Community participation in PA management provides development benefits
Full Solution
Beach, Mohéli Marine Park
Frida Lanshammar
The Parc Marin Mohéli, Comoros, was established in 2001 through a negotiated process agreed by the ten main village centers around the area. However, during political instability, external support dried up in 2005, and pressures on coastal ecosystem resources vital to the local economy have increased. The solution has been to revive the village dynamics around the protection of the park, and since 2014 to develop income generating activities for both local communities and the park’s management.
Last update: 02 Oct 2020
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Context
Challenges addressed
unsuitable agricultural practices, resource exploitation and stakeholder responsibility
- Unclear and inappropriate institutional and legal context; eroded division of responsibilities between stakeholders
- Siltation of the reefs and seagrass beds due to coastal and watershed deforestation and unsustainable agricultural practices climate change pressures incl. coral bleaching
- Overexploitation of marine resources, damage to corals by trampling and anchoring
Location
The Parc Marin Mohéli, Comoros
East and South Africa
Process
Summary of the process
The period between 2001 and 2005 allowed for direct access to benefits from the protected area by many community members, and a perception that the costs of conservation were worthwhile for longer-term development and sustainability. The creation of the protected area led to investment from local, national and international sources, including GEF. However, when the core support to Mohéli Park and communities eroded in 2005, and a period of social and political turmoil and instability ensued, access to financing, tourism and other market opportunities, as well as technical support and extension, drove a return to unsustainable practices and poor management of the marine and coastal environment.
Pivotal to the solution, and an initial return to growth and sustainability, has been the revived governance model and active restoration of trust and reciprocity between all stakeholders, particularly village community leaders and protected area management. This is the core building block that has allowed improvements in Park management, and allowed for commitment and incentives to implement the building blocks on sustainable fisheries and agriculture
Building Blocks
Revitalizing community engagement in park management
- Local community engagement in the park’s decision-making and management has been revitalized, based on experiences from Madagascar, which permit ongoing and active participation of community members in implementation, with involvement and buy-in to projects developed to support management activities. The regular dialogue between protected area and village representatives provides information on the activities of the protected area; allows for presentations of results from research; and raises issues and challenges that need a management response. In parallel, the park acts as an intermediary with donors to facilitate the financing of activities and amenities in the villages.
Enabling factors
1. Trust and reciprocity: between protected area staff and community members
2. Top-down and bottom-up political will to engage and improve performance to meet challenges
3. Understanding that protection activities are in the interest of national and global donors, but should ultimately satisfy local development and regional and national priorities
4. ‘Early wins’ – target areas of governance and decision-making that will show the highest chances of early and immediate success, such as octopus fisheries and prevention of water source contamination.
Lesson learned
The protected area began in 2001 with an open process for community participation. This was eroded and systems became marginal. By 2014, only a shadow of the former arrangements remained, while the challenges facing local communities and PA staff were greater. However, the chief lesson learned is that even where there is an echo of past success, it can be recovered by focusing on what worked.
Secondly, momentum is important, but taking time is more so. Trust cannot be rebuilt in one day, by one project or group. Collaboration needs to be inclusive and work at the pace of the ‘slowest’ party. One lesson is to focus on some short-term ‘wins’ as well as a longer term goal, in tandem. In this case, convincing all parties that reef closures can work was best exemplified by the octopus fishery, which can recover rapidly. By demonstrating a benefit after a short period of engagement, more trust is invested into longer-term gains as well.
Community action for sustainable artisanal fisheries
Targeted activities have been implemented that maintain fishing as a livelihood activity, while combatting destructive practices, easing fishing pressure on the reef, protecting critical habitats and developing alternative, yet complimentary activities:
- Establishment of a fisheries resources monitoring system: Use of surveillance sheets for establishing a monitoring protocol by fishermen and investigators. The data informs the protected area’s information system.
- support for diversification of fishing activities: feasibility studies to evaluate possibilities for developing sea cucumber aquaculture and capture and culture of fish larvae
- reviving other activities such as small-scale lobster fishing
- establishing no-take zones in the areas of the park which have been identified as crucial for protection of fisheries resources through a combination of local knowledge and scientific studies
- to discourage further offshore fishing, the application of techniques such as the use of fish aggregating devices (FADs) is encouraged
- temporary or permanent closure of the reef to octopus fishing, in order to prevent coral destruction, but also demonstrate the power of recovery and ‘spill-over’ – octopus will typically recover quickly
Enabling factors
- Ability to align local knowledge with science to identify the best areas, times and structures to implement, such as temporary reef closures in key areas.
