Locally Managed Marine Area - Reef Islands - Solomon Islands
2014/2015 Program
Continued reef assessments inside MPAs and open-access areas to monitor their ecological effectiveness,Continued monitoring and training of the Reef Guardian Program and initiating the Program in LomLom and Vanikoro, Development of a Junior Reef Guardian Program, at the high school. We will be working with a partner organisation, Living Oceans Foundation, this year to collect baseline assessments, habitat mapping and high resolution satellite images,Continued education in communities through presentations, meetings, discussions and educational videos, with particular focus on habitat loss and regeneration, MPA enforcement and benefits, coral ecology and fisheries regulations,Continuation of a catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) program to enable continued monitoring of fish stocks to ensure sustainability of current fishing pressures and practices.
Carpenter, K.E., Abrar, M., Aeby, G., Aronson, R.B., Banks, S. et al. (2008). One-third of reef-building corals face elevated extinction risks from climate change and local impacts. Science, 321, 560-563.Gell, F.R. and Roberts, C.M. (2003). Benefits beyond boundaries: The fishery effects of marine reserves. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 18:9, 448-455.Roberts, C.M., Bohnsack, J.A., Gell, F., Hawkins, J.P. and Goodridge, R. (2001). Effects of marine reserves on adjacent fisheries. Science, 5548:294, 1920-1923.
Why is marine conservation important in the Solomon Islands?
Coral reefs are considered amongst the world’s most diverse and important marine ecosystems (Carpenter et al., 2008). Reefs are becoming increasingly threatened by growing human pressures and rising human populations. OceansWatch began working in the Solomon Islands in 2009, first visiting the Reef Islands in 2010. We were invited initially to work with the Tuwo Community as they were becoming increasingly aware of their declining marine resources, coral reef degradation and associated impacts on food security. Climate change is compounding the threats to the area’s marine environment and community livelihoods. Hence, conservation is essential to increase the area’s resilience and health.
What has OceansWatch achieved so far?
OceansWatch has been extremely successful within the Temotu Province. Over the past four years we have empowered local communities to manage their marine resources. This has led to establishment of three permanent marine protected areas (MPA) and three 5-year temporary MPAs. MPAs act as refuges to vulnerable life stages and species, and benefits include increased fish biomass and abundance (Gell and Roberts, 2003). From a socio-economic perspective, MPAs can produce spillover of exploitable species into adjacent areas to contribute towards fisheries (Roberts et al., 2001). We survey these MPAs and open-access control areas annually using the Reef Check Methodology to determine their ecological effectiveness. Fish, invertebrate and substrate have exhibited positive responses within the MPAs. For example in 2012, the permanent MPAs in Tuwo recorded both a 10% increase in total fish density and a 19% increase in hard coral cover compared with the open-access area. We have also initiated a community-run reef monitoring scheme, the Reef Guardian Program, throughout Fenualoa. This scheme empowers local communities to monitor their reefs and species assemblages, as well as contributing towards our ongoing data collection. Finally, a large component of our work involves educating local communities on marine environments, coral ecology and the importance of their protection.
