To address this, Dr. Andrew Merrie orchestrated the Radical Ocean Futures project. For this project, Dr. Merrie, who recently received his PhD in sustainability science, utilized various forms of art (Science Fiction, graphics, and music) to communicate sustainability in alternative ways, that may resonate more strongly with communities than academic papers.

The project highlights four different sci-fi stories which describe four possible futures for our oceans. These stories are grounded in science, referencing current peer-reviewed publications, news articles and credible websites, and describe what our oceans may look like in the future. To further convey the scenarios described in Dr. Merrie’s work, images of these possible futures were created by graphic artist Simon Stålenhag with musical interpretations provided by K. La Luna (also known as CCRN member Dr. Kaitlyn Rathwell).  The goal of this project is to help us understand the complexity of our oceans and how unexpected changes and responses to these changes can influence the future of our oceans.

The first story “Oceans back from the brink – May 2070,” is told from the perspective of a transcript of a talk presented by a renowned ocean sustainability researcher and activist. This story describes how the oceans were once heavily polluted and what series of events took place that allowed the Oceans to be clean by 2070.

The second story “Obituary: Astrid Amundsen, CEO of FISH Inc. – January 2070,” is written as an obituary of a CEO from a company that maintained significant control of the world’s aquatic resources. In this scenario, the world is in the midst of an environmental crisis. The human population  is sustained by bio-engineered tuna and jellyfish paste.

The third story “Rime of the last fisherman: Dispatches from a dying ocean – 2070” is a series of diary entries by the world’s last fishermen. Through these transcripts, the fishermen describes the death of the oceans.

The forth story “Rising Tide – Visiting Tarawa station” is told from the perspective of a journalist who describes how sea level rise forced parts of humanity to learn how to live under the sea. In this future, a treaty has been created between nations to ensure the sustainable harvest of aquatic resources, and the ocean is slowly recovering from past transgressions.

The art work showcased in the featured image was created by graphic artist Simon Stålenhag

During the summer of 2016, the Alberta-based natural gas company AltaGas diverted a section of the Sipekne’katik River to create a mixing channel. AltaGas aims to dump mine waste in the Sipekne’katik River, drill salt caverns, and store natural gas on land belonging to the Mi’kmaw First Nation. This project threatens the river ecosystem and poses a risk to the health and livelihood of the Mi’kmaw communities in this area. The Peace and Friendship Treaties signed between the Mi’kmaw and colonialists indicate that this land belongs to the Mi’kmaw. Additionally, the treaties guarantee the right for the Mi’kmaw to hunt and fish as usual.

During the summer of 2016, a truckhouse was built on the banks adjacent to the Alton Gas site and eel traps were placed in the diverted section of the river. The purpose of these constructions is to ensure that access to the river, which is protected in the Peace and Friendship Treaties, is available to everyone. Further, these additions act to demonstrate that the Mi’kmaw people and allies are resistant to the Alton Gas project but hope to explore how everyone can come together in peace and friendship.

Featured image was taken by Sadie Beaton

View the complete CCRN’s Koh Sralao Community Story as a PDF

Furqan Asif, Jason Horlings and Melissa Marschke

Key Messages

• The Koh Sralao community work together to safeguard their mangrove forests which form a critical link to their livelihood.
• Community activism concerning coastal resource management issues and resistance to sand dredging contributed to the termination of nearby dredging activities.
• The development of a Special Economic Zone in the provincial capital has provided valuable economic opportunities for young women, contributing to livelihood diversification.

 Community Profile

Figure 1: Map showing select fishing villages including Koh Sralao (bottom right) in relation to Koh Kong town and the SEZ. Map: Google (modified by Furqan Asif).

Koh Sralao is a small 300 household mangrove-estuarine fishing village on the southwestern coast of Cambodia (Figure 1), approximately 22 km from the provincial capital Koh Kong. The village is accessible only by boat. Given the remote nature of the community, most goods and products need to be shipped in and out.

Villagers rely heavily on the marine environment, with fish making up the bulk of their dietary protein. The local marine resources have been the source of sustenance and livelihood for many decades. Although the main activity is crab fishing, a diversity of fishing activities are found, including green mussel culture, shrimp and grouper fishing⁽⁶⁾.

Local fishers use mechanized boats and gill nets or crab traps to harvest the marine resources in and around the mangrove estuarine area, or within a few kilometers of the coastline.  Households work together, with men (sometimes with their wives) going out to fish daily or spending a few days on their boats and women sorting,  processing  and  selling  aquatic   products to   a   handful   of  local  traders  (aquatic  products typically go to the provincial town, and then may move to Cambodia’s capital or into Thailand).

However, sustaining a small-scale fisheries livelihood is challenging⁽⁵⁾ and livelihoods have diversified within and beyond the village. For example, households may have family members working (temporarily or permanently) in construction or factory jobs.  While this work has typically been in another province, in Cambodia’s capital or in Thailand, there are now wage-labour opportunities particularly for young women in the provincial capital at the Special Economic Zone (SEZ), near the border with Thailand.

Conservation and Livelihood Challenges

Declining fish populations

Figure 2: The sun sets on houses at Koh Sralao coastal fishing village in Cambodia (Photo: Furqan Asif)

Fishers have spoken about fish declines for decades⁽⁵⁾ and continue to be concerned about fish stocks. The observations made by Koh Sralao fishers are consistent with statistics for the Gulf of Thailand which shows a dramatic decrease in catch per unit effort (an indirect measure of fish abundance) over the past decades.

