Local | PANORAMA

Use of Information and Communication Technologies

Awareness-raising activity on the beach on the themes of erosion.

Pessièzoum Adjoussi

Coastal seascape model in Togo.

Pessièzoum Adjoussi

A vulnerability map was compiled after performing a field survey with use of Global Positioning System (GPS) technologies. This has allowed to identify the areas most vulnerable to erosion.

Only available in French. To read this section in French, please download the document "Blue Solution Template in French: ‘Contribution à l’amélioration de la résilience à l‘érosion côtière au Togo’” from the bottom of this page, under 'Resources'.

Planning phase

Implementation

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local

Blue Solution Template in French: ‘Contribution à l’amélioration de la résilience à l‘érosion côtière au Togo’

West and Central Africa

Kawawana community heritage area: good life recovered through conservation

Salatou

Sambou

Community organization

Rehabilitation and strengthening of traditional rules

Broad discussion of the community rules with the community

Declaration of an Indigenous Community Conserved Area (ICCA)

Monitoring of the comeback of the "good life"

West and Central Africa

Kawawana community heritage area: good life recovered through conservation

Salatou

Sambou

Community organization

Rehabilitation and strengthening of traditional rules

Broad discussion of the community rules with the community

Declaration of an Indigenous Community Conserved Area (ICCA)

Monitoring of the comeback of the "good life"

West and Central Africa

Kawawana community heritage area: good life recovered through conservation

Salatou

Sambou

Community organization

Rehabilitation and strengthening of traditional rules

Broad discussion of the community rules with the community

Declaration of an Indigenous Community Conserved Area (ICCA)

Monitoring of the comeback of the "good life"

Information and communication of biodiversity matters

Monitors after a training session.

A. Sesay, Reptile and Amphibian Program – Sierra Leone

On-the-spot training of monitors.

Lamin Kamara

Education and sensitization meeting.

A. Sesay, Reptile and Amphibian Program – Sierra Leone

Appropriate information and communication tools such as t-shirts, posters, calendars, billboard as well as brochures and flyers are distributed to educate and sensitize the local communities about the importance of biodiversity and especially, raise awareness for turtle conservation. In regular community meetings and seminars, detailed information is shared and community members are engaged in the program’s activities, which is believed to be creating the feeling of local ownership.

• Appropriate outreach materials help to facilitate the process. • Involvement of legitimate authorities in the awareness raising efforts. They may include staff from the respective ministries, NGOs and other institutions that will provide the accurate messages about the biodiversity matters in the country. • Conducting meetings, seminars and workshops with the targeted community members, during which the materials are distributed. • Readiness of the funding for the activities is important.

• Appropriate awareness raising materials help achieve the desired goal. Locals have always welcomed the distribution of education materials like calendars, t-shirts, billboards and brochures during meetings. • The presence of staff from government ministries, other NGOs and institutions in meetings helps to communicate the importance of the conservation effort • Conducting meetings that bring together community members helps to facilitate the awareness raising process much more than individual meetings and talks, though these also help in some ways at times. • The more funding available enables the production of more materials and catering for more community members during gatherings.

Entirety

Local

Education and sensitization

Community involvement in biodiversity protection

Education and sensitization meeting.

A. Sesay, Reptile and Amphibian Program – Sierra Leone

Education and sensitization meeting.

A. Sesay, Reptile and Amphibian Program – Sierra Leone

Capacity development activities include: • Training of locals in data collection: This includes the training of monitors in using monitoring tools including digital cameras, GPS, measuring tapes, filling of monitoring forms. • Awareness raising: Conducting workshops and seminars during which locals are provided the appropriate information/education about the need for conserving the country’s biodiversity and the benefit they will derive from conserving their resources. • Payment of stipend: The stipends paid to monitor help to enable them meet some of their daily needs at their various homes.

