Rd October 2010 [a] Contents

Covering nearly 6 million km² of ocean across six countries in the Indo-Pacific, the Coral Triangle is an important focus for conservation initiatives. More than half of the world’s coral reefs, 75 per cent of coral species, 40 per cent of coral reef fish species, and six of the seven species of marine turtles can be found in the triangle. The area is part of a wider region that contains 51 of the world's 70 mangrove species and 23 of the 50 seagrass species.

MPAs present particular management challenges that need different approaches to protected areas on land, for example:

** There are usually multidirectional flows (e.g., tides, currents).

** Tenure is rarely applicable; marine areas are usually considered to be ‘the commons’ to which anyone has a right of use and access.

** Full protection may only be necessary at certain times of the year, for example to protect breeding sites.

** Controlling entry to, and activities in, MPAs is frequently very difficult to regulate or enforce and boundaries or restrictions can rarely be applied.

** MPAs are subject to the surrounding and particularly ‘down-current’ influences, which often occur beyond management control.

** The scales over which connectivity occurs can be very large (Dudley, 2008).
MPAs which aim to conserve fish stocks need to be developed with local fisherfolk to ensure success. Examples of community involvement in marine conservation occur around the world. In particular, many small community-managed MPAs have been set up in the Pacific and SE Asia. These currently are not always recognised as MPAs by the national agencies. One example is Western Samoa, where a network of over 50 small village fish reserves has been established under the Village Fisheries Management Plan (Wilkinson, 2002). A study of MPAs in the Caribbean found that nearly all include stakeholder consultation and about 55 per cent have active and formal mechanisms for stakeholder input. Fishing and tourism are two of the main ways in which MPAs benefit local communities. Fisheries are important for local livelihoods, and only 15 per cent of MPAs completely ban fishing. However zoning is practised with close to 40 per cent of active MPAs where information was available employing zoning as a tool for fisheries management (Geoghegan et al, 2001). Fish are the most important source of animal protein for villagers living in and around protected areas in central and southern Lao PDR. Therefore, the sustainability of fisheries is critical to food security. In Lao PDR, Fish Conservation Zones (FCZs), which are ‘no-take’ zones, are the most important co-management tool for fisheries. These zones have been established in areas that have been selected using indigenous knowledge. Since their establishment, villagers have reported significant increases in stocks of over 50 fish species (Baird, 2000).
[b] Conclusions

Although still only representing a fraction of the world’s protected areas MPAs have clearly shown that they can play a role in maintaining biodiversity and providing refuges for marine species. Most crucially, by protecting important habitats from damage by destructive fishing practices and other human activities and allowing damaged areas to recover they provide areas where fish are able to spawn and grow to their adult size; which can have the knock on effect of increasing fish catches (both size and quantity) in surrounding fishing grounds. When this occurs MPAs can help to maintain the many local cultures, economies and livelihoods which are intricately linked to the marine environment.

Sue Stolton

Lake Malawi National Park is found to the south of the lake. The park, which lies on and around the Nankumba Peninsula, includes Boadzulu, Mpande, the Maleri Islands and seven other offshore islets, as well as an aquatic zone which extends 100m offshore of all these areas. The park was designated in 1980 and was the world’s first freshwater underwater protected area. It remains unique in Africa for being established primarily to protect the rich aquatic life of the lake; especially the small brightly coloured rocky-shore tilapiine cichlids and the larger haplochromine cichlids which provide most of the food fish. The peninsula also forms the only freshwater national park in the world that is also declared as a World Heritage site (Chafota et al, 2005).

Management of the fisheries in Lake Malawi has to a certain extent gone full circle. In pre-colonial times the lake’s resources were under a common property regime and the fishery was regulated by family heads, village headmen and chiefs. The first fishing regulations were introduced in 1930, prohibiting fishing by traps, weirs and poisoning and excluding foreign commercial fishers from operating within two miles of traditional fishing grounds. However, enforcement of the regulations was lax. A Fisheries Department in Malawi was established in 1946 to regulate fishing and the fish-trade, and to conduct research. This implicitly transferred the control and ownership of the lake’s resources from the communities to central government. The Fisheries Act of 1974 was supposed to implement the government’s policy of maximising sustainable yield from stocks that could be economically exploited in national waters. However, policing of the act was again unsuccessful due to lack of trained staff and patrol equipment, and the low level of penalties for non-compliance. The 1990s saw a change in emphasis, with the Fisheries Conservation and Management Act (1997) recognising the benefits of co-management to utilise local knowledge and skills. The Act stipulates that co-management is developed through legally binding agreements between the government and recognised fisher associations (Kasuloa and Perrings, 2006). Between 1997 and 2000, about 267 beach village committees were formed but most were not been trained in management issues (Makuwila, 2001).