The declines observed in Koh Sralao‘s aquatic resources may be due to a number of different factors. Fishers have observed an increase in foreign fishing vessels in the nearshore area. Thai fishing vessels may have moved into Cambodian waters as a result of Thailand’s fisheries reform⁽⁹⁾.  Fishers also talk about the impacts of climate change on aquatic resources.  Although the direct effects of climate change on fisheries in Koh Sralao are not yet clear, it seems that rains are less predictable, and storms may be more frequent. Ocean warming may be impacting fish migration routes and reproduction⁽⁸⁾.

Sand dredging

In addition to the persistent decline in catch, sand dredging, which began in the Koh Sralao area in late 2007, has had an impact on the aquatic resources surrounding the Koh Sralao community (Figure 3). The short term impacts of this dredging are clear⁽⁵⁾:

• Fish habitat is being destroyed. Dredging deepens shallow channels, impacting fish and other aquatic habitat in the process.
• Fish migration routes are being disturbed, and the water is said to be more turbid.
• Boats have been dredging near the edge of the mangroves, partially damaging some trees and completely ripping out others.

Community Initiatives

Koh Sralao is a village with a history of community organization around resource management⁽⁵⁾. This means that villagers have been able to organize formally but also use informal channels to express their concerns.

Figure 3. A barge carrying sand from sand mining operations in Koh Kong (Photo: Furqan Asif)

Sand dredging

Villagers have been concerned about the sand dredging since it began in 2007, and have been involved in protests, public consultations and meetings with sand dredgers.  At one point the sand dredging came within eyesight of Koh Sralao, which mobilized villagers yet again. The Koh Sralao community has received support from NGOs, including an activist NGO that initiated an anti-sand mining campaign in 2015.

Mangrove conservation

The Koh Sralao community has worked together to safeguard their natural environment. They have become aware of the importance of conserving the mangrove forests that form a critical link to their livelihood. For example, annual mangrove replanting has become a community tradition since the late 1990s. The area is known for its mangroves which span 23,750 hectares in a protected area and features an ecotourism site set up near the Peam Krasop community.

Livelihood diversification

Households have responded to marine resource degradation by shifting livelihood activities within and beyond the village, with regional factory wage work emerging as another diversification strategy.  It is predominantly young women in Koh Sralao that go to work at the Koh Kong SEZ located near the provincial town, since SEZ factories mainly hire women between the ages of 18 to 25⁽⁷⁾.  However, there is no maternity leave for women, and it is difficult for them to return to the SEZ after the age of 28.  Thus, while young women are gaining more opportunities beyond the fishing village, such gains are time-sensitive, and it is unclear how many young women may return to the village at another point in their lives.

Practical Outcomes

Sand dredging

One of the outcomes of the initial protests to the sand dredging was that the dredging activities moved to another area, out of sight of Koh Sralao. Even so, the community wanted the activity to stop altogether, since the negative impacts of the sand dredging continued to be felt. Community members worked with a local activist NGO, providing interviews to media and spearheading a social media campaign, to share the impacts of a decade of continuous sand mining on coastal livelihoods. In November 2016, the Ministry of Mines and Energy announced that they had halted sand dredging operations in Koh Kong, with a total ban on coastal sand dredging for export emerging in mid-2017⁽⁴⁾.

The ban on sand dredging is certainly welcome news to the villagers and for the conservation of the mangrove ecosystem. More broadly, this story not only highlights the challenges of natural resource-based livelihoods and the pressures that coastal communities face (shaped by socio-economic and political forces), but also the importance and impact of grassroots community activism for coastal ecological conservation.

Livelihood diversification

Local factory labour opportunities continue to provide a higher, more consistent income than would otherwise be the case for most young women in Koh Sralao. Women are sending remittances home, and for these households this is an additional source of income (even if time sensitive), all the more important given the challenge of small-scale fisheries livelihoods ⁽³⁾.  The longer term implications of such wage work, in the sense of helping to sustain coastal livelihoods and villagers’ well-being, remains to be seen.

References

Acknowledgements

Community Conservation Research Network

Saint Mary’s University

Halifax, Nova Scotia

B3H 3C3 Canada

Phone: 902.420.5003

E-mail: ccrn@smu.ca

View the complete CCRN’s Les Village Community Story as a PDF

Humayra Secelia Muswar and Arif Satria

Key Messages

• Les Village’s marine environment was devastated by a cyanide traditionally used for catching marine ornamental fish, leading to a decline in the local economy and fishers’ livelihood.
• Local conservation began when eco-friendly approaches to catching fish were introduced to restore local marine resources.
• Local fishers easily adapted to these new community-based conservation approaches as they were in line with karma (Hindu-Bali’s belief) and their way of life.

Community Profile

Les Village is a fishing community located in the east of Buleleng Regency of Indonesia (Figure 1). Les Village consists of 25.57km of coastline comprised of rock, gravel, and sandy beaches. Locals mostly depend on fishing for their livelihood, as the land is very dry and not fertile enough for agriculture. However, residents can find other work as construction workers, merchants, businessmen or in the non-formal employment sectors of farming and animal husbandry. Tourism is not a significant livelihood source for locals.

Figure 1: Map of Les Village (circled), Buleleng district (outlined). (Adopted from Google Map)

Marine ornamental and seafood fishers have fundamental differences in the way they fish, such as fishing gear, fishing time, fishing pattern, fishing location, the post-capture treatment of fish and their income scheme (Table 1). One important characteristic of the marine ornamental fishers of Les Village is their closeness to their religion. One of the most fundamental belief-systems for Hindu-Bali is ‘karma’, the idea of a balance of life: if  Mother Nature is respected, nature will give you the best of what it has, and vice versa. The belief system also plays a role in characterising the fishers, such as their knowledge, role of women, the social structure, and social position of fishers⁽¹⁾.

