6. Group work focusing on key resilience strategies The team produced report cards for 14 resilience strategies identified from the academic literature. These were prioritised by the participants and four were discussed in detail. The table below provides a summary of these discussions. The micro-finance group also discussed Locally Managed Marine Areas (LMMAs). While the output of this discussion is not captured here, it will be in the incorporated into the literature review. Payments for Ecosystem Services Micro-finance Alternative Livelihood Strategies (ALS) Coral reef restoration Where have they been applied in the WIO? No working examples in WIO, other than REDD+ project in mangroves in Zanzibar. There is interest: Seychelles considering two schemes (bottled water companies paying Seychelles National Parks Authority for forest management and hotels pay towards marine park management). BV (Madagascar) working on a REDD+ project. In Mauritius, user fees are charged for marine parks with revenue contributing to marine management. One example of VICOBA (Village Community Banks) in Tanzania Strategy is used throughout the WIO. Eco-tourism and mariculture were considered particularly important alternative livelihoods, especially in low income countries. Women seen as a key target group for the development of alternative livelihoods. Examples of in Comoros and mariculture in Madagascar. In Mauritius, expectations for those leaving fishing is focused on professional level occupations. In Mauritius Small pilots (from 2010) Academic , Government, NGOs, tourism Developing international projects Shipwrecks (since 1980) countries were not discussed as all participants were from Mauritius. How are we or should we monitor the outcomes of PES schemes? Need to monitor: that money does go to ecosystem management, restoration and enhancement. to demonstrate benefits to ensure enforcement. for transparency Donors provide match funding for VICOBA and are responsible for monitoring the outcomes. Evaluations are rarely published so little is known about the benefits of VICOBA. Monitoring is needed to ensure: community is helped to deliver the good/service and have required training. good/service is provided in a quality assured, timely manner. Monitoring to date has been limited (as expensive, resource intensive, and lack skilled personnel), but data loggers have been deployed at some nurseries and are diver anecdotes from artificial reefs
Benefits to different communities/stakeholders will need to be monitored in different ways. the ecosystem is managed, restored, enhanced through alternative livelihood strategies Also need to monitor who is benefiting. Need robust and consistent data from community and ecosystem perspective. NGOS well placed to offer this monitoring. Independent evaluation also needed. There is a need for more site monitoring before projects begin and generally more ecological and monitoring What has been successful? Too early to tell as no working examples, but successes generated from payments for use schemes: Many direct and indirect benefits. Human pressure relieved from sites. Shift in jobs from fishing to tourism. Enforcement not always successful. Money used to improve stakeholder communication. There is a general sense that such schemes are beneficial but little documented evidence. Success more likely where: Support is provided to help members develop by-laws to guide repayment of loans. Training modules are provided to help members start and manage a business or project. BV in Madagascar is considered very successful. Focused on seaweed and sea cucumber farming with fishing families. BV works as intermediary between workers and the company buying the product. In Comoros, fishers seen as key group for eco-tourism development. Key group for alternative livelihood, but also for ensuring community acceptability. Ecological: some very local increases in growth, recruitment, biodiversity Social: raised awareness of coral ecology, ownership (corals tagged with names, increased tourism at artificial reefs with fishers respecting the sites Will it be useful/successful in the future? Is it future proof? To support success there is a need for ecosystem service valuation and the need to pay for them, otherwise payments become arbitrary. Not discussed as few ongoing examples of Many donors have priorities other strategies. ALS must meet expectations and skills capacity of the community. Concerns it is not future proof, due to risks from climate change
