Awareness Campaigns
Tailor made awareness campaigns inform and sensitise the target community on climate change, its impacts and effects on livelihoods. These campaigns support the community to find ways how to better adapt and cope with natural disasters. The community engages in discussions and participates in the design of actions needed and thus to lay the groundwork of a joint project.
Conditions for adoption elsewhere: • A community depending on cultivation. • Knowledge on natural disasters menacing the community. • Data on the community’s socio-economic and natural resource conditions. • Preparedness of the community to engage in a joint project and its activities. • Support to initiate the process.
It is important to ensure that women and any other marginalized groups have equal rights and access to information and are fully included in the awareness campaign. For a successful campaign it is also desirable that cohesion exists between community members irrespective of religion, caste or any other factor, thus warranting access to social capital.
Vulnerability Assessment
This assessment helps to identify the physical and socio-economic vulnerabilities of the island’s communities. Topographic surveys identify low-lying areas that are particularly prone to coastal flooding and feed into a Geographical Information System (GIS). According to these baseline data, data on soil and salinity is collected at representative sample sites to identify appropriate salt-tolerant paddy varieties, fish and prawn species.
Successful construction depends on results from: • Support and technical expertise for surveys and geographical information system; • Salt resistant indigenous paddy, and fish and shrimp varieties must have a market value to ensure income for the community.
Disaster risks and preparedness of the community must take into account not only physical factors but also socio-economic and cultural factors. Vulnerability assessments provide the obligatory baseline data and information to effectively design and implement projects and activities at the most vulnerable locations. They provide the input to design projects with a socio-economically and culturally appropriate approach. The adoption of a participatory approach for scheduling and implementation of data collection by project staff and scientists helps to establish a good relationship based on transparency, trust and dialogue with the target group, particularly farmers.
Code of Conduct
The Green Fins Code of Conduct (CoC) outlines 15 actions or environmental activities that target environmental threats caused by the dive industry both on land and under water to help dive centres and individual divers to reduce their impact on reefs. The approach provides a practical system to encourage dive centres to implement a set of guidelines providing clear industry standards for environmentally responsible practices, and to promote marine environmental awareness.
• An active dive and/or snorkel industry with dives being conducted on coral reefs and/or associated ecosystems. • Dive and/or snorkel centres with a certain awareness on environmental issues related to the industry and a willingness to participate and address environmental threats caused by the industry.
The Code of Conduct covers 15 fairly broad environmental practices within the diving industry. However, through application the comprehensive criteria allow the Green Fins approach to include both common challenges as well as adapting to include locally specific challenges. Solutions to common challenges such as diver behaviour management can transferred between dive destinations. Through its multi-stakeholder approach, solutions to locally specific threats can be addressed by the Green Fins network on a local level. For example, a small recyclable collection company in the Maldives was recently identified by the Green Fins network and is now being promoted to dive centres nationally.
Rapid Appraisal of a Fisheries Management System (RAFMS)
The RAFMS approach was adopted to complement the PDAM in the participatory diagnosis. RAFMS focuses on fisheries management systems and considers the broader context of socio-economic, biophysical, and institutional dimensions. Results indicate five crucial issues to be addressed by IBAMO: (1) depleted fishery resources and low fish catch; (2) degraded fishery habitats; (3) lack of alternative livelihood; (4) limited institutional capabilities including lack of effective fisheries monitoring program; (5) lack of harmonization of fisheries laws and ordinances.
• Stakeholders active participation in the stakeholder consultation; results from participatory diagnosis
To verify the collected data, the summary and highlights of the results were presented and validated through a Stakeholder Consultation with participants of relevant provincial/city/municipal executives and key officials of Misamis Occidental.
Participatory Diagnosis and Adaptive Management (PDAM)
The PDAM framework begins with a phase of diagnosis to define the fishery to be managed and to identify the specific issues to be addressed. Key tasks within the diagnosis phase include: (1) defining the fishery boundaries; (2) identifying fishery-specific challenges and opportunities (past, present & future); (3) prioritizing issues, (4) scoping potential management solutions.
• Stakeholders deliberately consider who should be included in adaptive management.
Mobilizing a management constituency that is best placed to address the threats and opportunities identified in the diagnosis phase is an essential step in legitimizing the EAF and increasing the potential for its success. Adaptive management then involves the negotiated design of integrated EAF and their subsequent implementation and assessment though IBAMO.
Vulnerability assessment

Suitable sites are identified and prioritized based on the potential of successful mangrove rehabilitation to reduce vulnerability in the face of climate change. In the case of Silonay, mangrove rehabilitation was identified as a solution to storm surge vulnerability.

