Group items tagged

The Digital Observatory for Protected Areas "Providing the right information to the right people with the right tools" Supporting GEO's Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO-BON), the Digital Observatory for Protected Areas (DOPA) is conceived as a set of distributed Critical Biodiversity Informatics Infrastructures (databases, web modeling services, broadcasting services, ...) combined with interoperable web services to provide a large variety of endusers including park managers, decision-makers and researchers with means to assess, monitor and possibly forecast the state and pressure of protected areas at the global scale. DOPA has three main objectives: 1) Provide best available material (data, indicators, models) agreed on by contributing institutions which can serve for establishing baselines for research & reporting; 2) Provide free web based tools (databases, portals, modeling services) designed to generate the best available material but also for research purposes, decision making and capacity building activities for conservation; 3) Provide an interoperable and, as much as possible, open source framework to allow institutions to get their own means to assess, monitor and forecast the state and pressure of protected areas and help these to further engage with the organizations hosting critical biodiversity informatics infrastructures. Developped in collaboration by major institutions active in the field of biodiversity conservation (UNEP-WCMC, BirdLife International, GBIF, IUCN, ...), DOPA is designed to encourage a multi-scale cross-disciplinary approach to biodiversity without being exposed to excessive risks coming from mixing data from undocumented sources and/or with undocumented uncertainties. - See more at: http://dopa.jrc.ec.europa.eu/#sthash.63zAz2Cx.dpuf Supporting GEO's Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO-BON), the Digital Observatory for Protected Areas (DOPA) is conceived as a set of distributed Critical Biodiversity Informatics Infrastr

This presentation will: Discuss challenges faced in protected area management in the Caribbean Explore why a rights-based approach to conservation is critical Address transparency of government and corporate actors in relation to the use of natural resources in protected areas Address rights of the public to participate in protected area management Address accountability of government actions to stated policy goals Present case studies about the Portland Bight Protected Area in Jamaica , la Reserva de Biosfera Jaragua-Bahoruco-Enriquillo in Dominican Republic, and Caracol Bay in Haiti

Uma das grandes limitações postas a implantação e operação das estruturas de governança das Areas marinhas protegidas dada as suas dimensões e complexidade, é o a capacitação e o custo necessário ao seu monitoramento. Aqui, Daniel Kachelriess e seus companheiros tratam das possibilidades abertas o sensoriamento remoto no monitoramento de tais areas, o que implica a possibilidade de mobilizar-e novas competências e, a depender da situação com redução dos custos e aumento a qualidade do monitoramento, em especial em areas de graandes dimensões. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are importanttools for the conservation of marine biodiversity but their designation and effective monitoring require frequent, comprehensive, reliable data. We aim to show that remote sensing (RS), as demonstrated for terrestrial protected areas, has the potential to provide key information to support MPA management. We review existing literature on the use of RS to monitor biodiversity surrogates, e.g. ecological (e.g., primary productivity) and oceanographic (e.g., Sea Surface Temperature) parameters that have been shown to structure marine biodiversity.We then highlight the potential for RS to inform marine habitat mapping and monitoring, and discuss how RS can be used to track anthropogenic activities and its impacts on biodiversity inMPAs. Reasons for low integration of RS in MPA management and current limitations are also presented. This work concludes that RS shows great promise to support wildlife managers in their efforts to protectmarine biodiversity around the world,in particular when such information is used in conjunction with data from field surveys Ecological Indicators 36 (2014) 169-177

This publication is an important step to enhance governancecapacities for the world's protected area systems. Part 1 provides an overview of the four different protected area governance types recognised by the IUCN, with plenty of examples of what they are, why they are important and howthey might be integrated into coherent and effective protectedarea systems. It also addresses the complex question of what constitutes good governance in various circumstances. Part 2 offers practical guidance for a multi-stakeholder group willing to embark on the process of assessing, evaluating and improving governance for a given system