- Knowledge and collaboration with the fisheries sector is vital also to understand the implications; both costs and benefits, of protection measures.
Lesson learned
The success of community-based artisanal fisheries protection measures is based on there being a tangible return within reasonable time-frames (1 or 2 seasons maximum). Alternatives take time to develop, implement and grow to where they can adequately support economic and cultural transactions involved in making such changes.
Momentum and support from communities, especially in a dynamic such as Mohéli Marine Park, where there are at least ten villages, is important to drive interest and motivation. Costs and benefits of protection are not always shared universally. Many ecosystem processes occur on scales larger than the community level. For example, closure of one reef to fishery access may benefit the neighboring community, but not that which pays the opportunity cost of the closure! All interventions must be perceived as fair and for collective benefit, over time, and at the scale of the Moheli protected area and its surrounding island communities and their ecosystems.
Sustainable agriculture in watersheds and vulnerable coasts
- Institutional support to producers in organizing themselves, to better engage with the local and regional markets and implement a more uniform plan and approach; reduce market competition and provide more inclusive access to production activities.
- Promotion of more sustainable agricultural potential products, such as Ylang-Ylang used for perfume production, using more efficient, sustainable and resource-efficient technologies. For example, using copper stills and providing better distillation techniques that allow growers to also enter the production chain and command a better price for a better quality product. Agro-forestry techniques reduce the amount of primary fuelwood needed for the stills, and reduce impacts on the watersheds for the island.
- Developing market-gardens and vegetable production to supply tourist facilities, such as hotels, restaurants, yachts within Comoros.
Enabling factors
As above, the revitalization of collaborative planning and action, shared governance and better trust between actors is an essential step.The Comoros supplies 80% of the world’s ylang-ylang, so an existing market and practice is in place, but such a global market is fragile. Engaging the interest of leading sourcers of ylang-ylang, and convincing them to support sustainability in their sourcing is an important factor that enables more environmentally and socially responsible production. Proven transferable techniques and methods are available for ylang-ylang
Lesson learned
The key lesson is that existing markets and resource opportunities should be the first to be developed, adapted and made more sustainable than looking at the very high transaction costs of introducing new alternatives.
The link to sustainable production in watersheds and the quality of water, and reduced impact on coral reefs is not an obvious one, and can be forgotten once programmes are up and running. Maintaining a connection through awareness-raising, collaboration between sectors, and regular engagement is essential for long periods of time. An initial campaign may start the right track, but messages may soon be relegated if they are not maintained.
Products such as ylang-ylang are part of a global market. As such, the commitment from sources and buyers, along the chain of production, is essential to avoid catastrophic market failures in the future. Using consumer groups and networks to encourage company buy-in to sustainability at source is an important contributing factor.
Impacts
- Re-addressing the institutional and governance framework for the Mohéli Marine Park has resulted in a more productive arrangement between local villages and protection authorities. Dialogue concerning impacts on local resources and livelihoods has moved from one of costs and claims to one of action and benefits. - Trade-offs between protection and exploitation have become possible, and resulted in reduced impacts on marine and coastal ecosystems. New areas of ‘no-take’ zones have both increased ‘spill-over’ and recovery of key commercial species (octopus, holothurians) and provided strict biodiversity havens within the Mohéli island ecosystem. - The active participation of villages in reducing watershed and coastal erosion are perceived as beneficial for their community, not just for the protected area.
Beneficiaries
local people in and around 10 villages and their communities, fisheries cooperatives and enterprise and Protected Area staff and management
Story
The main point of the story is that any protected area can revisit their core values and the rights and obligations of its stakeholders, and come up with solutions. Even when conditions are unstable, confidence is eroded, and governance models are seemingly broken – as the Mohéli case illustrated ten years ago when project-based support dried-up and instability ensued. However, the core values remained instilled, even as trust and motivation faded. A GEF evaluation mission in 2007 uncovered this quote from a community participant in a village meeting in Ndrondroni:
‘We want youth to be involved with Parc Marin de Mohéli. We want them to become motivated and to forget about all the past negative aspects associated with Parc Marin de Mohéli. We want them to be able to gain the benefits. Our generation has failed, but we should look to improve the situation for the following generations.’
Since 2014, renewed efforts are being supported by local and international agencies, including the French Development Agency (AFD). Initial gains have the potential to reinvigorate the dynamics on Mohéli, but only if there is a long-term will from all parties to uphold the new governance systems put in place.
