Richard B. Pollnac

Discovering factors that influence the success of community-based marine protected areas in the Visayas, Philippines

Community-based marine protected areas have become a popular coastal resources management method advocated in many projects and programs. While many case studies have been written about factors contributing to project success, few empirical studies using quantitative methods have been employed. A study was conducted of 45 community-based marine protected areas in Philippines. Several success measures were developed and analyzed in relation to a number of independent variables categorized as contextual or project intervention factors. Correlations between individual factors and the dependent variables are discussed. Stepwise multiple regression was used to determine the most important predictors of success. These included: population size of the community, a perceived crisis in terms of reduced fish populations, successful alternative income projects, high levels of participation in community decision making, continuing advice from the implementing organization and inputs from local government. The implications of these results for policy makers and project managers are discussed.

Fishery policy and job satisfaction in three southeast Asian fisheries

Abstract Reduction of fishing effort by providing alternative employment for fishers is a frequently mentioned policy option. This option is based on assumptions that fishing is a dirty, hard, undesirable occupation, hence employment of last resort and that fishers are amongst the poorest of the poor; and that the poor care little about the type of job they have as long as they make enough to live. This paper first examines the quality of evidence supporting these assertions. It then analyses primary data concerning aspects of job satisfaction among small-scale fishers in the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam. The analyses indicate that most fishers would not leave fishing for an alternative occupation, citing income as well as non-income factors for resisting the change. This leads to the conclusion that the above assumptions are not consistent with either the literature or the current analysis. Hence, fishery policy based on these assumptions or the uninformed sponsorship of alternative employment is likely to fail.

Back to Basics: An Empirical Study Demonstrating the Importance of Local-Level Dynamics for the Success of Tropical Marine Ecosystem-Based Management

This analysis of marine ecosystem-based management (EBM) and marine protected area (MPA) networks in the Philippines demonstrates that local-level governance and institutional dynamics are central to management effectiveness. Using survey and interview data from 36 communities in the Central Visayas, key variables are identified that are correlated with and predictive of marine protected area success. Empirically based management guidelines are: (1) EBM and MPA design must be context appropriate, (2) capacity development to develop MPA leadership and the technical skills are a good investment, (3) strict and fair punishment for infractions of legitimate rules should be utilized and appear to be welcomed by local residents, and (4) conflict and controversy are a predictable part of MPA design and implementation and need to be planned for. Most importantly, while scaling up management interventions can make both biological and institutional sense, there is a point at which institutional capacity is exceeded. This study strongly suggests that in the Philippines, and likely many other tropical contexts, establishing large-scale EBM, MPA networks, or extensive centrally planned zonation schemes based primarily on national law, international targets, and command-and-control policy are likely to fail. The pressing imperative of ocean-wide environmental decline should not be used to justify infeasible and poorly designed management interventions that ignore local dynamics and institutional constraints.

Evaluating factors contributing to the success of community-based coastal resource management: the Central Visayas Regional Project-1, Philippines

Abstract The results of a quantitative evaluation of community-based coastal resource management at six sites of the Central Visayas Regional Project-1 (CVRP-1) located in Cebu and Negros Oriental, Philippines, are discussed. The goal of the research is to determine factors influencing the success and sustainability of community-based coastal resource management projects. Several lessons were learned, or confirmed, by the analysis, including: variations in evaluations of project success by project staff and beneficiaries; early and continuous participation of beneficiaries in the project is related to this positive evaluation of success; positive cultural attitudes toward collective action were related to perception of positive change; and job satisfaction among fishers was high, suggesting the development of supplementary, not alternative, employment opportunities.

Factors Influencing Progress in Establishing Community-Based Marine Protected Areas in Indonesia

Concerns are being raised about high failure rates of community-based small-scale no-take marine reserves that are proliferating in the Southeast Asian region. Factors hypothesized to influence success include intrinsic community characteristics, project input levels, and change agent characteristics. An empirical analysis of these hypotheses was conducted using a sample of 24 villages in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, where marine reserves were in early phases of establishment. Factors found to influence the rate of progress were village complexity, level of development, project input levels, characteristics of community organizers, and degree of community organizer homophily relative to the community. These findings are important for community-based marine conservation initiatives conducting simultaneous interventions in multiple communities. It provides insights in how project strategies can be adjusted to increase the probability of success, obtain economies of scale, target communities more amenable to community-based interventions and result in a better return on project investments.