Conservation and Livelihood Challenges

Initially, nets were used to catch ornamental fish in Les Village. However, an increasing demand in the 1980s prompted the fishers to look for ways to improve their catch. In 1985, the cyanide method of fishing was introduced to support marine ornamental fish market demand^(2,3,4). Fishers discovered that cyanide makes fish lethargic, thereby making them easier to catch^(2,3). Fishers kept the cyanide in a bottle (Figure 2) and sprayed the cyanide in the ornamental fish habitats⁽⁴⁾.

Table 1 Key differences between seafood fishing and ornamental fishing

Beginning in the 1990s and into the 2000s, marine ornamental fish began to be a lucrative commercial commodity. Fishers concentrated on fulfilling their household needs and generating income, while exploiting Mother Nature to satisfy marine oriental fish markets⁽⁵⁾. The use of cyanide made fish easier to catch; however, environmental deterioration began to be felt by fishers in the 2000s. The use of cyanide negatively impacted the local marine environment as live coral coverage fell below 10%, ornamental fish population decreased to under 20% and population of all species decreased to an estimated 10% of their 1986 population⁽⁶⁾.

Figure 2: Fisher sprays the cyanides directly to the reefs to make fish lethargic.

Coral reefs became bleached and only unique ornamental fish were left. Not being able to meet market demand, this development depleted fisher’s income and devastated their social and economic life. Lack of government concern created a sense of abandonment among marine ornamental fishers. Fishers said that the government is only punishing them because of their use of cyanide, but gave no instructions on how to change their ways or preserve the environment. Three reasons, in particular, relate to the root causes of the destructive fishing methods:

1. Fisher’s knowledge. Les Village fishers did not know of any other way to catch fish. Locals possessed limited information about fishing methods, especially since they have no senior high school or higher education. This concern was most frequently raised by fishers. Using cyanide had become transmissible knowledge. Fishers faced a dilemma to survive and had to choose to keep catching fish with cyanide or not be able to eat at all. The use of cyanide eventually became unlawful and Les Village fishers were often detained for violation of the law of using cyanide in an attempt to catch fish. Yet, the government offered no solution, without which fishers would continue to violate the law in order to support themselves and their families. The combination of lack of education and lack of guidance from the state thus established a livelihood dilemma for fishers.

2. Market demand. The ornamental fish trade is part of the global and international market, and whether wanted or not, local fishers are a part of globalised market system. To maintain a livelihood, they must meet a demand that comes from first-world countries. The greater the market demand – in this case, via the middlemen (Figure 3) – the more fish must be caught. Thus, Les Village fishers and the local environment are exploited and marginalized in order to meet the demand of more powerful countries and peoples⁽⁵⁾.

Figure 3: the middlemen and the collected fish.

3. Lack of public and stakeholder awareness and involvement. The marine ornamental fish trade is part of international trade, which involves stakeholders. This means that capitalist industrialisation brings constant pressures on individual firms (big or small) to keep down costs⁽⁷⁾. One of the main ways firms do this is by “externalizing” the costs of their impacts (including environmental, social, and health impacts) – in other words, finding a way to make someone else pay those costs. In fisheries, firms benefit from the environment – they profit from the fish – but they do not pay the full costs of the impact their fishing has on the local fisheries or the environment. In the case of Les Village, fishers were pressured to continue to use cyanide in order to meet market demand. Fishers were put in a difficult dilemma: wanting to conserve the environment when it began to degrade, but lacking the education to know the negative impacts of cyanide and, even worse, lacking support or knowledge about solutions. However, fishers continued to fish as they needed to support their livelihood. Others would profit from their environment and take whatever they conserved if they did not ^(5,7).

Community Initiatives

This situation continued for nearly 20 years. In the early 2000s, when reefs were already damaged and degradation reverberated, government still did not come to help; however, the NGO Yayasan Bahtera Nusantara (YBN) came and provided much needed support to the fishers. Originally engaging the fishers under the guise of a buyer, the YBN provided fishers with training and new equipment for environmentally friendly fishing, thus moving from cyanide to using nets and barriers only. The approach that the NGO helped to implement was particularly successful since it acknowledged the fisher’s belief system, thus helping Les Village fishers transform from the destroyer to the guardian.

The value of environmentally-friendly fishing that was implemented brought back fishers’ consciousness about the balance of life. They realized that using cyanide meant demolishing their own natural resources, since they suffered from the effects of using cyanide: diminished fish stocks, disappearing coral reefs, and heavy debt. Thus, Les Village’s ornamental fishing community worked with the NGO to restore their marine livelihood.

The initiative consisted of the following actions:

1. Establishment of a new marine ornamental fish group that committed to ecologically-friendly fishing practices (no cyanide), and community-based marine environmental management.
2. Creation of artificial reefs to enhance Les Village’s marine diversity.
3. Designing a community-based no-take zone.
4. Improvement of the belief that ‘karma’ does exist, and that “if we treat our nature good, nature will give us good fish”.

Around 2005, YBN worked with the Marine Aquarium Council (MAC) to legitimise the environmental-friendly transformation on marine ornamental fish trade in Les Village. Not only fishers, but also the middlemen and exporters were certified as eco-friendly actors. Although the certification expired in 2008, fishers continued to apply the sustainable eco-friendly fishing methods. Now, LINI (Indonesian Nature Foundations), an environmental NGO, works with Les Village fishers to continue this sustainable way.