O ponto de partida do artigo é a constatação que "Privatization is often viewed to provide positive stimulus for the economy that can lead to the better-ment of society", o que se pode complementar, com a constatação de E Ostrom, segundo a qual, em algumas situações o regime privado se coloca como uma panancéia. Naste mesma linha, os autores chamam atenção que que qando " the appropriate governance systems are not functionally in place, the unwanted effects of privatization can have deleterious consequences." "This paper highlights the conse-quences of undesirable privatization and the emergent unwanted privatization tendencies of the coastal commons, particularly in the developing countries such as the Philippines. The lack of coherent policies,standards, and weak enforcement of policies in leasing the coastal commons (e.g. various unregulatedaqua culture) in the Philippines in particular, have resulted to alarming displacement, deprivation and marginalization of fishing and farming communities and have degraded many coastal zone areas. Os autores tratam do usos multiplos do solo, In addition, poorly planned coastal tourism and housing development projects in the foreshore areas,inappropriate reclamation of coastal areas, illegal usurpation of indigenous peoples rights over ancestral domain areas, and conversion of fishing and fish farming zones into ecotourism zones further aggravated this scenario. Equitable access to resources is of paramount importance to afford concerned stakeholders greater participation in terms of developing greater capacity for coastal communities to engage and demand for improved coastal governance e an important facet of public dministration often identifiedas one of the challenges in managing the commons. Co-management with an Ecosystem-Based Management approach as core operational mechanism provides opportunities to enhance policy formulation and implementation, secure community safety nets, and facilitate the crea

"To halt degradation of benthic resources in Chile, management areas (MAs) were set up under the Territorial Use Rights in Fisheries (TURFs) framework in the late 1990s. Integrated into the global market, MAs have since expanded along the Chilean coast, involving thousands of small-scale artisanal fishers. This paper analyses how economic criteria relates to social and ecological performance of Chilean MAs, by applying TURFs, commons and co-management theory to two cases: MAs Peñuelas and Chigualoco. To collect and analyse data Participatory Rural Appraisal tools, interviews and official statistics and reports were used. Our results show that MAs' economic benefits are connected to fluctuations on the global market. Adapting to changing world market prices then becomes paramount. TURFs' main goal is ecological conservation, but achieving this seems to depend on meeting fishers' livelihoods; failure to do so likely results in failure to meet conservation objectives. A serious weakness of the Chilean TURFs system is that it does not pay enough attention to fishers' livelihoods or to the global market context. Furthermore, there is a strong relationship between good economic benefits and social sustainability. But irrespective of economic performance, fisher organizations have been empowered and gained increased resource control with the TURFs system. At policy level, a differentiated and more flexible system could be more suitable for existing heterogeneous MAs and their particular economic, social and ecological challenges. For improved economic sustainability and resource conservation, a system with multiple-species managing MAs could be promoted as well. Finally, to enhance theory of commons, co-management and TURFs, we argue for greater acknowledgement of TURFs' social benefits in addition to economic assessments. More attention should also be paid to global market conditions of which MAs are dependent and in which they are embedded: macrostructures tha

DECOMMISSIONING (offshore Installations), FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE Decommissioning of offshore installations can cause problems both for the fisheries and for aquaculture industry, including fish farming, but of rather different kinds. For the fisheries, any problems are largely related to the offshore phase of decommissioning, and include restrictions on access to areas, the impacts of pollution (including noise), and interference with fishing activities if installations and pipelines are left in place. For aquaculture, potential problems are largely related to onshore activities, and include restricted access to areas and the impacts of pollution (including noise). Risks to the reputation of fish products on different markets could be a problem both for the fisheries and the aquaculture. Reputation is a sensitive factor, and easily influenced in a negative direction. Pollution incidents could have a major impact, especially at local level. Experience shows that it takes a long time to restore a good reputation. There are no special arrangements for compensating for this type of loss other than the normal compensation rules. This issue should therefore be taken into special consideration if permits are to be issued for areas where fisheries and aquaculture are important.

