International Year of the Reef
   

ICRI News 11 - January 2009

The third and last General Meeting of the current secretariat, will be held in Phuket, Thailand on the 20th - 24th April 2009. The URL for the meeting home page will be www.icriforum.org/thailandgm.html
 

IYOR - time to report

2008 was a success for the International Year of the Reef. Nations or organizations around the world have joined the campaign - from international to national, from university to village children, and every level in between - to raise awareness about the value and importance of coral reefs and threats to their sustainability, and to motivate people to take action to protect them. A tremendous amount of material (in several languages) was produced, including educational DVDs, posters, books for kids and much more.

We are ready to compile the IYOR report, reflecting on our successes as well as areas for growth and improvement, and we encourage you to submit your activities undertaken to support IYOR. Please submit a short write-up of your activities along with photographs at reporting@iyor.org.
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The International Coral Reef Marine Protected Area Network Meeting / 4th ICRI East Asia Regional Workshop

17 - 19 November, 2008 - Tokyo, Japan

The workshop was held as the fourth holding of the ICRI Regional Workshop in East Asia region, with an objectives: (i) To bring together policy makers, MPA managers, experts and practitioners in East Asia and other regions to increase understanding of status and challenges of MPAs/MPA networks and discuss on how East Asian countries can enhance developing MPA networks on coral reefs and related ecosystems toward 2012 global target including through global perspectives; and (ii) To plan the way forward until 2010 as a preparatory meeting including development of regional strategy and provisional TOR of possible meetings and activities in 2009 and 2010.

The workshop was co-hosted by the Ministry of the Environment, Japan and ICRI secretariat, and co-chaired by Mr. Yoshihiro Natori of the United Nations University, and Dr. Vo Si Tuan of the Institute of Oceanography, Vietnam. A total of 65 participants attended the workshop including 10 East Asian governments and 28 international and regional organizations, academia and NGOs.

The three days workshop consisted of: informal sessions in Day 1 including poster session; case study presentations and parallel breakout discussion in Day 2; and continued breakout session and wrap up of the outcomes in Day 3.

The workshop have drafted the Provisional Plan 2009-2010 and TOR of 2009 and 2010 workshops as the key outcomes. The Provisional Plan describes some concrete actions to take until 2010, including: developing the Regional Strategy; upgrading the regional MPA database; conducting the regional gap analysis; and preparing for the regional network for collaboration. The workshop generally agreed to organize a similar ICRI East Asia regional workshops in 2009 and 2010, respectively, to follow-up the discussion and implementation of the agreed Provisional Plan.

For any inquiries about the workshop, please contact the workshop coordinator Kohei Hibino (khibino@jwrc.or.jp).
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Release of the "Status of Coral Reefs of the World 2008"

The Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2008 report has been published and was launched at the National Aquarium in Washington, DC on December 9, 2008. This 304 page GCRMN report features data and information on coral reefs in 96 countries and states with contributions from 372 coral reef scientists and managers. The report is available in 3 formats: a paper book with an attached CD; a 6 page brochure with an attached CD; and electronically on ReefBase, ReefBase Pacific and on the ICRIForum. The report contains 17 chapters from coral reef regions, as well as a chapter on climate change and coral reefs, cold-water reefs and new initiatives. It also contains an expanded Executive Summary as well as shorter summaries translated into French and Spanish.
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In addition to this report, the GCRMN, with funding from Conservation International and support from NOAA, published a new report titled, "Socioeconomic Conditions along the World's Tropical Coasts," which is the first-ever comprehensive analysis of data from the Global Socioeconomic Monitoring Initiative (SocMon). The report, organized by region, includes socioeconomic data from 30 countries, such as dependence on fishing and alternative livelihood opportunities. The report explores regional differences in perceived threats to marine and coastal resources and community perceptions regarding marine protected areas. Electronic copies are available on the ICRIForum.

 

SEM-Pasifika - Socioeconomic Monitoring Guidelines for Coastal Managers in Pacific Island Countries


SEM-Pasifika is a set of socioeconomic monitoring guidelines developed for sites in the Pacific. These guidelines were developed by the Community Conservation Network (CCN) with the input from the Pacific Socioeconomic Monitoring Steering Committee.

The main purpose of SEM-Pasifika is to improve site management of the coastal and marine areas in the Pacific region. It should guide interested communities in the region (including communities who have used existing methods and new communities without experiences in socio-economic assessment), management and project staff, researchers, and other practitioners, to understand important steps involved in a socioeconomic assessment and to be able to conduct the monitoring. The socioeconomic information collected will help the stakeholders at a site in management, monitoring, policy making, development and research.
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Economics of Marine Managed Areas of the South-Pacific

A five-day international workshop was held in Suva from the 26th to 30th of May 2008 in order to discuss the use of economic tools in coral reef management and, more specifically, to support the design and management of marine protected areas (MPAs) in Pacific Countries and Territories. The workshop was organized by the Coral Reef InitiativeS for the Pacific (CRISP), IUCN and SPREP.

