Subnational | PANORAMA

East and South Africa

The Litterboom Project

Raymond

Obare

Infrastructural development

Partnerships

Building capacity to monitor and report impacts of coral reef conservation

Participants in AGRRA Coral Reef Monitoring Training in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands

AGRRA

As part of the regular government budget cycle, DECR submits a selection of output and outcome indicators to demonstrate progress and justify funding requests. Capacities to track the state of ecosystems are therefore relevant not only to support conservation, but also as means for the department to report on its performance.

This building block therefore focused on the development of capacities to monitor ecosystem health and use monitoring results to communicate the benefits of ecosystem management. These capacities were built with support from the BEST 2.0 Programme funded by the European Union, focusing on coral reefs in the Key Biodiversity Area of Princess Alexandra Land and Sea National Park, as a pilot project.

This included the implementation of a training program for DECR staff and partners in the use of the Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment (AGRRA) methods and the development of a tailored Reef Health Index (RHI) for TCI. The RHI itself and the underlying indicators were recommended as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for DECR to report on their activities. In addition, further KPIs were compiled for DECR to monitor social and economic outcomes that could be associated to coral reef health, and hence, to their conservation activities.

Active participation of in-house staff and other marine protected area managers.
Availability of skilled staff and partners (i.e. experienced divers) that can implement monitoring activities beyond the training program.
Availability of equipment (e.g. dive equipment, boats and materials) to support on-site activities such as AGRRA training dives.

Ensuring participation of partners with a solid relationship of cooperation and in-house staff with career building opportunities within the organization is fundamental to ensure that the capacities built will have an impact in the long term. As some of the trained staff took alternative professional paths after the training, the capacity to follow up on monitoring was partly affected. In relation to this point, it is also key that capacity building activities are articulated in a long-term plan that ensures future follow up and implementation.

Building the case for increased funding for protected area and coral reef management

Infographic comparing the operating budget of DECR for protected area management and the value generated through the tourism economy of TCI

Wolfs Company (2016)

Presentation of the case for increased funding for protected areas to the Minister of Tourism, Environment, Heritage, Culture and Gaming of the TCI Government (Left to right: Hon. R. L. Higgs, Wolfs Company consultants)

Eric Salamanca

DECR is one of the main protected area managers in TCI. As a government department, DECR depends on funding allocated through a regular budget cycle. Although the government collects a number of fees and taxes that are linked to nature-dependent sectors such as tourism, none of these payments is earmarked to protected area management. Instead, these funds flow to the consolidated fund, from which they are redistributed across public entities.

Building a strong case for protected area management was fundamental for DECR to promote: 1. increasing funding through the regular budget cycle, and 2. earmarking of a portion of nature-related revenues.

To support DECR in this task, GCFI funded technical assistance for the estimation of budget needs and gaps for basic and optimal protected area management. In addition, an assessment of the tourism value of nature was conducted based on existing studies. By comparing these figures, DECR could show authorities that increasing funding was financially reasonable, given that its operating budget in the year under analysis (2015/2016) was 25 times smaller than the added value of nature for tourism and 30 times smaller than the nature-related tourism revenue for the government.

Active participation of DECR staff in different functional areas to help establish specific budget needs.
Availability of 'willingness to pay' studies in neighbouring countries and territories with similar visitor profiles.
Availability of information from tourist exit survey.

Active involvement of various DECR representatives in the preparation of the business case was fundamental due to the following reasons:

Key staff should have a good understanding of the information presented in the business case and the methods used, so that this can be used and updated in the future.
Key staff should also be able to effectively communicate the business case to stakeholders.
If any staff members leaves the institution, then other members involved in the process should be able to transfer the information internally.

Up-cycling plastic waste

Upcycled plastic waste

Marine Watamu Associations

The process of upcycling plastic waste to make products of value such as jewellery and sculptures is truly valuable. It requires one to assess the whole plastic value chain to identify the gaps, opportunities and pain points in order to plan accordingly.

Hotels and the general tourism sector in Watamu have provided a ready market for such products as well as training of community groups on artistry and connected them to business financing enterprises.

Create a favourable ecosystem for the products to access markets as well as partnering with financing institutions to enhance capacities of community groups on savings and investment.

Entirety

Subnational

Caribbean

Stimulating sustainable financing for long-term coral reef conservation in the Turks and Caicos Islands

Amílcar

Guzmán Valladares

Identifying mechanisms for long-term financing of protected areas and coral reef conservation

Building the case for increased funding for protected area and coral reef management

Building capacity to monitor and report impacts of coral reef conservation

Caribbean

Stimulating sustainable financing for long-term coral reef conservation in the Turks and Caicos Islands

Amílcar

Guzmán Valladares

Identifying mechanisms for long-term financing of protected areas and coral reef conservation

Building the case for increased funding for protected area and coral reef management

Building capacity to monitor and report impacts of coral reef conservation

Creation of employment

Beach clean ups by youth groups

Marine Watamu Associations

Creating plastic waste value chains by paying waste pickers per kg of plastic collected has created enterprising youth and women groups that have been able to eke a living as well as enhanced savings through micro finance facilities resulting in improved living standards.

Trained community groups have been able to become champions on circular economy as well as becoming agents of change through beach clean-ups as well as maintaining waste collection points.

The creation of employment must be complemented with training on the circular economy. This two lessons must complement one another in order to create a platform where circularity is accepted, understood and implemented.

Implementation

Subnational

Infrastructural development

Material recycling and treatment facility

Marine Watamu Associations

The established plastic treatment facility is very critical in developing pellets that were used to developed plastic upcycled products that were later sold as artifacts.

Investment in a waste collection vehicle to increase collection of plastic waste and expand operations of ramping up waste collection.

The availability of an established plastic waste value chain provided the raw material for the facility as well as partnerships ramped up waste from the hotels including training community groups to be waste management champions via Beach clean-ups and waste pickers.

Finding a market for the plastic pellets is very critical in providing sustainability of the plastic value chain and thus creating circularity in the plastic waste management mix that might involve upcycling, down cycling and treatment.

Implementation

Subnational

Partnerships

Art developed from plastc pellets

Marine Watamu Associations

Creating dynamic plastic waste value chains through collaboration between local community groups (youth, women) and the hotel industry. Where community groups collect and sort the waste. The value of partnership is very critical in ensuring streamlining circularity as well as ensuring synergies are pulled concertedly.

Partnering with hotels to source recyclable waste and training of hotel staff on best waste management was factor that accelerated organizing plastic waste collection, storage, and transport logistics within Watamu, Malindi, and Kilifi

There is value in creating meaningful partnerships through capacity building and providing incentives in creating circularity on waste management through training, dialogue, and engagement for the stakeholders to maximize their impact.

Planning phase

Inception phase

Subnational