Strategy and plan – Contribution to the system of the region
Legal and institutional framework
The existing legal framework for the formation of fish refuges is analyzed and reviewed. Tools for participatory managed fish refuges are identified, as well as for inspection and surveillance activities.
Clear identification of legal tools available, requirements and procedures for implementation.
Persistence in the administrative and political processes.
Socialization of legal framework with fishermen (workshops, meetings and informal discussion).
Community surveillance workshops for fishing organizations are opportunities to build trustful relationships.
Gap analysis of the legal system.
Coordination with the different institutions.
Development complementary norms to strengthen legal framework.
Budget for implementation.
Using fishing tools in protected areas was an important challenge in the Mexican Caribbean, and not always well received by the authorities in charge of the protected areas. Nevertheless, due to the technical and legal arguments, the first fish refuges zones were legally established in two biosphere reserves in 2012. This was supported by the intensive work together with the fishermen, several years before the Alliance existed. But when talking about legal and institutional framework, it is not enough to have a bottom-up participatory approach. Some legal changes require high-level work within the public administration. Efforts must be made in balancing both approaches. The Kanan Kay Alliance allowed to combine the bottom-up style with the more top-down approach from the public institutions, providing the arena for the discussion and building on a common goal.
A combination of public and private funds helps to partially compensate fishermen for their participation in, e.g. biological monitoring activities or general assemblies.
Budget covers essential expenses so fishermen can participate in different activities.
Fish refuges are resemble a bank saving mechanism that will ensure the fishing activity itself for future generations.
Fish refuges also benefit the fisheries in the mid-term due to biomass spill-over effect.
Willingness of fishermen to participate and lead efforts.
Organizations have the will and capacity to share trainings to members of the alliance.
Communication: appropriate language to create common understanding.
Having leadership and ownership of the fishermen in the Alliance strengthens and helps the initiative. The institutional actors, academics and civil society organizations support collective action based on community empowerment in a way they did not do before, because they respect one basic premise: if the fishermen do not agree to and support the actions, the implementation would not be possible. This approach additionally allows for a more direct communication, an implementation of basic principles of collaboration and a growing trust between the participants.
Based on a participatory bottom-up process, an effective, legally recognized and locally respected network of fish refuges is established. Sixteen fish refuges have been created since 2012, covering more than 18000 hectares.
Willingness of fishing organizations to improve sustainable practices and ensure fisheries for future generations.
Clear common goal.
Participative processes for designing fish refuges.
Combination of scientific and local-ecological knowledge.
Temporary scope of the fish refuges increases confidence of fishermen in the process and allows for adaptive management.
Final decision to create fish refuges relies solely on fishing organizations.
Support from collaborative network.
The local-ecological knowledge that fishermen provide about natural resources, fishing grounds and climate conditions, are fundamental elements to be considered in the design of a fish refuge. When combining local-ecological knowledge with scientific knowledge it is important that a transparent negotiation begins that will enable to have the best science-based conditions with social acceptance.
Then, a community monitoring program is led by organizations members of the Kanan Kay Alliance. Fishermen and women are trained and actively participate in collecting data. Hence, they see results with their own eyes and can then share the information with other members of the community. Once monitoring results have been delivered, during the renewal process, the goals of the fish refuges are reviewed to understand if they meet biophysical criteria for no-take zones and hence, if changes need to be done.
This “bottom-up” approach must be complemented with “top-down” elements to ensure that decision-making reflects the complexity of this process.
The Alliance unites a diverse group of stakeholders and serves as a dialogue board and facilitates the exchange of ideas, capacities and experiences, generating synergies and mutually beneficial solutions.
Common agenda. Allows to be clear and transparent about the main objective of the initiative.
Shared measurement. A set of indicators needs to be established to measure progress.
Foster mutually reinforcing activities. Through strong coordination.
Continuous communications. Trust is key; we build honest relationships between members.
Backbone organization. The Kanan Kay Alliance has a coordinating committee represented by members and dedicated to implement, coordinate and follow-up on the activities adding for collective impact.
Working together as a collective impact platform doesn’t mean that we do everything all together at all times. It is about how to boost the best of every organization, while respecting and understanding the strengths and opportunity areas. Communities must have a clear role in the decision-making, which brings us back to building block #1 about empowering fishermen and building capacities.
In order to start a capacity building strategy, a diagnosis of the fishing organization is first conducted. Fishermen are trained in different topics such as leadership skills, scientific monitoring, community surveillance, administration of fishing organizations, human development. Training is provided by members of the Alliance, such as civil society organizations, other fishermen, academia and governmental agencies.
Ownership and responsibility for the initiative by the fishermen
Active participation by fishermen
Strong leadership
Institutions with capacities and will to support fishermen
By bringing together social, environmental and economic topics for the trainings and not focusing solely on resource management related workshops, we have been able to increase collective impact and sustain it over time. Strengthening the three key aspects to sustainability has been fundamental. We’ve learned that our best strategy is that which provides leadership skills, human development, personal and organizational administration, business plans for fishing cooperatives or fair trade. Fishermen need to be asked and coached to find out their own weaknesses and strengths. Time and resources must be invested to include customers into the fishermen’s projects.