Practical Outcomes

The success of this conservation movement by Les Village’s communities of marine aquarium fishers was a collective effort. Several factors and important actors were involved:

Leadership – The NGO’s leadership was the most powerful tool for motivating this community to move from using cyanide to using environmental friendly fishing practices.
Community Social Capital – The community has very high social capital and unity due to their interrelatedness and common history (Figure 4). Together, they inadvertently destroyed their marine environment, suffered, and are recovering their livelihood. Togetherness and trust is the biggest part of this community’s social capital.
Fisher’s Belief System – Their beliefs as Hindu-Bali teach them to put trust on ‘karma’.
Support Networks – The village has an extensive support network with NGOs, researchers (from universities) and trade chain actors that buy and sell their eco-fish.
Timing – The conservation was done just in time. The NGO came in at a critical ecological time, when fishers were getting more confused and frustrated from suffering from their sinking livelihood and questioning what they were doing to their environment.

Figure 4: Fisher’s family starts their day.

References

View the CCRN’s Bali Community Story as a PDF

Samantha Berdej (a), Derek Armitage (a), Arif Satria (b)

University of Waterloo, Canada (a), Bogor Agricultural University, Indonesia (b), smberdej@uwaterloo.ca

Key Messages

• Coastal and marine environments are socially complex, made up of diverse actors, interests and views.Bridging organizations are designed to cope with diversity in order to span these differences.
• Bridging organizations can be significant to enabling community voices and leadership in conservation efforts.
• Bridging organizations can help to generate conservation outcomes that are integrative and better reflect the full spectrum of actors and interests-inclusive of communities-in a given context.

Community Introduction

The Indonesia province of Bali is located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, between Java to the west and Lombok to the east (Figure 1). It is situated in the southwest corner of the Coral Triangle, a region home to the highest marine biodiversity on Earth. The province supports close to four million inhabitants, many of whom are intimately linked to the sea as a source of livelihoods, food security and culture. Marine resources are a cornerstone of the region’s economies and societies, supporting activities such as tourism, local and commercial fisheries, ornamental fisheries and mariculture. Indonesia as a whole has the largest reef-associated population of any country in the world(1), making coastal communities here among the most vulnerable to current and future environmental changes.

This community story focuses on three sites: the Bali Marine Protected Area Network (head office located in the provincial capital of Denpasar), the Nusa Penida Marine Protected Area, and the East Buleleng Conservation Zone.

Figure 1: Map of local sites in Bali Province, Indonesia

Conservation and Livelihood Challenges

As elsewhere in Indonesia, Balinese waters face a combination of threats that include overfishing and destructive fishing practices, uncoordinated coastal development, sewage and garbage disposal at sea, dredging and reef channel development, and other damaging practices(2). Intensive utilization of coastal areas by different and sometimes competing interests has meant that the reality of coastal-marine conservation here is remarkably complex and the potential for conflict is high. Options for conservation in this region are confounded by the challenges of a still-evolving decentralization movement, and social, economic, and political complexities such as overlapping authorities, multiple interests and policy domains, and unresolved boundaries of customary tenure(3,4).

In light of these challenges, the success of conservation initiatives will depend in part on navigating the ‘messiness’ inherent in dynamic and socially complex coastal-marine environments. Innovative strategies are needed to facilitate collaborative and adaptive decision-making, and to better engage and integrate social dimensions such as culture, stakeholder values and local practices into conservation initiatives.

Community Initiative

Coastal and marine environments are of importance to a wealth of social actors and groups in Bali, such as local resource users, commercial interests, government agencies, NGOs and universities. Yet, in many cases actors do not interact with one another, and cooperation with regards to resource management can be poor. Furthermore, the presence of multiple actors with different interests implies significant trade-offs in the face of diverse, and potentially conflicting, objectives such as food security, livelihood development and biodiversity conservation.

Figure 2: Members of the local fishing association in north Bali

Figure 3: Seaweed farmers at low tide, Nusa Penida MPA (Photo: S. Berdej)

This situation can be improved through bridging organizations – independent entities that are designed to connect diverse actors or groups through some form of bridging process, such as knowledge-sharing(5).

Bridging organizations can contribute to a more balanced conservation effort through collaboration, communication and resource sharing – all of which include and resonate with local communities.

This community story focuses on five bridging organizations in Bali Province – four NGOs and one government entity. Each has adopted a series of roles and functions to ‘bridge’ diverse actors. Some of these roles include:

• Fostering social networks that cross scales (from community to international) and sectors (between fisheries, tourism and biodiversity conservation).
• Introducing and mobilizing outside ideas and expertise in community settings.
• Providing community groups access to outside resources (human, technical, financial).
• Building capacity and capabilities among different actors, including community groups.
• Fostering regional institutions and local leadership.

Figure 4: Multiple and overlapping uses in the Nusa Penida MPA (Photo: S. Berdej)

Practical Outcomes

Overall, bridging organizations are significant in navigating socially complex coastal-marine environments, leading to more robust and inclusive conservation outcomes. Their involvement in conservation efforts across Bali Province has resulted in a number of important insights for policy makers, managers and practitioners that are of relevance to developing and ongoing conservation efforts. We speak to some of these insights below, with specific attention to what they mean for communities.

Bridging organizations have helped to broaden and strengthen roles for communities in conservation. In facilitating key learning opportunities – such as ecology workshops or skills development – bridging organizations have improved community capacity in conservation planning, implementation, and monitoring/enforcement. For example, community members in the East Buleleng Conservation Zone have been trained in marine ecology and monitoring techniques, and have been certified in underwater diving to carry out autonomous coral reef monitoring. Some bridging organizations have also advocated and fostered local leadership (and not just involvement) in conservation processes by, empowering local institutions or embedding key community/traditional leaders on decision-making teams. Community-based organizations were created and supported to, for example, take on a majority responsibility in the implementation and management of Local Marine Management Areas in East Buleleng.

