Delivering Community Based
Approaches at Scale
Hugh Govan
LMMA Network
Why are we all doing
this?
Maiana, Kiribati
Overall goal?
To ensure the optimal and sustainable use
of coastal fisheries and their ecosystems by
Pacific Island communities
Pacific Islands Regional Coastal Fisheries Management Policy
(Apia Policy 2008)
How are we doing it?
Community Based Resource Management
“Encouraging and motivating communities
to manage their own marine resources”
Basis:
 Communities are more likely to respect rules they have set
themselves.
 Under community ownership, management measures are
enforced by the communities themselves.
Apia Policy 2008
A key issue – community rights
• All community based approaches to coastal
fisheries management depend on clear
community rights over the coastal resources
Are these rights being used for sustainable
management now?
Are the communities aware that they entail
responsibilities too?
Are these rights being lost?
Coastal fisheries management
today…
1. Leave it to communities – based on their
existing resource ownership (the “do nothing”
approach?).
2. Classic (western) controls at market or
harvest (regulations and licences)
3. Develop community management
plans (through workshops in some communities)
Many community planning
approaches described e.g.:
Core of CBRM
• Community decides to act
1. Community identifies problems and issues
2. Solutions and actions are agreed
– Usually in some sort of plan identifying who is
responsible for what action – sometimes legal
3. Community agreement is implemented
• Effective management is sustained and supported
Core of CBRM
• Community decides to act
1. Communities identify problems and issues
2. Solutions and actions are agreed
– Usually in some sort of plan identifying who is
responsible for what action – sometimes legal
3. Community agreement is implemented
• Effective management is sustained and supported
Selecting and sustaining..
Why do we select certain communities for
CBRM workshops and not others?
What should we be providing ALL
communities?
What should and can we afford to do to
sustain CBRM sites in the long run?
Do they remain effective?
Rapid growth of CBRM in the South Pacific
# of sites
implementing local
management (LMMAs,
CBRM, SMAs, etc)
Source: LMMA Network and Govan et al 2009
565 “locally managed” fishing areas in 2009 (LMMAs, CBRM, CBFM,
SMAs, tapus, ra’uis etc) – by 2014 maybe hundreds more
Looking a little closer…
Lau Lagoon, Malaita, Solomon Is.
Solomon Islands
Coastal CBRM sites 2010
Solomon Islands
Coastal CBRM sites 2010
But 1000s of villages to go!
Progress in CBRM looks good…..?
450
300
# of locally
managed areas
150
0
2000
2010
Source: LMMA Network
But… a long long way to go
10000
9000
8000
# of communities
in Pacific (est.)
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
# of locally
managed areas
1000
0
2000
2010
Source: LMMA Network
Cost of CBRM is very often high
(US$3-30,000/year)
Main output: Information for community decision-makers (1-15%)
Main costs: travel and personnel / time (50%)
Govan et al. 2009
How can we reach more/all
communities (scaling up)?
1. Be more careful of the costs of village
support
 What are the most useful things that we can do
with limited $$ and staff?
o Do all communities get regular information on causes
of resource decline and solutions?
o What are major threats communities cannot manage
and what can we do about those?
Cuvu, Nadroga, Fiji Islands
How can we reach more/all
communities (scaling up)?
1. Be more careful of the costs of village
support
1. (What are the things that outsiders can do that are most
useful?)
2. Provide villages with closer or nearby
support (cheaper)
 Can we use national and particularly, provincial
or island networks and teams?
e.g. Fiji – towards a decentralized
approach
National level
Division level
Province level
Community level
How can we reach more/all
communities (scaling up)?
1. Be more careful of the costs of village support
1. (What are the things that outsiders can do that are most
useful?)
2. Provide villages with closer or nearby support
1. (Use national and particularly, provincial or island networks and
teams?)
3. Better target the role of government
 control of traders, legal support for local
honorary officers, information and education?
What might be the
priority roles of
government,
provinces,
communities?
Activity
Government / province
Community / local
Information
provision
1.
Provide scientific/best practice information
and advice (including laws) to all
communities*
1.
Community maintains, uses and develops local
and traditional knowledge, tenure systems and
governance institutions*.
2.
Develop and maintain systems to ensure
information feedback and recording between
communities and government agencies
2.
Community performs local observations and
issue identification
3.
3.
Maintain centralized and accessible records on
licenses, exports, prices, markets landings
Community information collection and recording
(simple as possible)
4.