Artisanal fisheries are of great importance in Brazil, as they are responsible for more than 50% of national fish production. This importance, associated with the necessity of conserving marine environments threatened by multiple competing uses, leads us to propose mechanisms for co-management of fisheries by users and public authorities. This proposal takes into account: a) local conflicts between artisanal and industrial fishers; b) local rules overthe use of fishing areas established by artisanal fishers; c) the advent of protectedareas that close ac-cess to some fishing areas used by artisanal fisheries; and d) co-management options being explored betweengovernment and fishers. This study suggests policy and technical alternatives under consideration to managethe artisanal fisheries of southeastern Brazil with a focus on Ilha Grande bay in Rio de Janeiro. In our casestudy, based on field research conducted in 2009, we show that artisanal fishers are squeezed into a marinespace between protected areas and industrial fishing. We suggest that a combination of fishing agreements(FAs),based on experience in Amazonian fisheries and extractive reserves,and payment for environmental ser-vices(PES),based onforest and related ate rresource experience,could improve management and livelihoods for local artisanal fisheries by stimulatin gandre warding fsher swho participate in conservation efforts.The two instruments (FAs and PES) are the subject of considerable research and practical experience.Their integration in an instrument mix represents a contribution from transdisciplinary fields of human ecology and ecological economics.

"This paper investigates how common property institutional arrangementscontribute to sustainable mangrove sheries in coastal Ecuador, ocusing onthe shery or the mangrove cockle (  Anadara tuberculosa and  A. similis ), abivalve mollusk harvested rom the roots o mangrove trees and o particularsocial, economic, and cultural importance or the communities that dependon it. Specically, this study examines the emergence o new civil societyinstitutions within the historical context o extensive mangrove deorestationor the expansion o shrimp arming, policy changes in the late 1990s thatrecognized "ancestral" rights o local communities to mangrove resources, andhow custodias, community-managed mangrove concessions, aect the cockleshery. Findings rom interviews with shell collectors and analysis o catch-per-unit-eort (CPUE) indicate that mangrove concessions as common propertyregimes promote community empowerment, local autonomy over resources,mangrove conservation and recovery, higher cockle catch shares, and larger shellsizes, but the benets are not evenly distributed. Associations without custodias and independent cockle collectors eel urther marginalized by the loss o gathering grounds, potentially defecting problems o overexploitation to "open-access" areas, in which mangrove sheries are weakly managed by the State.Using Ostrom's Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) ramework, theexplicit link between social and ecological systems is studied at dierent levels,examining the relationship between collective action and the environment throughquantitative approaches at the shery level and qualitative analysis at the level"

"To halt degradation o benthic resources in Chile, managementareas (MAs) were set up under the Territorial Use Rights in Fisheries (TURFs)ramework in the late 1990s. Integrated into the global market, MAs have sinceexpanded along the Chilean coast, involving thousands o small-scale artisanalshers. This paper analyses how economic criteria relates to social and ecologicalperormance o Chilean MAs, by applying TURFs, commons and co-managementtheory to two cases: MAs Peñuelas and Chigualoco. To collect and analyse dataParticipatory Rural Appraisal tools, interviews and ocial statistics and reportswere used. Our results show that MAs' economic benets are connected tofuctuations on the global market. Adapting to changing world market prices thenbecomes paramount. TURFs' main goal is ecological conservation, but achievingthis seems to depend on meeting shers' livelihoods; ailure to do so likely resultsin ailure to meet conservation objectives. A serious weakness o the ChileanTURFs system is that it does not pay enough attention to shers' livelihoods orto the global market context. Furthermore, there is a strong relationship betweengood economic benets and social sustainability. But irrespective o economicperormance, sher organizations have been empowered and gained increasedresource control with the TURFs system. At policy level, a dierentiated andmore fexible system could be more suitable or existing heterogeneous MAsand their particular economic, social and ecological challenges. For improvedeconomic sustainability and resource conservation, a system with multiple-species managing MAs could be promoted as well. Finally, to enhance theory o commons, co-management and TURFs, we argue or greater acknowledgement"

