Locally-Managed Marine Area work


Description

The grant is to support “LMMA Network – From Local to Global: Upscaling local management success to improve Global Coastal Fisheries and Marine Management”.The grant started on 1st October 2013 and ends on 30th September 2015. IAS/USP has been the fiscal host for the funds since 2000. The LMMA Network promotes community based adaptive management (CBAM), which is integration of design, management and monitoring in order to learn and improve management responses undertaken primarily by local stakeholders but also with appropriate involvement of government institutions and private interests.

For the Locally-Managed Marine Area work in Fiji a major emphasis for 2013 was an “audit” of all 150 villages where IAS has been working with the community on inshore fishery management.  The study sought to determine the reality of what was actually happening at the ground level.  The good news was that 70% of the communities perceived that their management plan was leading to an increase in fish biomass.  About 50% of the community reported opening their “tabu” areas during the previous year.  This is in line with traditional use of the management tool where a “tabu” allowed for an increase in fish for later use, like a bank account.  We are working with communities to help them determine what their “fish account” interest is so that they only harvest the “interest” and not the fish “capital”.

Funding

USD $600,000
Donors: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

Partners

  • The Locally Managed Marine Area (LMMA) Network -Leading Organisation
  • Institute of Applied Sciences
  • SeaWeb International

Highlights/Outputs

  • Generate Robust and Relevant Lessons Learned for Users and Decision Makers by end of 2015
  • LMMA ‘5000 Outreach: Informing good practice in local marine and coastal management globally, supporting uptake in at least one new major region by 2015
  • Scaling up LMMAs in at least 2 LMMA countries by 2015
  • Improve LMMA Network Regional Coordination and Sustainability by 2015
  • LMMA state of the art knowledge compiled, made accessible, and disseminate
  • Increased global understanding and capacity for LMMA approaches in at least one new major region
  • Up-scaling of LMMA approaches in at least 2 or more countries in the Indo-Pacific region
  • LMMA Network coordination and regional implementation improved and increased capacity in place in region for sustainable future