A few specific surveys, stock assessments or
studies.
1.
Secure and maintain political and public
support for inshore fisheries management
and the importance to this of traditional
knowledge, tenure systems and governance
institutions*
1.
Detect emerging resource issues*
2.
Implement, track and modify simple community
rules if needed to address priority community
issues or objectives*
3.
Sharing of experience and issues to promote
improved practice between communities and
inform national and sub-national policy.
Management
(Formulation,
dissemination
and
implementation
of management
policy and rules)
E.g. MSG Inshore
Fisheries Roadmap outputs
Monitoring and
enforcement
2.
Develop national and sub-national policy,
enabling legislation and institutions, based
on experience*
3.
Support community implementation of
management measures in priority cases
(chosen strategically and implemented costeffectively)
4.
Provide liaison support closer to communities
(e.g. provincial/subnational staff, networks,
community agents)
5.
Coordinate across sectors and levels to ensure
ecosystem approach
6.
Address specific priority fisheries problems or
provide supplementary projects (e.g.FADs or
ice) dependent on functioning community
management
1.
Monitor and enforce centrally - targeting
marketing of illegal fish, import and sale of
illegal fishing gear, export quotas, activities
and practices of middle-men, size restrictions
and licence conditions*
1.
Monitor and enforce restrictions to access of
community fishing areas*
2.
Enforce any local rules that may apply* and
promote compliance with national/sub-national
rules*
2.
Training and support of local wardens or
honorary officers and local Fisheries and
Police staff*
3.
Assess, record and communicate management
outcomes and major issues to government or
designated liaison*
3.
Liaise with police and courts to build well
informed and proactive enforcement
networks or partnership
4.
Review fisheries management measures and
institutions against objectives periodically*
4.
Enforcement or conflict management support
for issues beyond community capacity or
jurisdiction
Activity
Information
provision
Government / province
Community / local
1. Provide scientific/best practice
1. Community maintains, uses and
information and advice (including
develops local and traditional
laws) to all communities*
knowledge, tenure systems and
governance institutions*.
2. …
2. Community performs local
observations and issue
identification
3. …
Management
1. Secure and maintain political and 1. Detect emerging resource issues*
(Formulation,
public support for inshore
2. Implement, track and modify
dissemination and
fisheries management and the
simple community rules if needed
implementation of
importance to this of traditional
to address priority community
management policy
knowledge, tenure systems and
issues or objectives*
and rules)
governance institutions*
2. Develop national and subnational policy, enabling
legislation and institutions, based
on experience*
3. ….
Monitoring and
enforcement
1. Monitor and enforce centrally marketing of illegal fish, illegal
fishing gear, export quotas,
2. Support of local wardens or
honorary officers and police
1. Monitor and enforce restrictions to
access of community fishing areas*
and any local rules
2. Assess and communicate
management outcomes regularly
Activity
Information
provision
Management (Formulation,
dissemination and
implementation of management
policy and rules)
Monitoring and
enforcement
Government / province
Community / local
1. Provide scientific/best
practice information and
advice (including laws) to
all communities*
2. …
1.
Community maintains, uses and develops
local and traditional knowledge, tenure
systems and governance institutions*.
2.
Community performs local observations and
issue identification
3.
…
1.
Detect emerging resource issues*
2.
Implement, track and modify simple community rules if needed to address
priority community issues or objectives*
1.
Monitor and enforce restrictions to access of
community fishing areas* and any local rules
2.
Assess and communicate management
outcomes regularly
1.
Secure and maintain political and public support for inshore fisheries
management and the importance to this of traditional knowledge,
tenure systems and governance institutions*
2.
Develop national and sub-national policy, enabling legislation and
institutions, based on experience*
3.
….
1. Monitor and enforce
centrally - marketing of
illegal fish, illegal fishing
gear, export quotas,
2. Support of local wardens
or honorary officers and
Where are we going?
Mbuke, Manus, PNG
Towards fisheries management for all
• Support all communities in sustainable
management (provide information and links)
• Redefine staff duties – recover the extension
officer’s role? (informing and supporting)
• Get closer to the people - Increase (or shift)
budgets and staffing to provincial level
• Control commercial pressures (enforce at
markets and exports)
• Plan to increase recurrent fisheries budgets and
ways to fund (taxes, fines, licencing etc)
• From strategies, policies, declarations etc etc to
ACTION – workplans, job descriptions…