Thirty participants attended the workshop, including key stakeholders involved in economics and marine conservation in the Pacific. Conservation International, FSPI, IRD, PIFS, SOPAC, SPC, USP, WorldFish Center, World Bank and government from Australia and New Caledonia were represented.

Presentations focused on five main themes:

  • understanding the special circumstances of Pacific MPAs and the role economists could play in MPA planning and management;
  • issues relating to the use of different economic assessment and valuation approaches in the Pacific;
  • identifying specific economic assessment and valuation approaches which could be used in the Pacific;
  • exploring potential MPA financing initiatives; and
  • proposing potential case studies in Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) where economic instruments could be tested and applied.

Specific economic approaches discussed during the workshop included the use of contingent valuation techniques to assess the non-use values of marine resources in Fiji, the use of input-output analysis to assess the local economic impact of the creation of MPAs in New South Wales (Australia), the design of a payment system for ecosystem services for MPAs in Vietnam, the application of cost-effectiveness analysis for Pacific Locally Managed Marine Areas (LMMAs), the use of cost-benefit analysis for natural resource management decision-making, and implementation of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) endowment financing scheme.

The report of the workshop is available on the CRISP web site: www.crisponline.net.
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Annotated Bibliography on Socio-economic and Ecological Impacts of Marine Protected Areas in Pacific Island Countries

This collection contributes to the work of the ReefBase Pacific project which aims to improve accessibility and availability of information to support effective management of reef resources in the Pacific. Impacts of marine protected areas, that extend beyond biodiversity and habitat conservation tend to receive less popular attention, and yet are of significant importance. The aim here is to highlight, in particular, impacts on fisheries and livelihoods attributed to coral reef marine protected areas in Pacific Island Countries and territories.
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Sustainable Livelihood Enhancement and Diversification in South Asia

In 2006, IUCN, CORDIO, ICRAN and IMM joined forces under the collaborative Coral Reefs and Livelihoods Initiative (CORALI) to better support livelihood development in coral reef conservation efforts, and to further develop and validate a participatory approach to Sustainable Livelihood Diversification and Enhancement in reef dependent communities in South Asia. Following successful field trials of the approach in 6 countries, the CORALI partners launched 3 new products at the World Conservation Congress in Barcelona, to share their findings:

  • Systematic Approaches to Livelihood Enhancement and Diversification: A Review of Global Experiences
  • Sustainable Livelihood Enhancement and Diversification: A Manual for Practitioners
  • SocMon South Asia Monitoring Guidelines

These products are currently being disseminated across the South Asia region. For further information or to receive your copy please contact Nicola Barnard nbarnard@icran.org

 

Managing Marine and Coastal Protected Areas: A Toolkit for South Asia

MCPAs require support from a host of managers, rangers, community members and others to ensure their successful operation and management. These MCPA managers are tasked with a multitude of different challenges on a daily basis, often in remote locations, and without easy reference to sources of information or help.

To support managers in their efforts a South Asia MCPA Toolkit has been prepared through contributions of critical information and case studies from over 40 regional and international experts. The Toolkit is a product of the successful collaboration between IUCN-ELG, IUCN-GMP, ICRAN, CORDIO, SACEP, UNEP and the UN Foundation, through generous funding from the EU, Government of Finland, and the Mangroves for the Future Project.

The Toolkit builds on the 2004 cooperation of IUCN, WIOMSA, UNEP, WWF and CZMC to publish 'Managing Marine Protected Areas: A Toolkit for WIO' and relied on the adaptation of the original content to provide a South Asian context to this important resource. New case studies and examples highlight South Asia success stories and specific regional and local management challenges.

The South Asia MCPA Toolkit is designed to provide a hands-on-guide to a diverse array of topics and addresses management issues relevant to all types of MCPAs, from community based, to nationally gazette marine parks, with a focus on the South Asian region.

The South Asia MCPA Toolkit was launched internationally at the World Conservation Congress in Barcelona, in October 2008, and will be widely disseminated across the region. For more information please contact: Nicola Barnard (nbarnard@icran.org)
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CORDIO Status Report 2008

In October 2008 CORDIO released its fifth Status Report, following earlier reports in 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2005. The report includes 45 individual papers based on contributions from over 100 authors, focusing on a broad range of issues - regional summaries; reports on reef status, tsunami impacts, biological research, fish spawning aggregations, artisanal fisheries, socioeconomics and livelihoods, and education and awareness. Entitled "Ten years after bleaching - facing the consequences of climate change in the Indian Ocean," the report takes stock of the past decade and responses in the Indian Ocean Region to the largest mass coral mortality on record, and provides new data and information on a broad range of issues.

The CORDIO 2008 report gives the reader a sense of the immense scope of change that ecosystems and people are facing, and the urgent need to respond from local to global levels to assist positive responses and take steps to constrain and minimize the rate of climate change. In doing so it also identifies that something can indeed be done to meet this challenge, and charts a course for CORDIO's work over the next decade.

