Making marine protected areas succeed not easy
When there is attention by global media on ocean-related issues in the Pacific, it usually centers on big-time commercial fisheries: bans on shark finning, vessels arrested and fined for illegal fishing, and revenue generated by the commercial tuna fishery in the Pacific.
Rarely, however, is there media focus on local, relatively small-scale efforts to establish and maintain marine protected areas. Yet these initiatives to sustain marine resources at the village and community level in the face of pressure from commercial fishing are of huge importance to food security for communities throughout the Pacific. In fact, one might assume these local initiatives would be more enforceable than grandiose schemes such as Kiribati’s Phoenix Islands Protected Area, a 150,000 square mile (388,000 square kilometers) zone, which has been criticized as a sham in a detailed recent evaluation of its implementation. It is Kiribati’s protected area or shark sanctuaries declared by Palau and the Marshall Islands that grab attention of governments and media. Still, headlines don’t translate to implementation and enforcement of sustainability measures at the grassroots level, where it is most needed.
The Micronesia Challenge, an initiative in the US-affiliated islands north of the equator to conserve a minimum of 20 percent of land and 30 percent of coastal marine resources by 2020, has gained traction but also has a record of uneven implementation. Major global environment groups, notably Conservation International and The Nature Conservancy, have joined in making significant contributions to the Micronesian Conservation Trust in support of the Micronesian Challenge.
In the Micronesia area, Palau has the most experience in successful establishment of marine protected areas (MPAs). The past dozen years in Palau has demonstrated that local-level action by the community, NGOs and state (local) governments, must be combined with and supported by both national legislation and funding for sustainability.
One challenge is to find ways to get the attention of legislators who are buffeted by demands for funding of everything from health and education to infrastructure and transportation that they tend to ignore financing grassroots sustainability work. It is as if, because subsistence fishing and food collection is so much a part of the culture, it is taken for granted as a resource that has always been and so therefore will always be. Commercial fishing—including ‘hit and run’ arrangements where a company offers a local leader one-off cash in exchange for a month of harvesting clams, sea cucumbers or fish from the reef—influences unsustainable practices in all parts of the north Pacific. Even as fisheries departments try to ramp up protections and enforcement, they can be thwarted by everything from lack of legislation and enforcement personnel to bribes and unsustainable practices supported by local leaders.
Noah Idechong, a former fisheries official, founder of the Palau Conservation Society, and a former Palau National Congress House Speaker, has been involved in developing MPAs from every level in Palau. He laments the fact that people generally ‘don’t think about the value of subsistence fishing. But if it all collapsed, how much would it take to support local communities? If we look at it this way, we can appreciate the need for sustainable harvests.’ What Idechong’s experience and observations show is that the islands need a sea change in thinking from fisherman to legislator to deal with a 21st century environment that threatens to undermine coastal marine resources.
In 2003, Palau passed Protected Area Network (PAN) legislation that led, over time, to 12 sites around Palau meeting standards set out in the legislation. The 12 sites are eligible for funding for conservation management of the protected areas, with money coming from Palau’s ‘green fee’ — USD15 of each airport departure tax goes into a fund to support the PAN program. In 2012, USD1.8 million was generated for local-level conservation work from the nearly 120,000 visitors. The key at the community level, says Idechong, is for people to see benefit from conservation—such as employment in the community for conservation management and ranger programs. He also said NGOs and state (local) governments are not simply handed money once they qualify under the PAN designation. Money goes for management according to regulation, requiring reporting, establishment of policies and other action. He makes the point that under the legislation, communities can nominate sites, if they meet criteria they are eligible for funding, and if they do work, they receive money.
Idechong points out the usefulness of locally-generated scientific information. As part of a review several years ago of a marine protected area in Ngarchelong State, at the northern tip of Babeldaob island in Palau, scientists discovered that 60 percent of the catch was immature fish. Palauan fishermen were following practices dating back generations, but if they continue, the science showed, it would eventually mean they’d wipe out the fish resource. Idechong and others used that information to stimulate discussion and awareness with local fishermen in Ngarchelong. He emphasized that the question asked of locals was direct: ‘What can you do about it?’
The plan, Idechong explains, is to take conservation action to the next level by moving beyond awareness of the problem to discussing closing off marine areas to rebuild the stock, and once agreement is reached on this issue, addressing how to ensure local residents have some income while an area is closed to exploitation. The aim is to get the government to provide funding while the state rebuilds its marine resources. He is hopeful that Ngarchelong will serve as an example of how a community can rebound from over-fishing in partnership with the state and national governments. In view of the Palau President Tommy Remengesau, Jr.’s environmental advocacy, the likelihood of support for this type of initiative is high.
The Marshall Islands, which over the past several years has seen the nation’s fisheries department and outer island communities work to establish resource management plans and marine protected areas, has yet to pass legislation or set aside funding to make these MPAs sustainable. Idechong, on a recent visit to Majuro for discussions with Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia government and environment leaders, says legislation and financing are essential to success. ‘Local areas must meet criteria and funding goes to the grassroots level of the community,’ Idechong said. ‘They need a sustainable flow, even if it is small. It cannot be like a one-year grant. They need to know it will come every year so they can rely on it.’
Legislation is essential to establish a system for funding and reporting— giving people confidence that money can be tracked and performance can be measured. One of the reasons that donors have in recent years delivered on pledges to fund the Micronesian Conservation Trust endowment is because the MCT establishes a level of accountability and transparency that satisfies donor needs. ‘If donors see you making progress, they are willing to help,’ says Idechong. But he believes local revenue is essential to successfully implementing sustainable marine protection efforts in local communities. ‘It’s your house and you want to contribute before you ask for help,’ he says.
The synergy that has developed among the US-affiliated islands means everyone doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel for conservation work to succeed long-term. ‘Palau lessons can accelerate the progress in other islands,’ Idechong says. ‘I know systems are different, but the lessons are meaningful and can cut the time element for implementation.’