  • Existence of remaining mangrove areas;
  • Technical know-how and funding from NGO partners;
  • Community and local government awareness of ecosystem services benefits of mangroves and other marine resources.

People who benefit from the habitats, species and sites (and the services they provide) should be involved in managing them and making decisions about the project. Vulnerability assessments should be done at both, the municipal and village level. Results of vulnerability assessments should be disseminated to key local and national policy makers and local chief executives and community leaders so they can take action to address key vulnerabilities.

Ecosystem-based Spatial Analysis and Planning
Ecosystem functions and services of all relevant coastal and marine systems have been identified by various experts. Environmental and socio-economic profiles of the area were analyzed and spatially projected into thematic maps. Ecosystem-based management was applied in the process to integrate land, coastal and marine systems. Areas for economic activities as well as protected zones for coral reefs, mangroves and estuaries have been defined as a result of this process.
• sufficient and sustainable funding and commitments from government and parliament
The integration of both land and marine spatial planning can only be achieved if the principles of ICM and ecosystem based management are well understood by governmental officers, parliament members and local communities. However, it takes much longer than originally thought to approach the local government, and to convince local people and parliament members of the benefits.
A. Damar
Integrated Spatial Plan.
A. Damar
Multi-sectorial Stakeholder Committee
In the Bontang City area, intensive economic activities in the coastal zone include human settlements, power plants, oil and gas industries, ports, aquaculture, marine transportation, fisheries and tourism. In the committee, key persons from all stakeholder groups were selected based on willingness to cooperate and openness to new experiences. Together with a group of enthusiastic mid-level governmental staff, they participated in a series of meetings and discussions to address spatial conflicts of economic use and environmental protection.
• Interested and available local government members, part of them had been trained in Integrated Coastal Zone Management, being aware of the problems • Support from Bontang City Major • Good communication between private sector and government • NGO in the area • Continuous support from local people and local government to the process
- The role of Champion (in this case major and head of local government development agency) is very important in the success of this process and implementation - Good coordination and communication among the involved stakeholders are very crucial. Private sectors, local people, NGO, local government and local parliaments are the key stakeholders.. - Local parliament roles are very important, especially during the process of legal adoption of this spatial planning into a legalized-binding document and regulation. - Adoption process into legalized document of spatial planning is very important step to be a starting point of the implementation of this spatial planning.
Capacity Building of Stakeholders

SPC offers a number of regional and local training and capacity building programmes for national and state government officials as well as community representatives. These teach management and specific skills at all levels of expertise. This process supports the sustainability of CEAFM.

  • Assess the willingness of the political counterparts to accept “outside” support and ability to sustainably implement and follow up the gained know-how during the training.

It is very often difficult to guarantee that the officers trained actually stay in their jobs for a sufficient timeframe to actually be able to implement the skills gained during the trainings. Therefore it is advisable to include a more systemic approach that includes e.g. institutional capacity building in the respective agency.

Community Management Plans

Communities analyse their fishing practices and develop community-owned plans to introduce appropriate actions and conservation measures. This is supported by awareness raising programs as well as technical advice. The strategy is based on 3 principles; maximum participation, motivation rather than education and demand-based process. Communities should be convinced that they have the primary responsibility to manage their own marine environment and not the government.

  • Keeping the process simple
  • Respect local customs and protocols
  • Provide motivation
  • Make use of traditional knowledge
  • Use science to support community objectives
  • Adopt a precautionary approach
  • Suggest alternatives to the over-exploitation of resources

Local knowledge has often been underestimated however; most communities have an acute awareness of, and concern for their marine environment. These views should be considered when developing management undertakings. The success of community consultations depend on the facilitators. Facilitators should be equipped with the appropriate skills such as cultural, traditional, confident, encouraging individuals to give their opinion and good listeners than teachers. Facilitators should never dominate discussions or express their opinions – neutrality is of key importance. Awareness materials and programmes should consider its target audience, how it is delivered and who the message is aimed. Sometimes messages are defensive when interpreting the local situation. Community has ownership or assumed control over the managed area or fishery.