Integrated approach to regional reef conservation

The strengthening of the protected area managers of the four project areas is fundamental to this approach. There has been a special focus on capacity building in order to better prepare them for upcoming challenges. Capacity building activities addressed not only specific technical topics, but also how to approach and work with strategic partners. This was done through several meetings between authorities and stakeholders and resulted in the promotion of local partners in each of the protected areas that cooperate with the administrator providing their expertise and supporting the management and sustainable use of natural resources. Among these actors are municipalities, NGOs, fishing communities and other authorities.

When coastal communities are collaborating towards the conservation of fisheries resources that surround them, it is necessary to provide them an alternative which they can live on. Somehow they need to be recognized for the effort they are doing by not extracting the resources and respecting it for a common property. Such economic alternatives depend on the dynamic of the area, the skills of the communities and the needs of the people that visits these communities. Several types of alternatives have been supported with the project. Some of these are:

• Protect our Pride. This initiative has trained and certified local youth of Roatan to become diving service providers in the island, which is the number one activity for tourists.
• Local stores. In Guatemala, three communities that supported and participated during the establishment of three fisheries recovery sites requested support to build local stores, one in each community, to create a local income.
• Cultural kitchen. In Belize, the group of women of the Punta Negra village was supported with the construction and equipment of a community restaurant that provides meals to every tourist that visits this beautiful site.

Monitoring programs provide ongoing information on the state of the marine resources that can be used for adaptive management, to assist in prioritizing monitoring and research activities, and to inform management decisions. Populations of key conservation species were monitored to assess the success of MPAs, e.g. coral reef fish larvae have been monitored to determine the connectivity among protected areas of the MAR. Also, the baseline for mangrove and sea grass cover was established in the four protected areas. The resulting datasets and subsequent analyses provide essential information to inform adaptive management strategies and assess the management effectiveness of the marine protected area. The monitoring programs also included capacity building activities for staff, rangers and community members to conduct research and monitoring as well as to improve support for conservation activities.

Most management plans focus on ensuring the maintenance of healthy, functional ecosystems, through direct management of the marine environment, surveillance and enforcement and direct biodiversity management interventions. In order to achieve this, surveillance and enforcement programs have been supported and strengthened in the four protected areas of the initiative. Basically, the support has been focused on the economic provision so that patrols can be developed continuously. By providing funds to a regular number of patrols, the Protected Areas can secure matching funds with other organizations and develop inter agency patrols. Also, while increasing presence in their areas, the Protected Areas have managed to acquire greater credibility and trust among local actors/fishers, resulting in collaboration from them assuming the role of community rangers and providing information regarding overfishing, illegal fishing and illegal fishing methods.