Through their involvement, bridging organizations have generated, or are expected to generate, more representative and integrated conservation efforts. Planning and decision-making in the Nusa Penida MPA and Bali MPA Network, for example, is carried out via multi-stakeholder management units composed of representatives from government, fishers’ associations, traditional council, community groups, tourism operators, NGOs and so on. These have produced conservation efforts – such as MPA zoning plans and management strategies – that better account for the wealth of actors and their interests.

Bridging organizations are positioned at the nexus of where actors meet and information flows, and so they are better able to bring together multiple interests and values, as well as engage in trade-off negotiations. In doing so, these organizations provide pathways and platforms for communities to more fully and meaningfully engage in conservation efforts that meet and sustain their needs. Conservation outcomes in these sites to-date have included management plans that reflect joint objectives for biodiversity conservation, livelihoods and community welfare; and zoning strategies that balance the needs of seaweed farmers, tourism operators, fishers, and culture(6,7).

The conservation of coastal and marine resources is a global issue with enormous implications for future human welfare. Bridging organizations can and do have a significant role to play here. In particular, the value of bridging organizations has been demonstrated to communities – in strengthening community voices in wider forums, empowering local leadership, and in helping to balance community needs with regional priorities.

Figure 5: Fishing boats in north Bali – pelagic and ornamental fishing make up a large part of livelihoods here

References

Burke, L, K Reytar, M Spalding and A Perry. 2012. Reefs at Risk Revisited in the Coral Triangle. Washington, USA: World Resource Institute.

Mustika, PL, IMJ Ratha and S Purwanto. 2013. The 2011 Bali marine rapid assessment. 2nd English edition. RAP Bulletin of Biological Assessment 64. Bali Marine and Fisheries Affairs, South East Asia Center for Ocean Research and Monitoring, Warmadewa University, Conservation International Indonesia, Denpasar.

Welly, M., W. Sanjaya, D. Trimudya and W.G. Yanto. 2011. Profil Perikanan Nusa Penida, Kabupaten Klungkung, Propinsi Bali. Pp. 28.

Wardana, A. 2015. Debating spatial governance in the pluralistic institutional and legal setting of Bali. The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 16(2): 106-122.

Crona, BI and PN Parker. 2012. Learning in support of governance: theories, methods, and a framework to assess how bridging organizations contribute to adaptive resource governance. Ecology and Society, 17(1): 32.

Berdej, S and D Armitage. 2016a. Bridging organizations drive effective governance outcomes for conservation of Indonesia’s marine systems. PLOS ONE, 11(1), e0147142. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0147142

Berdej, S and D Armitage. 2016b. Bridging for better conservation fit in Indonesia’s coastal-marine systems. Frontiers in Marine Science, 3:101. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2016.00101

Acknowledgements

This research is being carried out with the aid of a Doctoral Research Award from the Canadian International Development Research Centre, a doctoral award from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada, a SSHRC grant held by Dr. Derek Armitage as part of a Coastal-Marine Transformation Project, and support from the SSHRC-funded Community Conservation Research Network.

View the complete CCRN’s Clayoquot Sound Community Story as a PDF

Tawney Lem,  West Coast Aquatic; tawney@westcoastaquatic.ca

Key Messages

• In order to sustain livelihoods and conserve biodiversity, decision-making must be integrated; that is, ecosystem based, with the participation of all affected interests, and inclusive of indigenous, local, and scientific knowledge.

• Co-management Roundtables have been a successful tool in bringing parties together to discuss their salmon management concerns. An online marine ecosystem reference guide is being developed for Barkley and Clayoquot Sounds to support integrated decision-making.

• The desire to benefit from economic opportunity can be the common ground for successful indigenous and non-indigenous community collaboration and partnership.

Community Introduction

West Coast Aquatic’s geographic scope reflects the ‘Ha-houlthee’ (territorial wealth) of fifteen Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations. Stretching approximately 300 kilometers along the West Coast of Vancouver Island (WCVI), from Brooks Peninsula northwest of Kyuquot Sound to southeast of Sheringham Point including Port Renfrew, this area is a unique and rich marine ecosystem that provides food, energy, economic opportunity, water, culture, tourism, recreation, biotechnology, transportation routes, and knowledge to residents, Canadians, and the international community.

Figure 1: Map of Clayoquot Sound (Photo Credit: West Coast Aquatic “Coastal Strategy”, 2012)

The WCVI offers countless opportunities for every type of activity, including: fishing in Port Alberni (named by the World Fishing Network as the “Ultimate Fishing Town” in 2010); outdoor activities such as kayaking in the pristine Broken Group island and hiking Della Falls, the tallest waterfalls in Canada at 1443 feet; and viewing a diverse amount of wildlife. Fishing areas on the WCVI (Clayoquot, Barkley and Nootka) account for three of the top four areas in the Pacific with the highest landed value per hectare(1). There are a number of finfish, shellfish, and marine plant aquaculture operations in the area, producing over 20% of BC’s total aquaculture volume.

The Clayoquot Sound, a sub-region of WCVI, is home to the Ahousaht, Tla-o-qui-aht and Hesquiaht First Nations. Extending from Estevan Point on Hesquiaht Peninsula in the north to Pacific Rim National Park Reserve in the south, it encompasses lush rainforests, magnificent beaches, and several large islands including Flores, Vargas and Meares. Clayoquot Sound is the largest area of ancient temperate rainforest left on Vancouver Island. Marine species and wildlife thrive in this region of ancient forests, where trees can grow to over 15 feet in diameter and as old as 1,500 years. Clayoquot Sound is considered to be one of the most spectacular wilderness areas on the continent and has been declared a United Nations Biosphere Reserve.

