SEA Success: The ingredients for an impactful peer-to-peer knowledge exchange visit

Full Solution

by A B M Sarowar Alam, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

Traditional boats in Saint Martin's Island

Marie Fischborn

Saint Martin Island is located in the northeastern part of the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh. It is the most recently declared Marine Protected Area in the country (2022). It covers an area of 1,743 km2. It was established to conserve the only coral reef of Bangladesh along with its overall marine biodiversity and to promote sustainable livelihoods of dependent communities.

The national authorities have committed to the IUCN Green List, and the goal is to add Saint-Martin to this prestigious list of Protected and Conserved Areas that are effectively managed and fairly governed.

SEA Success, a UNDP Ocean Innovation Challenge project, gave the opportunity to pilot a knowledge exchange approach to support Saint-Martin’s stakeholders to overcome some of their challenges. SEA is an acronym for Scoping (site-specific challenges), Exchanging (on solutions experienced by peers) and Activating (the implementation of suitable solutions to overcome the challenges).

Last update: 31 Oct 2024

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Context

Challenges addressed

Ecosystem loss

Infrastructure development

Lack of food security

Numerous threats were identified on Saint Martin Island, including unsustainable tourism development, over-fishing and destructive fishing practices, plastic waste, and increase of feral dogs. These challenges need to be overcome in order to reach the Green List Standard and demonstrate successful conservation outcomes.

Scale of implementation

Local

Ecosystems

Coral reef

Beach

Theme

Species management

Ecosystem services

Protected and conserved areas governance

Islands

Local actors

Protected and conserved areas management planning

Outreach & communications

Science and research

Standards/ certification

Location

St. Martin's Island, Teknaf, Cox's Bazar District, Chattogram, Bangladesh

South Asia

Process

Summary of the process

The SEA Success approach consisted in conducting a self-assessment against the IUCN Green List, to identify the gaps in terms of governance, design & planning and management. Specific issues were listed and narrowed down to two key ones: turtle conservation and coral reef protection. These topics were selected against the feasibility of exploring them in a peer-to-peer exchange setting, and the availability of existing relevant solutions from the PANORAMA platform and OCTO’s network. The relevancy of the different solutions was further refined through bilateral online discussions with their providers. The solution providers with the most potential for adaptation and implementation in Saint Martin Island’s context were then invited to an exchange workshop in the island. It was then decided that a group of key stakeholders would go to Tioman Island in Malaysia to learn about turtle hatchery management and coral reef monitoring. The site visit was extremely impactful.

Building Blocks

Upgrade local knowledge

Turtle hatchery management was not entirely new for local community members and authorities. Previous projects on Saint Martin Island had supported successful turtle conservation activities funded by UNDP. The Department of Environment also implements turtle hatchery initiatives during the breeding season.

In Tioman, Juara Turtle Project, the host organization who trained the Bangladeshi delegation, formed by government officials and a local community champion, shared their turtle hatchery protocol. This protocol was discussed with Saint-Martin Island turtle conservation group members and adopted to upgrade their practices.

The learnings from the site visit were easily transferrable, even if the learning exchange only lasted for a week, because Saint Martin Island’s stakeholders had already a good knowledge and practice of turtle hatchery. It was only a matter of adding some structure and process to their current practice. Even though, compared to Tioman, there are species-level differences; in Bangladesh, the Olive Ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) is predominant, whereas in Tioman, the Green (Chelonia mydas) and Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) turtles are more common. And there is a difference in the average temperature range.

Besides, they also learned how to protect turtle eggs from predation, especially by feral dogs, the biggest threat for turtle conservation on the island. This latter aspect came as a bonus, as it was not expected to be part of the learnings.

Enabling factors

Previous knowledge and practice on the topic
Engaged community conservation groups
In line with local authorities' priorities

Transfer knowledge through local champions and key government officials

When selecting the delegation from Saint-Martin Island to Tioman Island, we made sure to have representatives from local government and community. Local government representatives build ownership of the project activity and are then keen to support and guide the work in their area of jurisdiction. It also helps to formalize the adoption of new protocols.

Regarding coral reef conservation, a local champion from Saint Martin Island community was trained in the reef check methodology. He successfully completed the certification in only 2 days, because he was already an excellent diver, - he is an underwater photographer -, and already knows coral and fish species identification. This training was for him a way to validate his existing competences, and gain access to a clear methodology that makes knowledge transfer to others easier.

Enabling factors

Capacity of local champion to transfer knowledge to peers when back home (holds already good knowledge on the topic or practice)
Local champion with a vision for the future development of the practice, to lead implementation of consequent activities
Local authorities' key representatives who have the ability to discuss the learnings with local community members

Lesson learned

The learnings about the protocol to handle turtle hatchery were presented to the community members involved in this conservation activities. The authorities representatives enabled a space for discussion on the new protocol proposed to be introduced, and this open dialogue allowed community members to be convinced and to adopt the more structured way of managing turtle hatcheries on Saint Martin's Island.

The IUCN Green List as a strategic framework

Saint Martin Island has been selected by the Bangladeshi Department of Forest and Department of Environment to go through the IUCN Green List process. A Bangladeshi expert in Marine Protected Area conducted the Green List self-assessment exercise with key stakeholders, and wrote the report, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the young marine conserved area. Coral reef protection and turtle conservation are both key management objectives in Saint Martin Island management plan.

The site visit to Tioman was instrumental in bringing and reinforcing technical knowledge on both topics, to eventually improve conservation outcomes. The Green List engagement provides a strategic framework, encompassing these specific activities and ensuring they are sustained in the future, because they serve a higher ambition: inscribe Saint-Martin Island Marine Protected Area on the IUCN Green List.

The expert also developed the site action plan, to guide improvement towards the Green List Standard. Turtle conservation and coral reef monitoring are included, which will help secure that the knowledge gained through the site visit in Tioman will be kept and put into practice.

Impacts

Saint Martin Island community groups leading turtle hatcheries have updated their practices with the adoption of the protocol that was shared by Juara Turtle Project, a turtle conservation organization in Tioman Island.
The local champion trained in Reef Check Malaysia methodology, is developing a training program to enable students in oceanography and government officials to implement coral reef monitoring on the island.