"Scholars of common property resource theory (CPR) have long asserted that certain kinds of institutional arrangements based on collective action result in successful environmental stewardship, but feedback and the direct link between social and ecological systems remains poorly understood. This paper investigates how common property institutional arrangements contribute to sustainable mangrove fisheries in coastal Ecuador, focusing on the fishery for the mangrove cockle (Anadara tuberculosa and A. similis), a bivalve mollusk harvested from the roots of mangrove trees and of particular social, economic, and cultural importance for the communities that depend on it. Specifically, this study examines the emergence of new civil society institutions within the historical context of extensive mangrove deforestation for the expansion of shrimp farming, policy changes in the late 1990s that recognized "ancestral" rights of local communities to mangrove resources, and how custodias, community-managed mangrove concessions, affect the cockle fishery. Findings from interviews with shell collectors and analysis of catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) indicate that mangrove concessions as common property regimes promote community empowerment, local autonomy over resources, mangrove conservation and recovery, higher cockle catch shares, and larger shell sizes, but the benefits are not evenly distributed. Associations without custodias and independent cockle collectors feel further marginalized by the loss of gathering grounds, potentially deflecting problems of overexploitation to "open-access" areas, in which mangrove fisheries are weakly managed by the State. Using Ostrom's Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework, the explicit link between social and ecological systems is studied at different levels, examining the relationship between collective action and the environment through quantitative approaches at the fishery level and qualitative analysis at the level

"Territorial User Rights in Fisheries (TURFs) have spread in Chile, since the late 1990s, in the form of commons institutions. TURFs are presented by some scholars as a social-ecological success; by others as showing economic and compliance problems. Studies looking at the material conditions in which fishers produce and reproduce their livelihoods, and in which TURFs emerge, are scarcer. Ostrom's theory on the commons claims that certain collective action conditions have to be met to become thriving commons institutions. Our hypothesis is that while institutions are moulded by local material conditions, such as geographical location and social embeddedness, these impose challenges and constraints upon fishers influencing TURFs' long-term viability. How are collective action conditions influenced when the new TURFs commons do not emerge in tabula rasa contexts but in occupied spaces? Do material conditions influence TURFs' sustainability? This paper set out to explore these conditions. Huentelauquén's and Guayacán's TURFs (central-northern Chile) were chosen, as they represent two extremes (rural-urban; on private property-on State/municipal property; mainly diver - mainly fisher) contexts in which TURFs have emerged. We mainly used Participatory Rural Approach (PRA) tools triangulated with other qualitative methods. This study shows that both social embeddedness (private/State lands), and geographical location (rural/urban) matter, resulting in different access to the coast for different TURFs, thus determining some important differences between our cases in at least three relevant areas: entrance, social relations between the fishers' organization (entitled the TURFs) and the landowner (private or municipal/State) and the existence or absence of fishing and general infrastructure. Competition for space among key actors seems to affect the process of acquiring a TURF as well as the conditions conductive to collective action. TURFs' assessments s

Fisheries collapse can be prevented by expanding the reach of accords among artisanal fishermenand exclusive marine reserves to include a system of environmental services payments and self-monitoring for avoided overfishing, especially in critical reproductive periods. The case of theArraial do Cabo Marine Extractive Reserve in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is explored, identifying theinstitutional features of an appropriate set of contracts in this direction. Extending the concept of environmental service payments (PES) to fisheries is a logical approach in Brazil, where thefederal government already makes regular compensatory payments to fishermen during the "defeso" period of highest reproductive activity. Unfortuna tely, this system is fraught with free-ridership since there is little effective monitoring and in many fishing areas, limited collectiveresource management restraint. PES for the Arraial do Cabo RESEX goes beyond a strictly fishingorientation to include the closely linked marine tourism sector. In studies to gauge the importanceto fishermen, local residents and tourists of the marine reserve and its environmental attributes,tourists were found more likely to express willingness to contribute toward the RESEX‟ protection, at a higher per visit amount than were either fishermen or their neighbors. Payments bytourists would complement funds obtained from compensation and royalties from conflictingactivities such as port operations and petroleum exploration, together with value-added taxrevenues (ICMS-Ecológico) to finance the structuring of the RESEX management capacity toeffectively monitor and control overfishing and external incursions

