Search the SPREP Catalogue

This report explores the role of traditional marine resources management in meeting both the goals of communities and those of national and international conservation strategies. Specifically, it aims to inform policy-makers and those working for international organisations and donor agencies about how traditional practices are applied in various Pacific Island countries, how concepts such as the ecosystem approach and adaptive management are incorporated, whether traditional marine managed areas (MMAs) are recognised by national law, and how and whether they are seen to contribute to national and international protected areas and conservation targets. The report also reflects on the issue of marine genetic resources, and access to and benefit-sharing of these resources.

CONSERVATION SERVING COMMUNITIES in a rapidly changing world

The main influences on environmental decision-making in rural parts of the Pacific Islands region are emulation, experience, and inferred best-practice. Emulation means that often one community will simply copy the solution adopted by another community in response to what is perceived to be the same challenge. It is in this way that maladaptation has spread through many parts of the Pacific, particularly what has been referred to as the seawall mindset. Experience means that a community will often do what they did before in response to a particular challenge, even though (i) the former challenge may have been different to the present one, and (ii) the efficacy of the response to the earlier challenge has not been fully evaluated. Inferred best-practice is the only response that includes externally-derived information to any significant extent. It involves community leaders and their advisers relating their knowledge about inferred best-practice in response to a particular challenge elsewhere. Often that knowledge is highly prized and is influential in the particular decision that the community takes, but often it is in error and therefore unhelpful in informing the decision

The South Pacific1 has experienced a remarkable proliferation of Marine Managed Areas (MMAs) in the last decade. These protected areas, implemented by over 500 communities spanning 15 independent countries and territories represent a unique global achievement. The approaches being developed at national levels are built on a unique feature of the region, customary tenure and resource access, and make use of, in most cases, existing community strengths in traditional knowledge and governance, combined with a local awareness of the need for action, resulting in what have been most aptly termed Locally Managed Marine Areas (LMMAs). The main driver in most cases, is a community desire to maintain or improve livelihoods, often related to perceived threats to food security or local economic revenue. In the South Pacific, conservation and sustainable use are often seen as inseparable as part of the surviving concepts of traditional environmental stewardship. The extent of this shift towards Community Based Resource Management in Melanesia and Polynesia is unprecedented on a global scale and is the subject of this report.

Cyclone Dani and cyclone Ella battered the northern island of Espiritu Santo early in 1999. Both cyclones were reported to have resulted in heavy rain and wind damage to the Vatthe Conservation Area. Charles Vatu, Conservation Area Support Officer estimated that about 20% of the rainforest trees in the CA were wind thrown and another 70% branchless. Damage to the ecotourism infrastructure, bungalows and trails and houses in both Sara and Matantas Villages were also reported.

In 1981, the Isabel provincial government first recognized the importance of the Arnavon Islands as a nesting ground for Hawksbill turtles, and designated the islands as a Wildlife Sanctuary. At that time, however, the government did not adequately recognize the local communities' rights and the project failed. In 1989, the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) collaborated with the Solomon Islands government and the Ministry of Natural Resources (now the Ministry of Forestry, Environment and Conservation or MFEC) to survey the Hawksbill turtle nesting beaches and populations in the northern Solomon Islands including the Amavons. The surveys documented the severe depletion of the Hawksbill turtle population due to the turtle shell (bekko) export trade which has flourished in recent years. As a result of the surveys interest was renewed for conservation in the area and local communities were approached for their support in establishing a conservation area. Through its close association with SPREP and MFEC, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) was invited by the government to take a leading role in developing and implementing a marine conservation area project to protect turtle nesting beaches and other important marine and island species on the Arnavon Islands.

Several urban areas and popular tourist destinations have suffered from pollution from the land, significant fishing pressure, recreational overuse, and alien species. Despite these pressures, many coral reefs in Hawai'i remain in fair to good condition, especially remote reefs; Most MPAs have proven to be highly effective in conserving biodiversity and fisheries resources. MPA size, habitat quality, and level of protection are the most important success factors, but several MPAs are too small to have significant effects outside their boundaries; Community-based management has been effective at several locations in Hawai'i and expansion of these efforts is being encouraged; Continued invasion and degradation of new habitats by alien species remains one of the most pressing threats to reefs in Hawai'i; The Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument (PMNM) is the largest fully protected marine conservation area in the world, with a unique predator-dominated trophic structure, many endemic species, and many threatened and endangered species. This is an important global biodiversity 'hot spot'; Global impacts such as climate change (sea level rise, ocean warming and acidification) and marine debris threaten the unique ecosystem of the PMNM, and rapid international action is needed.

This is the first Roundtable meeting since the 2007 8th Pacific Islands Conference on Nature Conservation, held in Alotau, Papua New Guinea. All previous working groups and activities of the Roundtable were disbanded and a new set of activities proposed to the Heads of Roundtable Organisations meeting for discussion. The Heads of Roundtable Organisations meeting consisted of people with decision making ability for their organizations or with designated decision making ability. The Roundtable meeting on the second two days was for other Roundtable organization participants and developed and confirmed charters for working groups and discussed other issues pertinent to conservation in the region.

The waters surrounding Choiseul contain some of the highest diversities of coral and reef fish in the world, with the 2004 Solomon Island Marine Assessment showing that the Solomon Islands are part of the global centre for marine diversity known as the Coral Triangle. Other countries that make up the Coral Triangle are Indonesia, Philippines, parts of Malaysia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea. Since 2004 The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the Lauru Land Conference of Tribal Community (LLCTC) and Choiseul provincial fisheries have assisted five local communities around Choiseul in their efforts to establish Marine Conservation Areas (MCA) on their traditional reefs. The first MCA to be established was the Zinoa MCA. Zinoa is located on the south-west side of Choiseul in the Solomon Islands. The Zinoa MCA was established by traditional leaders in November 2004, covering 150 hectares and consisting of two islands and associated reefs that occur approximately one kilometre offshore from Voza village on the Choiseul mainland. The reefs around Zinoa Islands are representative of this region of the South coast of Choiseul. In early 2005 sea cucumbers, trochus and giant clams around Zinoa Islands were reported by traditional reef owners to be only a tiny fraction of their former abundance and food fish populations were also reported to be in decline.

The Question of how much Conservation is enough is one that is almost impossible to answer. There must first be some agreement on basic principles or goals, such as the desirability of preserving the diversity of life on this planet, but even then the specific application of these principles to local situations can raise many complex issues (is feeding hungry children more important than saving an endangered land snail?) Adequacy of protected area coverage may seem very different viewed from a world scientific perspective or from that of a local decision-maker who seeks to balance many different demands. Ultimately decisions on adequacy must be made by each country, although hopefully the needs of the world community will be taken into account. This paper looks at the principles by which adequacy of protected area coverage must be judged, evaluates the present status of conservation action in Oceania, and then develops some goals for protected area development in the region.