Conservation and Livelihood Challenges

Despite the region having tremendous natural assets and opportunities, the area also faces significant challenges. In the mid-1990s, leaders from the West Coast of Vancouver Island came together to discuss key issues: declining fish stocks and increased species at risk; pollution; lack of coastal community access to adjacent resources; unresolved First Nations title, rights, and reconciliation; increased debt and declining funding; lack of governance credibility; social problems; climate change; marine hazards; invasive species; conflicting coastal uses; and food security. The leaders came to the conclusion that there was not one single cause, and not one single cure. Everything is connected. To affect change, a collective effort was required and the West Coast Vancouver Island Aquatic Management Board (now known as ‘West Coast Aquatic’) was born.

Since the mid-1990s, the area has seen some notable advancements: conflicts have decreased; collaboration has increased; rights and title have gained some definition through a treaty and ongoing court cases; risk assessments guide stewardship work; and multi-sector governance models continue to evolve. However, communities continue their efforts to: increase local benefit from resource use; build struggling fishery stocks; preserve the local culture of artisanal and sustenance fishing; and diversify the economy, amongst other issues.

Meanings & Motivations
Viewing the actions of its partners, West Coast Aquatic understands resource conservation in the region to mean sustainable use with respect (iisaak) and active stewardship. Conservation is different from preservation, a term that carries a stigma in the region as being related to those who “say no to everything”. In the past, the region has seen significant conflict between sectors. However, some long-time adversaries are now working together, and long held perspectives are changing as opportunities increase for open dialogue around critical questions. Protocols between First Nations and the aquaculture industry in Clayoquot Sound is a good example.

Community based resource users are conservation motivated by the increasing volume of resource use benefits that are leaving the communities (e.g. a large number of fishing licenses are held by a few corporations), but the environmental impacts are largely felt by those inside the communities. There is an interest in having the inclusion of local knowledge improve decision-making and increasing local benefits.

These users are also interested in giving back to/supporting the resource that is at the heart of their businesses/sport, as they don’t want to lose economic and/or recreational opportunity. Many community based resource users are also multi-generational. They want to continue what their families have done for years, and hope to pass on the practice to their children.

The motivations of First Nations include: regaining their traditional roles of stewardship and management; ensuring the environment can support the full exercise of aboriginal rights and economic aspirations; having management reflect traditional values of hishuk ish tsawalk (everything is one, taking care of the resources is taking care of ourselves and vice versa); and wanting local/traditional knowledge to improve decision making.

Local governments are motivated by the desire to change the perception of what their towns’ identities represent (not just resource economies). Several governments in the regional district are looking to reinvent their brand, and healthy ecosystems are needed to support their new image (e.g. tourism).

Community Initiative

Recognizing the size and interconnected nature of these issues, local groups created West Coast Aquatic as a forum to pool resources and work towards collective solutions. The formation of West Coast Aquatic was right around the same time that Canada passed the Oceans Act (1997), one of the first pieces of national legislation to recognize emerging challenges in oceans and coastal health and also aimed at mandating collective action.

In this context, West Coast Aquatic set out to produce an integrated strategy to improve the health and wealth of the west coast of Vancouver Island. Through interviews with over 700 organizations and individuals, the Coastal Strategy was developed. Central to the strategy is bringing together knowledge from different sources about the West Coast of Vancouver Island area to create a common understanding of what is happening, why, and what needs to be done.

Governance Related to Challenges Being Addressed
West Coast Aquatic provides several consensus-based forums for involving First Nations and other local communities in decision-making. These include a Governance Board that makes policy recommendations to government, and multi-sector roundtables for salmon management. The Governance Board includes representatives from all levels of government, Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations, and all sectors with an interest in aquatic resource management (e.g. commercial fishing, aboriginal fishing, recreational & sport fishing, aquaculture, environment, processing, labour, tourism & recreation, marine transportation and forestry) (see Figure 2). The Salmon Roundtables include representatives from the Federal Government, Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations, all salmon fishing sectors, and stewardship organizations.

Figure 2: Collaborative, consensus-based governance (Photo Credit: Tawney Lem)

Both the Governance Board and Roundtables incorporate diverse tools and methods (including the Nuu-chah-nulth management principles of hishuk ish tsawalk and iisaak, values based discussion, and consensus) for truly representative and collaborative decision-making that produces lasting results. Through inclusive representation, the Governance Board and Roundtables empower users and groups to have more authority over managing the resources in their communities.

Monitoring and Evaluation of Outcomes
Monitoring of West Coast Aquatic’s work is done both formally and informally. The Governance Board has set four strategic priorities: collaborative governance, ecosystem approach, access to resources, and stewardship. For each priority, outcomes, outputs, activities and indicators are developed that are guided by the Coastal Strategy. At the end of each year, the Governance Board reviews areas of success and opportunities for advancement in the coming year. Some of the outcomes that are monitored include:

Governance:
• Improvement in the quality and inclusiveness of marine resource based decisions.
• Reduction in the potential for conflicts between users.

Ecosystem Approach:
• Marine Ecosystem Reference Guide recommendations are harmonized with government advisory processes.
• Marine Ecosystem Reference Guide information is accessible, up-to-date, and is factored into the development and review of applications.
• Planning is ecosystem based.

Access to Resources:
• Improved community access to seafood.
• Expanded economic diversity and activities, and increased economic stability.

Stewardship:
• Areas that are integral to marine ecosystem health and abundance are protected.
• Stewardship actions of resource users are increased.