How communicate PES to a community Need to make people understand that ecosystem restoration is not quick BUT need quick wins as well as a long-term goal to keep people interested an maintain trust. Lots of communication, training and livelihood enhancement needed. Need to translate technical information into lay person terms. Not discussed. Not discussed. Bring people to the nurseries, get them into water Pictures, video, pamphlets Include community members in photo/films The MOI maintain an aquarium for education maps to choose sites for nurseries and transplant sites “Adopt a fragment” Lessons learnt Transparency is key. Need for common understanding of ecosystem services and values Need for open access sharing of data and information between all stakeholders. Social media useful, but difficult for Government. Need to link to sustainability objectives. Too focused on individuals? Move towards competitive grant schemes for specific community (conservation) projects. Need understanding of the expectations and needs of the communities. Strong working relationship with the communities is required. Training is essential and communities must have the necessary skills to provide the good/service. Need to understand the environment and the impact of their livelihoods on the ecosystem. Communities (and Government) want something in return Act on community concerns (compromise) Be transparent (especially re: funding) Get the best science – right sites, right corals Are these schemes going to deliver real reward or are they just diverting resources? Reports/evidence Nature Seychelles report on PES feasibility in Seychelles. Evaluations of Care Int and WWF programmes. Book chapter by Rose Mwaipopo. There are (limited) reports and papers available from the MOI, EI AFRICA project, and the University of Mauritius, and dive
Which new partnerships and collaborations - political and scientific - would benefit future improvements in the potential of this strategy to enhance resilience? Reef Restoration MPAs LMMAs Alternative Livelihoods Donors, universities, WIOMSA, UNESCO (SEY) Scientific expertise (international), Training (regional), Exchange Programmes, Involve regional / international universities (MTS) Large scale production firms to upscale (Znz) International Scientists, MOI/Ocean Economy (Mauritius) WIO Reef Restoration Network (Rodrigues) Online forums with Reef Resilience WIO Ocean Groups (no initials, CoI?) SAM (Comoros) Seychelles, Blue Ventures, REDD (Mauritius) SAM, WIOMSA (Znz) WIO MPA Network (Rodrigues) SAM (Mauritius) WIO (WCS) Regional collaborators (e.g., Madagascar - Blue Ventures), State law office (for by-laws) (Mauritius). State law office - recognition of LMMAs, Private sector, Mauritius Oceanography Instute, Ocean Economy (Mauritius) Private sector, universities, fisheries agencies (SEY) Marketers, research partners, MPAs authorities (Znz) Investors, hoteliers, IFEES (No initials) Private investors, hoteliers (Znz) Scubaore, Plongee, Mayotte (Zamil, Comoros) Regional organisations (e.g, Madagascar Blue Ventures, Tanzania, Kenya) Private sector, Universities (Mauritius). Bankers (no initials) WCS (no initials)
Mark Bryant IFEES EcoIslam Louisa Evans University of Exeter Lecturer in Environment and Sustainability Caroline Hattam Plymouth Marine Laboratory Environmental Economist Tara Hooper Plymouth Marine Laboratory Marine Sciences Researcher Andy Hughes Truro and Penwith College Lecturer and photographer Fazlun Khalid IFEES EcoIslam Founder Karyn Morrissey University of Exeter Senior lecturer Jason Parsons Truro and Penwith College Photography student Dominica Williamson Freelance artist and designer Kathy Young Reef Conservation Managing Director Programme WEDNESDAY 10th MAY 09.00 – 09.30 Welcome and introductions 09.30 – 10.30 Building resilience in practice: short presentations by regional participants 10.30 – 11.00 Plenary discussion: similarities and differences in strategies 11.00 – 11.30 Tea 11.30 – 12.30 What do we understand by resilience? Breakout sessions on ecological and social resilience 12.30 – 13.00 Plenary discussion: trade-offs between social and ecological resilience 13.00 – 14.00 Lunch break 14.00 – 16.00 Using visual methods to understand resilience: Plenary discussion: who is already visual methods? taster sessions: image exchange; creating coast-scapes; walking, collecting and photography 16.00 Tea break and end of day 1 THURSDAY 11th MAY 09.00 – 09.30 Re-cap of day one 09.30 – 11.00 Group work focusing on key resilience strategies 11.00 – 11.30 Tea break
11.30 – 12.00 Plenary discussion: sharing lessons learnt 12.00 – 13.30 Governance and management of resilience strategies Individual activity: mapping social network relating to an example strategy Group discussions: similarities and differences between examples and how to strengthen collaborations 13.30 – 14.30 Lunch break 14.30 – 15.00 Plenary discussion: feedback on collaboration discussions 15.00 – 15.30 Final reflections on resilience building strategies 15.30 – 16.00 Plenary discussion: feedback on workshop 16.00 – 18.30 Tea break and free time until evening event 18.30 – 20.00 Evening sharing session: Visual activities will be undertaken with local community members in parallel with the workshop. This session will allow participants to talk about their experiences and outputs. 20.00 – 22.00 End of workshop dinner on the