MPAs as part of solution towards a resilient eco-city
Full Solution
Aerial view of Cham Islands and Hoi An. Copyright Bui Kien Quoc.
The Cham Islands MPA, as well as the Biosphere Reserve, are probably the most significant programs towards resilience-building in Hoi An. Hoi An officially declared its vision to become an eco-city by 2030. The MPA allows Hoi An to regulate fishing activities and pollution. The MPA has also supported the development of eco-tourism models to diversify local income sources, proving that environmental protection can also be compatible with economic growth.
Last update: 09 Mar 2021
9264 Views
Photo and video gallery
Context
Challenges addressed
Hoi An is flooded every year during the winter, incapacitating all economic and social life in the city. Typhoons are also a big hazard, destroying crops, buildings, homes, schools, and infrastructure, and endangering people’s lives. Saline intrusion is also a concern and has been steadily increasing. Coastal and riverbank erosion is a serious challenge, with 8km of beach coastline lost.
Location
Cham Islands, Hoi An, Vietnam
Southeast Asia
Process
Summary of the process
It was important that a risk assessment was conducted to better evaluate the severity and frequency of the impacts on Hoi An city. An MPA, alongside other measures towards an eco-city by 2030, would be able to not only help reduce coastal erosion but also provide sustainable income sources as well as generate ideas for new livelihoods. The Cham Islands MPA has for example supported opportunities to build and develop the community-based ecotourism home stay program, which provides job opportunities and improve life standards for local people. It also supported the local fishery management. It gives community-members the rights to access the natural and environmental resources that are essential components of their traditional livelihoods. The MPA could only be a success if there was a high, long-term participation and buy-in from local stakeholders. The co-management model has been developed towards this purpose. It also supports Hoi An city to develop and implement integrated and adaptive management strategies, which are based on the sustainability of local natural and environmental resources, while fulfilling development requirements.
Building Blocks
Conducting formal risk assessment
The building block aims to help communities identify their risks. Risk scenarios and the action plan are developed. Complimentary surveys from biodiversity, environmental quality, fishery, and social economic studies are included into the risk assessment.
Enabling factors
Availability of data in the literature, from local governments. Qualified technical staff to analyze results from scientific monitoring on local climate change, biodiversity and livelihoods.
Lesson learned
Scientific information and community knowledge are necessary input data to produce a complete risk assessment.
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.
Enabling factors
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.
Lesson learned
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.
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.
Enabling factors
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.
Lesson learned
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.
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.
Enabling factors
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.
Lesson learned
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.
Developing alternative livelihoods
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.
Enabling factors
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
Lesson learned
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.
Enabling stakeholder-driven patrolling and enforcement
Maintaining oversight and monitoring of the marine protected area are conducted with various agencies working in the area. These include the Border Guard, local police, and local people. It is very important to encourage local communities to participate in patrolling and provide information on violations, as well as giving them a direct stake in local natural resource protection.
Enabling factors
Participation of various agencies: the Border Guard, local police, and local people. MPA entrance fees support for running costs Well trained patrolling and enforcement team.
Lesson learned
The development and implementation involves various agencies: the Border Guard, local police, and local people. This ensures a high and direct stake of local communities in local natural resource protection so to generate information on violations.
Impacts
The MPA has supported opportunities to build and develop the community-based ecotourism home stay program. From 2002 to 2013, the number of tourists to the Cham Islands has increased from 1.000 tourists in 2002 to 150,000 tourists in 2013. The community-based land crab management program has demonstrated the power of thoughtful and sustained community participation in environmental decision-making. Prior to the work of the MPA, the land crab population has degraded gradually. 75% of the land crab population is now conserved, and the income of local participants four times larger.
Beneficiaries
Local communities, fishermen, tourism operators and tourists.
Story
The community participation in environmental and natural resources management has been improved gradually for the period from October 2003 to October 2013. The integrated and adaptive ecosystem management approach was applied by local people who were introduced to marine conservation, functional zoning, and control fishing. The year of 2006 indicated a strong change in the Cham Islands management system: The whole MPA is now managed by a community organization. Particularly, the MPA patrolling team has received a focal point who coordinates between different stakeholders, border guards, local police, fishery inspectors and communities to manage the marine resources in accordance with provisions for fishing on coral reefs and sea grass beds. In 2008 the Cham Islands community management approach started to integrate the six target marine resources: coral reefs, sea grass beds, lobsters, land crabs, beaches, and limpets. Based on the approved MPA management plan, the sustainable financial mechanism has been developed and implemented. During the period from 2009 until 2013, the Cham Islands MPA community management prioritized tourism activities. Community efforts were encouraged such as garbage separation at sources, avoiding the use of plastic bags, land crabs labeling. However, the tourism development also together with burden challenges on the natural resources consumption. Cham Islands MPA contribution serves the local community economic development. The Cham Islands community economic livelihood pattern was assessed by designed indicators for showing the community participation, the co-management on environmental and natural resource protection process, and Cham Islands people life quality, from October 2003 to October 2013.
