Local | PANORAMA

Baseline data collection

Scientific data collection with input from relevant stakeholders, through public consultations and government, includes biophysical status and condition of the area, socio-economic status, resource use and preferences, governance, organisational and policy structures. Document data in a public document (Nusa Penida Profile). The profile helps to determine criteria for establishment of protection zones and as input for discussions with local stakeholders.

High diversity of marine ecosystem and biota

The combination of scientific data and traditional knowledge provides best information and baseline information for MPA planning. However, MPA planning should not be delayed until a perfect data set is available.

Planning phase

Local

Nusa Penida: Establishing an MPA Learning Site, Coral Triangle Center

Participatory Monitoring of Threats

The Monitoring and Evaluation Plan is a guide in tracking and measuring the status of the marine habitat and its organisms, the threats and likewise the management efforts poured out to the marine park. The Coastal Law Enforcement Team continues writing the logbook and reflect the guarding, patrolling, surveillance, every activity and event happening in the campaign site and periodically summarize or consolidate the logbook entries on a regular basis and submit reports to the Coastal Resource Management Office. The Local Monitoring Team does the regular biophysical assessment, fish catch monitoring, socio-economic and community perception survey. Annually, the ManComm will be assessed using the MEAT by an independent evaluator from outside the campaign site. We will improve the competencies and skills of the members of the ManComm through trainings, constant coaching and mentoring so that they will become efficient in doing these tasks. We will also capacitate some members of the MTWG in data analysis and results presentation so that evaluation results will be presented in such a way that the people in the community could easily understand

Local volunteers to compose the monitoring team including women fisher and wives of fishers in the community. Constant capacitation of the monitoring team through trainings of necessary monitoring tools, cross visits to successful MPA sites and provision of appropriate monitoring equipment. Biophysical assessment is regularly conducted in the PMMP by the Local Monitoring Team. They are also involved in analyzing and presenting the data. Monitoring Results are used by the PMMP ManCom and the LGU to inform management decisions

Fish catch monitoring report is a useful source of information to evaluate the threats and the conservation results. Women have a critical role to perform of Encourage more women (fishers’ wives) to submit monthly report. Give incentives to cooperative family of fishers. Allocation of funds for monitoring must be secured to conduct regularly the necessary monitoring activities in the site. Regular Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) is an important aspect in managing the Municipal Marine Park since it allows us to keep track on how far we have achieved our conservation goals. Training of second liners to compose the monitoring team is very important to increase the membership and meet the activities related to monitoring Informing the community especially the fishers about the results of the monitoring will inspire them to take part of their roles towards the management of the MPA especially

Local

Consultative development: zoning and management plan

Formalise and enhance local customs and institutions legally. Conduct consultations (in the case of Nusa > 30) with community groups, government, and private dive operators with specific attention directed to each stakeholder group’s context. Identify core zones of high resilience, thus high conservation value. Core zones have high coral reef biodiversity serving as spawning sites, and no coral bleaching during temporarily high sea-surface temperatures.

• Commitment from local government on MPA establishment • Community support and culture that respects nature and acknowledges peoples’ dependence on coastal and marine resources • Location of the MPA close to the mainland (access) and not too large in terms of size for management reasons

Planning and developing an MPA should involve a range of central and local government agencies, the local community(ies) concerned, marine tour operators and other marine users.

Inception phase

Local

Nusa Penida: Establishing an MPA Learning Site, Coral Triangle Center

MPA Curriculum: 12-part series designed to teach The Principles of Marine Prote…

Coral Triangle Center: Tools for an overall LMMA strategy

Establishment of plot rendering

Plot rendering is based on a strong partnership between a municipality, the association of farmers in the county (or pastoral Group) and the Pyrenees National Park. The town, which owns the land, extends and provides the plot. The Pastoral Group is responsible for the plot. It supplies the plot with dead carcasses naturally in its operations, and cleans it regularly. The Pyrenees National Park follows the population of vultures, initiated the project, and technically and financially supports the development of the plot.

The ongoing dialogue between all partners (community, pastoralists, government agencies and National Park) has clarified the need for health monitoring and identified constraints to take into account when planning the plot. The establishment of this plot, accepted by all partners and managed efficiently, took nine months of negotiations. French regulations strongly regulate the fate of animal carcasses. One key to the success of this project lies in the support of the state and taking into account the population of vultures in this area.

The local context of interactions between livestock and vultures was complicated, with several complaints about interventions of vultures with livestock. The 9 months of project development have highlighted the fact that it is essential to rely on an existing group. It would have been unrealistic to create the breeders’ association to manage the plot rendering. This is the first plot in France managed by a group of farmers. The plots are highly regulated (type and quantity of deposits, health monitoring ...), and collective responsibility can be cause for concern. In this case, although adjustments were necessary, the empowerment of actors has been a success. The last lesson of the project was the strong involvement of the community, the services of the State and National Park, otherwise the project would not have succeeded.

Local

National

Subnational

Designing and zoning an MPA for climate adaptation

The zoning of the MPA followed an ecological systems approach and now prioritizes strictly protected areas, ecological restoration, tourism development, and reasonable exploitation and development areas. The management of the zones is undertaken according to different requirements to meet the needs of the ecosystem and the local community. The zoning allows for specific adaptation measures including coastal and river bank erosion prevention measures. Mangrove reforestation projects are conducted at the mouth of the river and along the banks of the river. Several small dikes and sea walls to protect against flooding and rising tides are built.

