EnglishFranais Register      Login       Search       
Coral Reef Initiative for the South Pacific

Decision-makers and stakeholders awareness

Background

Awareness of all coral reef conservation stakeholders is a major area for the Programme, which provides substantial financial support to a partner that has been clearly identified as a leader in the field, namely SPREP. As stakeholders vary in nature, the messages and resource materials should be specifically tailored to needs. Although standard awareness approaches for the general public should be used, issues relating the coral reef economy also need to be dealt with, as audiences such as political leaders and donors would generally be more attentive to the financial aspects than to simple environmental considerations.

SPREP is therefore relying on designing and extending MPA social and economic monitoring in a Pacific-adapted package known as SEM-Pasifika, developed in partnership with NOAA, an American agency. Although SPREP is undeniably a leader in the field, this does not exempt the other technical stakeholders in the various Programme components from their contractual obligation to communicate and return information themselves. IRD has, therefore, specifically set up a subcomponent-2A project to test innovative general public awareness methods.

Latest Progress

In late 2007, the SPREP officer took part in an in situ test on a PNG SEM-Pasifika methodology site (Vieux 2008a). Economic considerations remain central to the Programme and, during the first half of 2008, the co-ordination unit produced the terms of reference for a CRISP Economic Task Force that will meet for the first time in May 2008 during a workshop dealing with MPA economies (Pascal et al 2008). The workshop will seek to define a methodology and select sites for conducting economic studies so as to, at least partially, respond to questions raised with regard to MPAs’ economic effectiveness.

Following a sampling campaign in 2005 and a valuation exercise in 2006-2007 involving the marine invertebrates collected, in terms of both taxonomy and the potential isolation of active marine substances (AMSs), IRD’s UR 152 research unit organised an information feedback mission to Honiara in March 2008 (Payri et al 2008). In the meantime, the IRD UR 128 research unit has almost completed a DVD for the general public, partly with CRISP funding, on how coral ecosystems function.

The highlight in this area is, however, SPREP’s launching of Pacific Year of the Reef (PYOR2008) as part of an ICRI worldwide campaign (Vieux 2008b). SPREP raised USD 50,000 for the event, which is being co-funded by AFD (USD 30,000) and UNF (USD 20, 000). The campaign was officially launched in Vanuatu in March 2008 with logistic and institutional support from the French Embassy in Port Vila. The SPREP-run campaign consists of a regional junior and senior secondary school contest for all Pacific countries with the juniors competing to produce a comic strip and the seniors to suggest reef conservation measures, some of which will be funded after the contest.

Brief Review

As the methodology fine-tuning and study implementation phases required some time to carry out, results concerning the social and economic value of coral reefs were not reported on until late 2006. An initial methodology report dealing with the issue was produced by a team of IRD geographers (David et al 2007). It aroused such international interest that the co-ordination unit plans to translate it into English to make it available to as many people as possible. At the same time a USP, Fiji, environmental economist produced a study on the TEV (total economic value) of the Navutulevu MPA located on the outskirts of the Suva area (O’Garra 2007). Partly funded by CRISP, USP also produced a report on the economic potential of traditional fishing areas (Iqoliqoli in Fijian) in tourism (Korovulavula et al 2007) in response to the Fijian government’s concern to complete legislation for the harmonious co-existence of the holiday industry and traditional coastal resource management. It should be noted that this study is complementary to CRISP’s main emphasis on ecocertification (cf section on reef resource marketing).

Bibliography


CRISP