A multi-use zoning design for the Grenadine Islands
A guided marine spatial planning exercise leads to the development of a multi-use zoning design for the area. This increases the capacity to protect, manage and sustainably use the marine resources. Potential mismatches between the area’s existing jurisdictional (legal-institutional) and geographical (social-ecological) scales requires consideration.
Pre-existing cross-scale partnerships (i.e. multi-stakeholder working group) and stakeholder engagement mechanisms for communication and information exchange
Academic-NGO partnership to address the mismatch between the existing jurisdictional (legal-institutional) scale and the geographical (social-ecological) scale
Collaborative data collection & validation processes supported trust and ownership in MSP information
GIS analyses were useful to determine the spatial allocation of the sea in a way that maximizes societal benefits and mitigates possible conflicts. Although the system was used to support transboundary MSP, inadequate sub-regional governance mechanisms constrain the implementa¬tion of the marine zoning plan by either country. Although framework legislation and national environmental management strategies are in place, formal institutional systems for national and transboundary marine management need to be clearly established. The realisation of effective transboundary cooperation and regional governance is needed to determine the appropriate and feasible institutional arrangements. Likewise, the fostering of environmental political will is essential for the development and implementation of new environmental management policies, plans and institutions.
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications provided a framework for effective data management and integration of information from a variety of scales and sources, thereby increasing spatial understanding of marine resources and corresponding spatial uses. The system was used to demonstrate practical GIS applications valuable for ecosystem-based decision-support and marine spatial planning. Using a participatory GIS approach supported the development of ecosystem-level GIS spatial analyses of the region to be conducted and presented in ways that increased stakeholder understanding.
GIS capacity and access to funding for GIS software, which is generally costly.
Well identified actual problems that were of concern to stakeholders and could be addressed with the information acquired.
Continued public access to the transboundary information produced via the research website maintained by the NGO-academic partnership
The usefulness of integrating interdisciplinary information and multiple sources of knowledge for marine spatial planning is well documented, yet the actual framework and practical methodologies for acquiring holistic ecosystem-based information is lacking. We found a participatory GIS approach useful for identifying, collecting, integrating and understanding interdisciplinary information. Practical GIS analyses were applied to produce relevant ecosystem-based information. Additionally, the application of a participatory GIS approach (in terms of both information integration and visualization) proved beneficial in the conduction and presentation of information generated in ways that increased stakeholder understanding, thus supporting marine governance. Despite the overall success of participatory GIS, the maintenance of the MarSIS will require additional capacity building, particularly in terms of GIS skills.
Stakeholders gathering information on the use of marine ecosystems
Collaborative data and information gathering was used to: identify and acquire secondary information; document local knowledge of resources and space-use; develop an appropriate habitat classification scheme; conduct marine habitat mapping field surveys; validate information produced; and ascertain the technological capacity and information preferences of stakeholders. Furthermore, participatory research demonstrates the relevance of information provided by stakeholders, strengthens capacity and provides ownership of the information produced.
The preliminary appraisal was essential to understand stakeholders’ capacity for participation and develop appropriate methods.
Periodic validation meetings allowed for the production of accurate information based on local knowledge. This also demonstrated to stakeholders the legitimacy of their knowledge thereby promoting ownership of the information.
Public access to information served to empower stakeholders, build capacity and cultivated a cross-scale alliance.
PGIS resulted in the production of comprehensive and accessible information tailored to the needs of the Grenada Bank stakeholders. Collaborative data and information gathering served to: identify existing information; build stakeholder capacity in the understanding of the marine environment and related human uses; provide credibility to local knowledge; increase confidence and ownership in the information produced; and underscore the role stakeholders can and should play in marine governance. Communication and information exchange are important aspects of this building block and should not be underestimated. Providing access to all data, maps, and information via a public access website supported transparency and inclusiveness and served to strengthen the capacity and ownership of information by stakeholders.
Stakeholder engagement was used to refine research objectives; guide methodology development; acquire/document information including local knowledge; share and validate information produced; develop locally relevant and accessible information; and appraise the application of participatory geographic information systems. To allow for transparent, inclusive and equitable cross-scale interactions, stakeholders were engaged through one and two-way communication mechanisms (newsletters, press releases, flyers, technical reports, a website, summary and validation meetings) and through a dedicated internet e-group.
The application of clearly defined governance principles was of key importance to the collaborative construction of an appropriate ecosystem-based PGIS
A large initial investment (time and effort) to conduct a thorough preliminary appraisal was essential to appropriately design and implement the PGIS
Periodic validation meetings not only provided quality assurance but the recurrent sharing of results showed stakeholders how information was being used
Participatory geographic information systems (PGIS) resulted in the production of comprehensive and accessible information tailored to the needs of the Grenada Bank stakeholders. The PGIS process also strengthened cross-scale linkages, promoted a transparent and inclusive working environment and built capacity across a transboundary scale. Despite the overall success of PGIS in this context, there are constraints that should be considered. First, the cost of PGIS should be carefully evaluated. Accordingly the timeframe and objectives of a PGIS should be well defined and level of participation to be expected clearly elaborated before undertaking a similar endeavor. In this building block, stakeholder engagement was time-consuming, yet instrumental in fostering a collaborative work environment and creating buy-in.