The declaration for Hoi An to become an eco-city was a trigger to establish the MPA and ensure its benefits for the people of Hoi An.

The MPA management is currently not able to control the outside fishes' activities on their water bodies, which may undermine the capacity of local marine resources to recover from previous activities. Current outside activities of local fishermen result in the overexploitation of certain species. Further, they are often caught when they are still too small for sale. The Cham Islands marine ecosystem health is also threatened by upstream activities that have a detrimental impact on water quality. Illegal logging and hydropower development cause increased erosion which results in sediment discharge that has an adverse impact on coastal ecosystems. The diversity of stakeholders and conflicts between resource users makes it difficult to ensure local ecosystem health. Challenges will best be resolved by innovative, participatory mechanisms that encourage integrated management strategies.

Planning phase

Local

Facilitating a co-management dialogue

Through provincial, district, commune and village workshops, a research group has introduced the co-management concept to local fishermen, stakeholders, and especially different department representatives. Theses stakeholders have also been requested to present information on exploitation rates and catch issues within the Cham islands fishing grounds, as well as development activities and future resolutions. Shared responsibilities and interests of the state, community, and stakeholders have been identified.

Hoi An saw the need to bring together a multi-stakeholder group that includes government representatives from different levels, NGOs, and private sector partners for a resilience development and implementation. Toolkits were used for these workshops to address Cham islands MPA management issues systematically. Based on the scientific fundamentals, stakeholders were able to detect and collect community information while examining and discussing management issues.

Through the process of establishing the MPA it became clear, that this could only be a success if there was a high, long-term participation and buy-in from local stakeholders. Co-management provides support and results in the participation from all state agencies, managers, donors, and from outside and local communities. It has sought to promote positive community engagement and improve the state agency responsibility. Local community people depend heavily on natural and environmental resources to meet their basic needs. Policies to preserve the local environment are more successful, when people have a stake in the protection and use of natural resources, and received benefit in return. The co-management MPA management plan was funded and supported technically by the government, NGOs and even local participation.

Planning phase

Local

Training needs assessment

To understand the training needs among conservation practitioners and PA managers, a comprehensive survey was conducted at key universities, training institutions, and PAs using designed questionnaires and matrices of needed skills and knowledge for future training. The results were then analyzed to understand training needs and priorities, which helped develop custom training curricula for target groups of trainees.

Commitment to engaging the larger community of stakeholders in shaping the curricula - Engaged and effective local project leads with connections to diverse learning centers, PAs, and agencies - Project team with expertise in the design, application, and analysis of surveys

It is critical to conduct training needs assessment before starting any training program. In addition, this activity should involve a diverse group of organizations, including academic institutions with both undergraduate and graduate programs, NGOs, government agencies, and PAs. Understanding the similarities and differences between their assessments is crucial in designing effective training curricula.

Local

Establishing local management infrastructure

Local management infrastructure includes office building, boats, museum, which is necessary to support the effective implementation of the Cham Islands MPA management plan. A program office acts as a coordinating centre to set up the Cham Islands MPA zoning plan and regulation roadmap. It supervises monitoring and conducts research of coastal water quality and ecological system health. It coordinates development of management regulations and supports the development of alternative livelihoods. It also carries out public awareness raising and education activities.

The MPA project finance supported the set-up of the building office, museum, and purchased a boat. The contributions from local government and stakeholders are very important for maintenance and for covering the running cost in the first few year of MPA. Afterwards entrance fee collection will cover all expenses.

Capacity building for the communities in the Cham Islands MPA has been gradually improved with support from the local management infrastructure. The MPA museum has been very useful in serving as tourist attraction.

Implementation

Local

Intensive and active training courses in PA management

The purpose of the courses was to provide a professional development opportunity to PA staff that would be taught by local experts, relevant to the local context, and replicable and sustainable. The courses were intensive to facilitate participation, and used active teaching approaches to promote exchange among the participants, engagement, and skill development.

During the project tenure, a group of talented, knowledgeable, and passionate trainers was identified for training. - Producing training modules and other related materials for diverse topics in conservation biology, which can be used to support training into the future. - Providing critical skills and tools to tackle conservation issues in the country. - Selecting local institutions for hosting courses fosters sustainability and replicability of the training efforts.

The project used a holistic approach towards capacity building in biodiversity conservation and PA management. The knowledge and skills obtained from the training courses helped conservation practitioners and PA managers improve their performance, and manage their sites more effectively. More training courses should be conducted in other PAs in the country.

Local

Developing alternative livelihoods

Marking of a land crab. Copyright Chu Manh Trinh.

A community-based ecotourism home stay program has been developed. The approach promotes socio-economic development, and provides opportunities for local income generation. There is also broad community participation in recovery and sustainable exploitation of Cu Lao Cham Land Crabs. They developed a common guideline, which supports local people to form a land crab group that will issue and approve regulations governing the use of crabs.

Hoi An Old Town – The World Culture Heritage Site within millions of tourists a year is a wonderful support for the Cham Islands MPA alternative livelihood development

The community-based ecotourism home stay program ensures that local people recap the benefits of tourism directly, instead of outside tour operators. The common guideline, approving regulations governing the use of crabs, ensures buy-in from local people to a conversation ethic, which has in fact increased the price of land crabs and their income.

Implementation

Local