Strengthening of Coastal Zone Management Initiatives for the 3-Bays Marine Managed Area, Haiti
Summary
The primary risks to the 3-Bays Protected Area (3BPA) sustainable fisheries and biodiversity protection include poor governance, lack of environmental awareness, and unsustainable fishing practices. Therefore, FoProBiM (Fondation pour la Protection de la Biodiversité Marine) has been working with local communities to find a balance between conservation and the use of the natural resources in the area, by promoting alternative livelihoods coupled with environmental education on good governance and business training. As a result, the project benefits local communities by safeguarding priceless biodiversity, replenishing depleted fish stocks, raising environmental awareness among fishermen, and other stakeholder groups.
Classifications
Region
Scale of implementation
Ecosystem
Theme
Challenges
Sustainable development goals
Aichi targets
Challenges
The most significant threats for resource management in the 3-Bays is overfishing and mangrove deforestation for charcoal production and firewood.
The overfishing problem is a microcosm of what is happening throughout Haiti, where high levels of poverty and unemployment have caused many persons to turn to fishing to survive.
Mangrove deforestation is occuring in 3-Bays despite the fact that they are officially protected. It often occurs as a substitute when fishing is poor, which can negatively impact many fish species that utilize mangroves during a portion of their life cycle.
Unless significant changes are made to the current fisheries management regime, especially with regard to the overall fishing effort, the development of alternate income sources and the enforcement of mangrove protection regulations, combined with education and outreach programs; the ongoing biodiversity loss and habitat degradation will continue.
Beneficiaries
· National Agency for Protected Area (Government)
· University of Limonade, near 3-Bays.
· Local fishermen and female traders
How do the building blocks interact?
The strategy of combining environmental education and outreach with the development of sustainable alternative livelihoods directly addresses the two main threats for resource management in the 3-Bays. New ways of income generation will reduce fishing pressure, which will provide an opportunity for the fish stock to increase. Additionally, if stakeholders are environmentally educated and aware, they will understand the importance of sustainable resource use and should be more engaged to participate in the management and governance of the protected area.
Impacts
The goal was to improve the management and conservation of coastal and marine ecosystems within the 3-Bays, by providing educational and training activities and best practices linked to concrete actions in order to increase local environmental and economic resilience and reduce vulnerabilities within local communities.The project’s impacts were:
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Local communities within the MPA are empowered to contribute to the monitoring/patrolling activities, which will reduce the illegal activities in the MPA. The participants were required to take part in motoring/patrolling activities at least four times a month at first, both on land and at sea. However, due to the illegality of mangrove deforestation and other forms of fishing, participants strengthened their collaboration with the local national police in order to report violations; at this time, there have been no arrests or detentions made by participants.
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To steer local communities away from the ongoing overexploitation of the mangrove and fishery resources, the development of apiculture, as an environmental friendly and sustainable alternative revenue was considered a viable option. This demonstrated that money can still be made from the mangrove ecosystem without destroying it. Furthermore, this activity has strengthened the two fishing associations illustrating that they can cooperate to conduct activities outside of their "normal" actions.
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