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Systematic conservation planning identifies priority areas to cost-effectively meet conservation targets. Yet, these tools rarely guide wholesale declaration of reserve systems in a single time step due to financial and implementation constraints. Rather, incremental scheduling of actions to progressively build reserve networks is required. To ensure this incremental action is guided by the original plan, and thus builds a reserve network that meets all conservation targets, strategic scheduling, and iterative planning is needed

Research for this study was carried out under a two-year project to support the implementation of Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) at two catchment-to-reef sites on Vanua Levu, Fiji, during which conservation planning approaches were trialled using EBM tools to evaluate options for re-designing marine protected area (MPA) networks. Current approaches in systematic conservation planning have focused on developing tools to maximize conservation benefits while minimizing socio-economic costs to users of a landscape or seascape area. In this study, we present a novel method for calculating the opportunity costs of conservation actions to multiple gear type users arising from fisher displacement due to the establishment of MPAs in Kubulau District, Vanua Levu, Fiji. The method builds upon those applied in land conservation in which the probability of land conversion to alternate functions is used to estimate opportunity costs to multiple stakeholders, which differs from previous approaches by providing information about costs of currently unused areas that may be of potential future benefit. We model opportunity costs of establishing a network of MPAs as a function of food fish abundance, probability of catch as function of gear type and market value of species. Count models (including Poisson, Negative Binomial and two zero-inflated models) were used to predict spatial distribution of abundance for preferred target fish species and validated against underwater visual census (UVC) surveys and biophysical predictor variables (reef type, reef exposure, depth, distance to shore, protection status). Spatial distributions of targeted fish within the three most frequently sighted food fish families (Acanthuridae, Lutjanidae, Scaridae) varied considerably: Lutjanidae had the highest abundance on barrier reefs; Acanthuridae on inshore fringing and patch reefs; and Scaridae on fringing reefs. Modeled opportunity cost, estimated as a function of abundance and probability of catch by gear type, indicated highest cost to fishers would arise from restricting access to the fringing reef between the villages of Navatu and Kiobo and the lowest cost would arise from restricting access to the Cakaunivuaka reef. The opportunity cost layer was added to Marxan models to identify optimum areas for protection to meet fisheries objectives in Kubulau’s traditional fisheries management area with: (a) the current MPA network locked in place; and (b) a clean-slate approach. The opportunity cost method presented here gives an unbiased estimate of opportunity costs to multiple gear types in a marine environment that can be applied to any region using existing species data.

The framework for management of the ocean and coasts of the Pacific Islands region has been evolving since the early 1970s when Pacific Island countries played a significant role in the negotiations leading to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Commencing with a summary of the provisions of relevant international instruments, this paper presents a broad overview of regional arrangements for ocean and coastal management in the Pacific Islands region. It considers the work of the various regional intergovernmental organizations with active programmes in ocean research and governance and the consultative arrangements that support coordination and collaboration. Consultative arrangements involving other stakeholders, such as local, regional and international nongovernmental organizations are summarised. To improve environmental governance and address increasing environmental threats, particularly in relation to coastal area management, consultative arrangements need strengthening. This applies equally to national and regional level consultation. The institutional and policy framework for the management and conservation of oceanic fish stocks that Pacific Island countries have been refining over a period of 25 years is suggested as providing useful lessons for strengthening coastal management processes and strategies in the region.

Project monitoring is now a standard requirement in natural resource management programs, bringing opportunities for greater accountability, adaptive management and social learning. While considerable effort has gone into designing appropriate monitoring frameworks and indicators for marine and coastal management, there has been less sharing of the mechanics of approaches that maximise collaboration and learning by multiple stakeholders. This paper outlines the project monitoring approach developed in the Pacific Islands International Waters Project (IWP), a project funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) involving 14 Pacific Island Countries. We find that a monitoring approach based on indicators to assess supportive processes, behavioural change and human-environmental conditions is useful for monitoring the long- and short-term impacts associated with integrated coastal management programs. Giving project staff the lead in indicator development has supported more strategic project planning and improved the relevance and value of the indicators developed. However, successful implementation of monitoring programs calls for ongoing collaboration, technical support and capacity building amongst key stakeholders.