• Identifying appropriate locals for the training: recruitment based on interest in the conservation effort. • Providing the appropriate training: includes the use of monitoring tools, completing monitoring forms and the provision of brochures. • Regular checking of the forms: helps in correcting mistakes and indicate the importance of the forms. • Awareness raising materials: motivates community. • Timely payment of stipends: encourages monitors and guarantees their effort is been awarded.

• It has been observed that dealing with locals that are willing to work on your project will help facilitate the achievement of the goals of the project. • Producing and distributing the appropriate awareness raising materials on a timely manner will help the awareness raising process. Materials RAP-SL has produced in the past include brochures, t-shirts, billboards, calendars.

Entirety

Local

Marine turtle conservation

Community involvement in data collection

Data collection.

E. Aruna, Reptile and Amphibian Program – Sierra Leone

Data collection.

E. Aruna, Reptile and Amphibian Program – Sierra Leone

Data collection.

E. Aruna, Reptile and Amphibian Program – Sierra Leone

Data collection.

E. Aruna, Reptile and Amphibian Program – Sierra Leone

The Reptile and Amphibian Program – Sierra Leone (RAP-SL) identifies and trains locals in data collection. Once trained, they are provided with waterproof files, pencils, data sheets, measuring tapes, tags and applicators (a sort of plier used to apply tags onto turtle flippers) to conduct nesting beach monitoring for six months (November to April). The hired monitors monitor the nests until hatching takes place. The day the hatchlings emerge, the monitors count those they find on the beach and watch them go into the water. Another group of trained locals conduct bycatch monitoring for 12 months in fishing communities. They measure the captured turtles (length and width), tag and release them again if they are alive. If the captured turtle is dead, the turtle will be buried. At the end of the year, data collected from the field is fed into RAP-SL’s database. The main purpose of this building block is to collect data on nesting turtles in order to identify the turtle species that nest on beaches, and also to collect data on turtle captured in fishing nets in Sierra Leone.

The success of this building block hinges on the quality of training given to locals about the data collection exercise, the regular payment of stipend to monitors and the level of assistance given to communities through community development programs.

• Regular training of monitors: it has been observed that regular training of monitors helps in quality data collection and raising the awareness of monitors in addressing questions raised by locals during their tasks. • Payment of stipend: the payment of stipend to monitors helps in motivation the youths in performing the required task • Community development: experience shows that undertaking community development programs within coastal communities will establish goodwill upon which to build interest in conservation programs. It is preferable to demonstrate benefits broadly to the community rather than payment schemes to individual fishermen for services such as collecting data on released turtles. For community development, the aspect that has not work is microcredits and financing community businesses. In most cases some locals deliberately fail to payback moneys to the community support or finances. In many cases, this idea leads to disputes that may negatively impact projects.

Entirety

Local

Marine turtle conservation

Ongoing projects

Network of Mediterranean Fisheries Cooperatives

Longline fishing boat in Morocco waters

Atelier Mediterranéen contre la peche à la Dynamite

Analyse des Indicateurs SDPIR

Goal

An informal network of Mediterranean fisheries cooperatives was established in the Mediterranean MPAs.

Process

Implementation of a workshop on the exchange and sharing of knowledge and MPA management methodologies, for the benefit of national Mediterranean artisanal fisheries cooperatives.

Implementation of an online forum for the exchange of knowledge, methodologies and impacts concerning the project.

Implementation and publication of a popular guide about the self-management of MPAs.

Implementation of an external evaluation on the capitalization of the project.

The exchange and sharing procedure followed the “Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation” formulated in 2007 by the Conservation Measures Partnership.

Informatics classes were organized to guarantee an effective use of the exchange forum.

It has been very useful to prepare two versions of a vulgarized guide regarding the self-management of MPAs: one simplified, destined for the fishermen and another one more detailed for the managers, project coordinators and institutions.