Tropical Marine EBM Feasibility: A Synthesis of Case Studies and Comparative Analyses

This overview compares and synthesizes the articles of this theme issue. It highlights that progress has been made toward the goals of marine ecosystem-based management (EBM) in tropical regions. Four key findings are presented: (1) Tailoring EBM to specific contexts ultimately determines success. (2) Employment of a wide variety of marine management tools is necessary and complementary to spatial management through marine protected areas (MPAs). (3) Although EBM approaches may be usefully defined using oceanographic and ecological principles, the design and implementation of feasible EBM will require, at least, equal consideration of governance and social conditions. (4) Interest in EBM has grown rapidly; however, this approach only improves ocean resource management if sustained by commitments from, at least, policymakers, resource users, and donors. Practical program design principles stressing the importance of leadership development, awareness raising, institutional reform, conflict resolution, adaptation, and evaluation are derived from these case studies and comparative analyses. A suite of empirically based EBM evaluative criteria, which can be adapted to local contexts, are suggested to fostered learning and progress.

Information diffusion in two marine protected area networks in the Central Visayas Region, Philippines.

In order to strengthen biological and social success of community-based marine protected areas (MPAs) in the Philippines, many organizations have begun instituting MPA networks. In the Central Visayas Region, Coastal Conservation and Education Foundation and Fisheries for Improved Sustainable Harvest are implementing socioecological networking initiatives. Educational programs, employing diverse methods such as cross visits and community MPA monitoring, are integral components of these projects. This article analyzes the relationship between education, information diffusion, and standard measures of MPA success (e.g., MPA rule compliance and fish abundance) in communities participating in these networks. Surveys were conducted with 13 individuals per community in 36 communities. Statistical tests reveal that the presence of a clear MPA leader, participation in cross visits, and presence of community environmental education programs were the strongest predictors of social and biological MPA success. Formal education programs (e.g., management committee member trainings) independent of other processes did not demonstrate strong statistical relationships with MPA success. Overall, the findings of this study demonstrate the current and potential benefits and efficacy of education programs for communities in MPA networks. When linked to a strong infrastructure for information diffusion, education programs have the potential to increase both biological and social MPA success.

Risk as a Basis for Taboos among Fishermen in Southern New England

The paper examines the relationship between fishermens taboos, a form of ritual behavior, and a number of sociocultural variables. Taboo usage was positively related to time spent at sea and negatively related to socialization in a fishing family. These interrelated findings strongly support the risk and ritual hypothesis proposed by Malinowski by showing that within a single dangerous occupation, degree of ritual covaries with the degree of risk involved.

Social and cultural characteristics of fishing peoples

The paper focuses on interrelationships between characteristics of the environment and technology of marine fishing and aspects of the society and culture of fishermen. Specifically, aspects of the work environment such as resource variability, relative isolation of the workplace, workplace hazards and spatial constraints, control over productive factors, and common property characteristics of the resource are related to social and cultural attributes such as migration and seasonal labor, sexual division of labor, workgroup structure, status of women, ownership of productive equipment, and insulation of fishing communities. It is argued that it is essential to understand the interrelationships between these various variables prior to making any decisions which would affect the fishery.

Integrated conservation and development: evaluating a community-based marine protected area project for equality of socioeconomic impacts.

Despite the prevalence of protected areas, evidence of their impacts on people is weak and remains hotly contested in conservation policy. A key question in this debate is whether socioeconomic impacts vary according to social subgroup. Given that social inequity can create conflict and impede poverty reduction, understanding how protected areas differentially affect people is critical to designing them to achieve social and biological goals. Understanding heterogeneous responses to protected areas can improve targeting of management activities and help elucidate the pathways through which impacts of protected areas occur. Here, we assessed whether the socioeconomic impacts of marine protected areas (MPAs)—designed to achieve goals for both conservation and poverty alleviation—differed according to age, gender or religion in associated villages in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Using data from pre-, mid- and post-implementation of the MPAs for control and project villages, we found little empirical evidence that impacts on five key socioeconomic indicators related to poverty differed according to social subgroup. We found suggestive empirical evidence that the effect of the MPAs on environmental knowledge differed by age and religion; over the medium and long terms, younger people and Muslims showed greater improvements compared with older people and Christians, respectively.