For the Roundtables’, the Terms of Reference and goals are reviewed annually, and a post-season evaluation is conducted by all Roundtable participants to assess the success of the harvest plans. Feedback is then incorporated during joint development of the coming year’s plans.

Practical Outcomes

Since 2001, the West Coast Aquatic Governance Board has maintained the participation by all governments, First Nations and sectors. Recently, the Terms of Reference was amended so that the appointment of First Nations’ representatives was more reflective of the First Nations’ governance structures. This has increased the number of First Nations’ seats from two to eight, and this is anticipated to increase their connection to the Governance Board.

Access to resources and community benefit from resource use are two important issues for the Governance Board. WCVI fishers continue to struggle with the impacts of the Pacific Salmon Treaty, which has led to a 52% reduction in Chinook catch and 28% reduction in the regional troll fleet. This has the potential to profoundly change trolling as an economic component of coastal livelihoods and as a historic aspect of the fishing industry.

West Coast Aquatic is facilitating discussions between troll groups with the goal of bringing a consensus proposal to the Federal government on the use of the remaining Chapter 3 (Chinook) mitigation fund, and is also hosting WCVI wide discussions so community interests can be documented and included in the negotiations of a new version of the Pacific Salmon Treaty.

One action item identified in the Coastal Strategy was the need for marine spatial planning. The goal was to be able to assess the intersection between activities and values, thereby promoting the conservation of significant ecological, cultural and social values as the ‘right activities are matched to the right location’.

Over a three-year period, West Coast Aquatic embarked on an extensive process with its community partners to conduct extensive interviews that documented new knowledge, verify existing information through community experts, and carry out modeling using the Marine InVEST and Marxan models. Another year was spent gathering additional feedback through sector and public review sessions.

After thoughtful discussions about West Coast Aquatic’s role, and in order to ensure that the authority of decision makers was maintained, it has been decided that the end product of these efforts is not a “plan”, but more of a resource that will guide ecosystem based decision making that is inclusive of indigenous, local, and scientific knowledge (Figure 3). The 300 data layers and associated decision-making recommendations will be available online in an interactive platform later in 2016.

The salmon Roundtables continue and have been cited up and down the coast as a successful model and regional solution that can contribute towards the federal government’s mandate to “work with provinces, territories, Indigenous Peoples, and other stakeholders to better co-manage our three oceans.”(1) Based on the success of the salmon Roundtables, discussions continue on the potential of using the Roundtable model for the management of other species.

Figure 3: Community-Based Planning (Photo Credit: West Coast Aquatic staff)

West Coast Aquatic also facilitated the Pacific Rim Education and Tourism Committee through a year of research and strategy development on Education Tourism opportunities for four central west coast communities. Agreeing on the viability of the opportunity, communities are now inviting other communities and several strategic partners to join them in the implementation phase that will be led by the Clayoquot Biosphere Trust. While a new economic opportunity is progress in itself, perhaps the even greater success was having two indigenous and two non-indigenous communities form a partnership around a common interest.

Next Steps:
Within the Marine Ecosystem Reference Guide (tentative name, previously known as the Marine Spatial Plan), ecologically significant areas (ESA) were identified. Currently, 31% of the Clayoquot Sound is formally protected, however another 28% has been identified as being ecologically significant. As the next step, West Coast Aquatic will initiate a multi-sector engagement process that investigates what conservation measures (e.g. ranging from protocols through to formal marine protected areas) might be desirable and effective for the new ESAs. This initiative can also contribute towards the federal government’s mandate of “increasing the proportion of Canada’s marine and coastal areas that are protected to five percent by 2017, and ten percent by 2020”(1).

On the ground monitoring was initiated in the Clayoquot Sound based on data gaps identified in the Chinook Risk Assessment (e.g. water quality, temperature, pH, and alkalinity). The next major undertaking will be the development of a comprehensive monitoring program to ensure that goals in the Coastal Strategy are being met, and that use of the Marine Ecosystem Reference Guide is in fact leading to the desired conservation goals. A series of workshops will be held to identify what monitoring is already taking place, what indicators are most meaningful for communities, and which partners will take on the implementation of monitoring which indicators

References

1. Office of the Prime Minister. 2015. Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard mandate letter.

Acknowledgements

West Coast Aquatic recognizes that our work would not be possible without the generous participation and contribution of many knowledgeable First Nations, community organizations, non-governmental organizations, government ministries and departments, academics, and community members.

Thank you to the CCRN for its financial support, which has been directed towards community engagement and capacity building. We are grateful to the Alberni Clayoquot Regional District for their grants towards the core of our organization, the West Coast Aquatic Governance Board. And, the ability to facilitate the salmon Roundtables is due to the Pacific Integrated Commercial Fisheries Initiative (PICFI) Co-management Element.
West Coast Aquatic also extends special appreciation to the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation for its commitment to marine conservation, and for generously funding the development of the Coastal Strategy and Marine Ecosystem Reference Guide.

This research is being carried out with the aid of a Doctoral Research Award from the Canadian International Development Research Centre, a doctoral award from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada, a SSHRC grant held by Dr. Derek Armitage as part of a Coastal-Marine Transformation Project, and support from the SSHRC-funded Community Conservation Research Network (CCRN).

View the complete CCRN’s Koh Pitak Community Story as a PDF

Phil Deardena and Dachanee Emphandhuba

Key Messages

• Conservation initiatives such as habitat creation and fishing restrictions have improved the biodiversity around Koh Pitak Island.

• Establishing a community-based tourism industry enabled further development of lower-consumptive activities to support island livelihoods and reduce dependence on marine resources.