The report can be downloaded from the web: www.cordioea.org, and can also be ordered in hard copy or on CD from the same website.
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Reefs at Risk Revisited

The new Reefs at Risk Revisited project, which is being led by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the International Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN) in collaboration with many partner organizations, is now well underway after its launch at the 11th International Coral Reef Symposium in July. Reefs at Risk Revisited is an update of the influential 1998 analysis Reefs at Risk - A Map-Based Indicator of Threats to the World's Coral Reefs and is scheduled for release in 2010. The following is a brief summary of project accomplishments achieved in the first quarter and goals for the upcoming quarter. In the first quarter we have:

  • Developed partnerships with key institutions to provide in-kind contributions and expertise;
  • Developed a modeling plan that outlines the goals and preliminary methodology for modeling threats to coral reefs;
  • Held a workshop at the WRI office in Washington, DC with local experts to discuss and refine the modeling approach;
  • Initiated a working group of experts and scientists to model climate-related threats to reefs;
  • Acquired and reviewed global data sets for potential inclusion in modeling efforts; and
  • Began building partnerships with a wide range of organizations in the Pacific, since this region was not captured in any of the previous regional-level publications.

We are currently working on the following objectives for next quarter:

  • Planning and conducting a workshop in the Pacific in early 2009;
  • Fundraising for the proposed social vulnerability and global economic analyses components;
  • Expanding our list of collaborators and funding organizations; and
  • Continuing to identify, acquire, and review the best-available data for our GIS modeling efforts.

Specific questions or comments can be directed to Lauretta Burke (Lauretta@wri.org) or Katie Reytar (kreytar@wri.org).
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ICRI Coral Reef CSI Programme Update

The ICRI Coral Reef Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) programme is an international field training program for coral reef resource managers and enforcement officers, which focuses on underwater techniques for collection of evidence and formal documentation of human-induced coral reef injury events. The training programme has been a tremendous success since its inception, and has run over four workshops, produced a 278-page training text in both Spanish and English (currently being translated into French), and an underwater field technique flipbook.

The CSI programme, made possible in large part through funding from the U.S. Department of State, is generating regional and national level commitments for improved coral reef investigation and enforcement. Highlights from the specific workshops are outlined below.

The Dominican Republic (DR) hosted the first CSI regional workshop in April 2008, training eighteen participants from six countries in the region. Following the workshop, the DR is developing their own in-water investigative team which would be multi-agency and multidisciplinary in nature. They are already jointly investigating a large-scale grounding that recently occurred on their reefs. Similarly, participants from Guatemala have used their training to negotiate the evaluation of a ship grounding site within the Punta de Manabique Marine Reserve.

The second workshop was a national-level training funded and hosted by the Jamaican National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) held in June 2008. Sixteen participants attended from around the country, representing a wide variety of institutions from government and non governmental organisations including natural resource managers, enforcement officers, marine police, military, planners, academics and NGOs. In addition, Jamaica invited two participants, an enforcement officer and a coral reef resource manager, from the Turks and Caicos to benefit in the training.

The most recent workshop occurred in September on Tioman Island, Malaysia with eighteen participants from Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, The workshop has resulted in significant commitment from participating countries in improving investigation, mitigation and prosecution success for injury events. Malaysia is organising a multi-agency, multi-disciplinary team for Sabah (Borneo). Thailand participants are preparing to give a presentation on the program to their government, and the Singapore participants, along with Karenne Tun, the local workshop coordinator, are planning to work with the Singapore government to lay the groundwork for a team. An observer from Indonesia took part in order to assist in the planning process for a Coral Triangle Initiative workshop, currently planned for Indonesia in 2009, and to explore issues related to translating key components of the training for use in Indonesia.

Upcoming Workshops

Field training workshops that are confirmed or are in the planning stages for 2008/2009 include; the Eastern Caribbean, funded and implemented through the Barbados Coastal Zone Management Unit and taking place in November 2008; a South Asia regional workshop in the Maldives (for the Maldives, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh), funded through the European Union and hosted by the Marine Research Centre (MRC), will take place in early December 2008; the South Pacific, funded by the U.S. Department of State and implemented through the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Papaeete, Tahiti, is planned for the last week in February 2009; a South Eastern Caribbean Workshop, to be held in Trinidad and Tobago and funded through the Buccoo Reef Trust (BRT) is planned for early June 2009. Others in the pipeline for 2009 are East Africa, Belize and the Coral Triangle (Indonesia). Discussions are underway for future workshops in Colombia, Brazil, Guam, Coral Triangle (Solomon Islands or Philippines), US Virgin Islands, and for select UNEP Regional Seas programmes.

In the past year, ICRAN has provided coordination support to advance the ICRI global CSI programme. Consultations continue with a range of stakeholders to develop and advance the CSI training programme in locations across the globe. For more information, visit www.icran.org/action-csi.html. Alternatively email gulkod001@hawaii.rr.com or info@icran.org.
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