudes and perspectives of visitors to the area.
  • Surfers spend a significant amount of time and money traveling and bring big economic contributions to local communities.
Advanced technologies enhance surveillance

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.