Entrevista com Eleonice Sacramento integrante do Movimento dos Pescadores e Pescadoras Artesanais em 02/10/2013 enviada por Liandra, juntamente com uma serie de editais para a exploração aquícola em aguas continentais. A entrevista revela a apreensão das novas diretrizes governamentais, evidenciado os conflitos entre distintos agentes e propostas de institucionalzação do acesso aos recursos pesqueiros em areas ocupadas por populções tradicionias, a exemplo de pesquisadores artesanais.

" 1 Introduction THE QUESTION OF 'philosophical foundations' of environmental thinking in law may strike the lawyer, as much as the legal philosopher, asa strange one. For while a search for the philosophical commitments of envi-ronmental thinking undoubtedly makes sense in the context of ethics, or political theory, environmental law (it might be felt) lacks any such philosophicalunderpinning: in the eyes of many professional lawyers, environmental regula-tion manifests itself almost exclusively through an array of statutory provisions,severally concerned with curbing certain negative consequences arising fromparticular spheres of human action. Although these various measures have thecommon purpose of achieving a reduction in the erosion of our quality of life,there is not (on this view) to be found any deeper rationale or overarchingprinciple beyond this purely instrumental concern with human wellbeing. Legalregulation of the environment is, therefore, largely a set of facts to be learnedabout the way the law deals with environmental issues. Particular statutoryprovisions and judicial decisions will, of course, raise some quite interestingquestions of interpretation or application, but such questions, it is felt, areresolved within the ordinary standards and criteria which influence legal argu-ment, and do not require deeper philosophical explication.Much of the intuitive appeal of this view derives from a related, though some-times implicit, claim about the nature of environmental law. Environmentallaw, it is sometimes said, is not in the strictest sense a distinctive area of the lawat all, but merely a convenient umbrella term for the collection of particularlegal provisions which are relevant to environmental protection. There may bemany reasons why it is useful and informative to group a set of legal provisionsin a certain way, but (we might say) the underlying motivation for so doing willalways be pedagogic rather than reflective of some penetrati

FORMS OF PROPERTY IN RIGHTS-BASED FISHERIES MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS Management measures may be classed as input and output controls.Input controls regulate fishing effort. Output controls directly controlcatch amounts. Input controls such as licensing may create limited prop-erty rights, although more sophisticated output control mechanismshave been adopted by a number of countries. These include territorialuse rights in fisheries (TURFS), stock use rights in fisheries (SURFS), andcommunity development quotas (CDQs). Increasingly common are quota based systems, such as the individual quota (IQ), the individual fishingquota (IFQ), individual vessel quotas (IVQ), the individual transferableshare quota (ITSQ), and the individual transferable quota (ITQ). Each of these approaches shall be considered in turn. DOMESTIC IMPLEMENTATION OF PROPERTY RIGHTS-BASED MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS A number of States have implemented, in varying degrees, rights-basedfishing entitlements. These include Australia, Canada, Iceland, NewZealand, and the United States. The domestic implementation and sta-tus of these measures is considered for each country in turn. AN APPRAISAL OF RIGHTS-BASED MEASURES In light of domestic experiences of property rights-based instruments it isappropriate to remark upon the success of quota systems to date. Quotas systems have attracted critical comment in three broad areas: economic success, conservation and management effectiveness, and allocationalconcerns. At this point it is worth emphasising that because legal reason-ing is consequence sensitive, these factors have a role to play in the law-making process. These are considered in turn, before some final remarksare made on how the legal construction of property rights more generally has influenced the development and operation of rights-based fishing measures.