• Community conservation on Koh Pitak Island was successful due to leadership, social capital, distributional equity, tourist attractions, media interest, village culture, support network, and timing.

Community Profile

Koh Pitak is an island ecosystem located approximately one km off the coast of Chumporn Province in the Gulf of Thailand in Bang Num Jeud Sub-District, Luang Suan District. The area of the small, relatively steep island is 113.92 ha, about one-half consisting of natural vegetation and the rest mainly coconut plantation or housing. The island is inhabited by about 45 related households, the majority of whom are Buddhist. Koh Pitak was established over a hundred years ago by fishers who took shelter along its coasts. The abundant sea resources surrounding the island allowed the community to flourish⁽¹⁾.

Figure 1. Map of Koh Pitak Island

Conservation and Livelihood Challenges

The marine environment around Koh Pitak Island was formerly very productive and diverse but suffered rapid declines around 20 years ago due to over-fishing and pollution. The decline in marine resources led the island community heavily into debt – a situation faced by many Thai fishing communities during this period⁽¹⁾. Senior levels of government were unresponsive to the plight of the community.

Community Initiatives

Conservation was seen at Koh Pitak as being an essential element of livelihood recovery. The community, under charismatic leadership, recognized that they themselves were partially to blame for the environmental degradation that had occurred and designed initiatives to reverse this trend. Some of these initiatives included⁽¹⁾:

• Establishing a community-based tourism industry that enabled further development of lower-consumptive activities to support island livelihoods and reduce dependence on marine resources.

• Creating an artificial reef which enhanced marine biodiversity and provided supplemental income for fishers.

• Protecting marine resources through seasonal closures, zoning and the use of grow nets.

• Designating a local no-take zone where villagers seed giant clams; this site has become popular for dive and snorkel tourism.

• Restoring mangrove populations along Koh Pitak’s shoreline.

• Improving waste disposal through the use of micro-organisms that rapidly digest organic waste. The treated wastewater from this system is then used to develop and water home gardens. These gardens have become a popular tourist attraction, where the village teaches visitors how to create such gardens.

• Initiated a study to understand the tourism carrying capacity of Koh Pitak by monitoring water quality, waste and the quality of visitor experience.

Figure 2: Mangroves replanted by the community

“I want it to be like it was 30 years ago, with the seas full of fish…” – Headman of Koh Pitak regarding their main goal for conservation

Figure 3: Interview with two of the main exponents of the “garden culture” of the Island

Influencing Marine Policies

As for all other coastal communities in Thailand, Koh Pitak is ostensibly governed by the same fisheries laws, rules and regulations of the country. However, through their own initiative, the community has managed to create unprecedented flexibility in this respect that is of national importance. One example is the stewardship of a local island, Koh Kram, about 1 km further offshore Koh Pitak.

Koh Kram has the best remaining biodiversity in the area and is part of a larger national park, Mu Koh Chumporn. Nevertheless, the administration of Mu Koh Chumporn has allowed the villagers to have stewardship over the island who, in turn, have developed a no-take fishing zone and oversee a reseeding and enhancement of giant clams in the area. They are allowed to enter and leave as they wish and take tourists there. This kind of practical relationship between the Thai National Parks Department and local communities is very rare.

Another important example is the current revision of the Thai National Fisheries Law to recognise the abilities of communities, such as Koh Pitak to manage their own fisheries. Although Koh Pitak figures prominently, it is not the only fishing community to be recognised in this area. Interestingly, the community has elected to have a smaller ocean area than permitted under the proposed bill, due to a practical recognition of their own limitations in patrolling a larger area.

Figure 4: View of fishing boat from Koh Pitak Island

Practical Outcomes

The success observed on Koh Pitak Island can be attributed to several factors:

Leadership – A charismatic, far seeing and powerful village leader was critical to the transformations.

Community social capital – The community has very high social capital and unity due to their inter-relatedness and common history.

Distributional equity – Activities are undertaken by groups; a proportion of all income is returned to the community fund with full transparency.

Tourist attractions – Koh Pitak does not offer the coastal tourism attractions typically associated with Thailand, such as long, white sand beaches and azure blue seas. Had it done so it is quite likely that it might have already been consumed by mass tourism. The attractions are more suited to the kind of community-based tourism that has developed there.

Media interest – There has been significant media interest in the transformation of the village, providing ample free marketing for tourism.

Village culture – The village enjoys a slow pace of life that is well suited to low-key tourism development.

Support network – The village enjoyed an extensive support network ranging from government agencies, institutions (such as universities) and other villages developing community-based initiatives.

Timing – The conservation and tourism initiatives coincided with the growing popularity of the Thai King’s “Self Sufficiency” philosophy which promotes small, local, low-impact development and living a moderate, self-dependent life without greed or overexploitation of, for example, natural resources.

Figure 5: A homestay extended out over the water

“For me […] conservation cannot be done by only one person, or by one community. It must have collaboration among communities and organizations that we call it “our conservation network”. It is a network of conservation in many aspects: giving ideas, supporting each other, and working together. Conservation is not only at our homeland but covers from mountain to the sea. This conservation network is like a jigsaw that missing one piece can bring a whole mission down.” – Koh Pitak village head concerning his thoughts on conservation

References

We thank S. Songpornwanich and A. Ruksapol for their ongoing work with the villagers and for granting access to their field work results.

See below for the Thai language abstract for this community story, “เกาะพิทักษ์, ประเทศไทย การฟื้นฟูวิถีชีวิตและทรัพยากรทางทะเลโดยการอนุรักษ์ของชุมชน”

A video report on the inhabitants of the scenic Koh Pitak island and their efforts to manage local ecotourism