The forum must be established in consultation with the fishermen and the marine area’s respective administration.
Following the project, several fisheries cooperatives have asked for the establishment of a MPA according to the standards and approach used by AGIR.
Looking for financing to establish new MPAs
Implementation of an external evaluation on the capitalization of the project

Good Practice Handbook for Mediterraneen Fisheries-MPAs (in French) June 2015

Communiqué de Presse Réseau des Coopératives de Peche artisanale

Participatory research and planning through a systemic and prospective sustainability analysis

Open Standards Planification

Planification participative Pêcheurs Mar Chica

Goal

In order to engage the artisanal fishermen in natural resource conservation, the analysis carried out has included sociocultural, economic and ecological topics. The goal was to fill the lack of data to allow all the stakeholders to realize the initial decrease in biodiversity and the solutions brought by the project.

Process

The participatory approach used by this study has allowed for all the stakeholders to accept the results.

The study was carried out in accordance with a systemic approach including several components:

Scientific: “Sociocultural, economic, ecological indicators”
Participatory: the study has not only involved the project holder, but also the stakeholders
Prospective: the study has allowed to identify “current, potential and alternative scenarios”

The systemic analysis has led to an integrated action program for the sustainable management of the artisanal fisheries sector within the National Park’s marine area.

Artisanal fishery represents one of the main economic activities in the region. As a sideline, it also improves farmers’ quality of life along the Mediterranean coastline.
The main constraints to the artisanal fisheries’ economic growth have negative impacts on product quality, due to the lack of landing infrastructure and commercialization.
The flotilla’s fragmentation and isolation, which the fishmongers take advantage of, does not allow the fishermen to work under satisfying conditions.

It is necessary to minimize the growth constraints on artisanal fisheries confined to the National Park’s fishing grounds. The reinforcement of fishing gear and equipment has to serve as a motivation for fishermen to stick to our integrated management plan.

Defining the artisanal fisheries sector remains an essential step in the process of implementing a commercial organization plan, which has to be subjected to future project propositions.

In the sociocultural plan, the fishing villages are confronted with a high rate of analphabetism. The fear of losing their jobs, translates itself to the high frequency of poaching, the use of dynamite or chemicals and illegal fishing.

It would be desirable to define a new zoning plan for the National Park’ marine area, which responds to the ecological conservation concerns and not only to those of fisheries resources. This would guarantee a sustainable development for a future approach of monitoring and participatory evaluation.

Recherche et planification participative du secteur de la pêche artisanale à tr…

Sustainable commercial management of marine resources in MPAs

Pêcheur de Temsamane

To be added

Fabrication Nasses Coopérative des Femmes de pecheurs

Amélioration Capture PNAH

Goal

The artisanal fishermen’s quality of life has improved by approximately 30% within the MPA’s coastal zone through good resource management. The MPA contributes also to an income increase via the implementation of a participatory strategy aiming at the commercialization of fishery products.

Process

The fishermen cooperatives organize participatory workshops aiming at the definition of a commercialization strategy for the artisanal fishery products. The goal is to reduce the global pressure from fisheries in the National Park’s marine area.

Creation of “Rotating funds for fisheries” to support income generating activities. These funds are available to the fishermen cooperatives, operating in the marine zone of the National Park, but also to their wives.

The establishment of a climate of trust between communities as well as state and institution partners, prior to the actual project launch
The creation of a rotating fund aims to support the commercialization strategy of the fishery products from the National Park’s marine area
The fund allows to support the launch and mentoring of a price and quality valorization project, for the benefit of the cooperative of fishermen’s wives and daughters
Rotating funds for fisheries serve to assure the cooperatives' administrative and financial autonomy

The program’s activities aiming at the implementation of a commercialization strategy for the fishery products from the artisanal fishermen operating in the National Park’s marine area have to be prepared in consultation with the administration.
The involvement of the local population is also very important for the project’s success. At least twenty members of the artisanal fishermen cooperative’s executive office have been supported and trained to enable them to contribute to the commercialization strategy for fishing products coming from fishermen cooperatives operating in the National Park’s marine area. This has allowed a 30% poverty reduction for approximately 1200 artisanal fishermen.
The project’s financial viability is assured by the participatory planning and the local communities’ support for the sustainable commercialization strategy of their fishing products.