Lake Malawi National Park has been zoned to allow traditional seine fishing methods aimed at catching migratory fish in limited areas, although in most of the protected area the resident fish are completely protected (UNEP-WCMC, 2005). In 2002, the average annual fish catch was reported as being about 30,000 t; with 92 per cent of the catch made by artisanal and 8 per cent by mechanised commercial fishing sectors (Weyl et al, 2005). For communities in the enclaves of the national park Village Natural Resource Committees have been developed to work with the park authorities (UNESCO, 2000).

Chafota, J. Burgess, N. Thieme, M and Johnson, S. (2005) Lake Malawi/Niassa/Nyasa Ecoregion Conservation Programme: Priority Conservation Areas and Vision for Biodiversity Conservation, WWF SARPO, Harare, Zimbabwe

Edgardo Tongson and Marivel Dygico

The islands of Cagayancillo are the nearest human settlement to Tubbataha and are home to the traditional users of Tubbataha’s resources. At the start of the 1980s, Cagayanon fishers started to perceive the pressure of overfishing in their immediate surroundings. Threats came from increased commercial fishing and seaweed farming. In 1989, the near pristine condition of the reefs deteriorated due to illegal fishing, including use of explosives, indiscriminate dropping of anchors and unscrupulous collection of wildlife. Fishers from China and Taiwan also encroach into the Sulu Sea to catch turtles and fish, including sharks, using destructive methods (Tongson and Cola, 2007).

Calls for the protection of Tubbataha began in the mid-1980s and by August 1988 the Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park was declared, the first MPA in the country. This proclamation transferred Tubbataha’s management jurisdiction from the municipal government of Cagayancillo to the national government. It banned the collection and gathering of corals, wildlife and any marine life, and outlawed the disturbance and destruction of the habitat. In 1993 the reef was declared a World Heritage Site, the only purely marine World Heritage Site in Southeast Asia today.

As monitoring and assessment systems were developed and refined in the MPA the results of effective management and protection have been recorded. Hard coral cover increased and fish biomass doubled from 166 metric tons per km² in 2004 to 318 metric tons per km² in 2005 due to increases in fish size. This increase indicates that spawning stocks are maintained within the boundaries of the park; the effects of which are felt beyond the boundary. Indeed, perceived fish catches outside the MPA reported by fishers during focus group discussions were said to have increased from 10 kg/day to 15-20 kg/day for the period 1999-2004 (Tongson and Cola, 2007). Furthermore, the comparatively high fish biomass in the nearby reef of Jessie Beazley, which has doubled since 2000, is attributed to its proximity to Tubbataha which allowed fish migration. Jessie Beazley is only about 20 kilometres from Tubbataha. Basterra reef, some 70 kilometres farther to the south, is totally unprotected and suffers badly from fishing pressure (Dygico, 2006).

Dygico, M. (2006) Tubbataha Reefs, A Marine Protected Area That Works, WWF-Philippines, Quezon City, Philippines

[a] Chapter 6: Natural Security: Protected areas and hazard mitigation

Jonathan Randall, Sue Stolton and Glenn Dolcemascolo
The Swiss Alps are a haven for both walkers and biodiversity. Bright yellow signs mark well-maintained footpaths through forests full of wild boar (Sus scrofa) and chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra), up steep mountain slopes and onto the wildflower meadows of the high Alps. The forests feel natural and, to the casual eye, ageless, but neither is true. In fact, most of the trees were planted comparatively recently. Around 150 years ago the Swiss government recognised that deforestation was leading to serious avalanches, landslides and flooding and introduced a rigorous system of protection and restoration (McShane and McShane-Caluzi, 1997). Following a serious flood in 1987, further steps were taken to use forests as protection against natural hazards, through the Federal Ordinances on Flood and Forest Protection. Swiss scientists and land managers identified four main stages of natural hazard management: (i) hazard assessment; (ii) defining protection requirements; (iii) management planning; and (iv) emergency planning (Lateltin et al, 2005). They recognized healthy forests as a major component of disaster prevention and forests in the Alpine region. Now, 17 per cent of Swiss forests are managed to protect against avalanches and floods; services which have been valued at US$2-3.5 billion per year (ISDR, 2004).
[b] The Argument

[c] The value

More people are affected by disasters than by war (Christian Aid, 2007); in 2008 at least 36 million people were displaced by natural disasters, including over 20 million displaced by climate-related disasters (OCHA, 2009). Natural disasters as a result of earthquakes and extreme climatic events are increasing; partly because climate change is creating more unsettled weather and partly because human societies, particularly in poor countries, are becoming less able to cope with sudden events that can lead to disasters. As the number of lives lost and the economic and social toll rise, the focus on disasters within the international community has also sharpened. A steady stream of reports, conferences and agreements have highlighted the impacts of natural disasters and called for better disaster management in the short-term, and implementation of disaster reduction strategies in the long-term. Since 2000 much of this work has been led by the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR), which provides a framework to coordinate actions to address disaster risks at the local, national, regional and international levels. At a policy level the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA), endorsed by UN member states at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction, Kobe, Japan, in 2005, means that all signatory countries commit to make major efforts to reduce their disaster risk by 2015.