History matters: Societal acceptance of deep-sea mining and incipient conflicts in Papua New Guinea
- van Putten, Ingrid, Aswani, Shankar, Boonstra, W.J, De la Cruz-Modino, R, Das, Jewel, Glaser, Marion, Heck, Nadine, Narayan, Siddharth, Paytan, Adina, Selim, Samiya, Vave, Ron
- Authors: van Putten, Ingrid , Aswani, Shankar , Boonstra, W.J , De la Cruz-Modino, R , Das, Jewel , Glaser, Marion , Heck, Nadine , Narayan, Siddharth , Paytan, Adina , Selim, Samiya , Vave, Ron
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/391453 , vital:68653 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s40152-023-00318-0"
- Description: New marine industries that develop and grow in response to the changing demand for their products have the potential to exert pressure on fragile marine environments. These emerging industries can benefit local communities but equally can have negative environmental and socio-cultural impacts. The development of new and emerging industries, like deep seabed mining (DSM), requires the acceptance and involvement of local communities. Yet, the history of marine exploitation is imbued with conflicts between industries and local communities. This paper presents a DSM case study in Papua New Guinea (PNG) to stimulate debate around the potential for conflict in the pursuit of resource extraction from the deep sea and the social and environmental harm that these extractions can cause. We do so by first presenting a timeline of local and extra-local events and enabling conditions that form the development background for the DSM Solwara 1 project in PNG. We then undertake a media narrative analysis to consider the contribution of aspects of social acceptability to this highly complex and multi-scale conflict. We find that the lack of (or a decrease in) social acceptability contributed to the conflict situation and ultimately the demise of the Solwara 1 project. Extra-locally, the initial development was positively framed around solutions for decarbonisation using new technology. Over time, actions by international NGOs, financial issues related to foreign companies, and asymmetry in the power balance between the Pacific Island nation and global businesses played a role in growing negative perceptions of acceptability. Historical experiences with prior environmental mining disasters, together with sea tenure governance challenges, and a lack of community and stakeholder acceptance also contributed to the demise of the project. Untangling and debating these complex interactions provides context and reasons for the tension between the lack of societal acceptance at a local scale and the perceived need for DSM products in the global North for innovative technologies and decarbonising societies. Better understanding these interactions and tensions can help emerging industries navigate a future blue economy.
- Full Text:
- Authors: van Putten, Ingrid , Aswani, Shankar , Boonstra, W.J , De la Cruz-Modino, R , Das, Jewel , Glaser, Marion , Heck, Nadine , Narayan, Siddharth , Paytan, Adina , Selim, Samiya , Vave, Ron
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/391453 , vital:68653 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s40152-023-00318-0"
- Description: New marine industries that develop and grow in response to the changing demand for their products have the potential to exert pressure on fragile marine environments. These emerging industries can benefit local communities but equally can have negative environmental and socio-cultural impacts. The development of new and emerging industries, like deep seabed mining (DSM), requires the acceptance and involvement of local communities. Yet, the history of marine exploitation is imbued with conflicts between industries and local communities. This paper presents a DSM case study in Papua New Guinea (PNG) to stimulate debate around the potential for conflict in the pursuit of resource extraction from the deep sea and the social and environmental harm that these extractions can cause. We do so by first presenting a timeline of local and extra-local events and enabling conditions that form the development background for the DSM Solwara 1 project in PNG. We then undertake a media narrative analysis to consider the contribution of aspects of social acceptability to this highly complex and multi-scale conflict. We find that the lack of (or a decrease in) social acceptability contributed to the conflict situation and ultimately the demise of the Solwara 1 project. Extra-locally, the initial development was positively framed around solutions for decarbonisation using new technology. Over time, actions by international NGOs, financial issues related to foreign companies, and asymmetry in the power balance between the Pacific Island nation and global businesses played a role in growing negative perceptions of acceptability. Historical experiences with prior environmental mining disasters, together with sea tenure governance challenges, and a lack of community and stakeholder acceptance also contributed to the demise of the project. Untangling and debating these complex interactions provides context and reasons for the tension between the lack of societal acceptance at a local scale and the perceived need for DSM products in the global North for innovative technologies and decarbonising societies. Better understanding these interactions and tensions can help emerging industries navigate a future blue economy.
- Full Text:
Social innovation that connects people to coasts in the Anthropocene
- Celliers, Louis, Costa, Maria M, Rölfer, Lena, Aswani, Shankar, Ferse, Sebastien
- Authors: Celliers, Louis , Costa, Maria M , Rölfer, Lena , Aswani, Shankar , Ferse, Sebastien
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/391410 , vital:68649 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1017/cft.2023.12"
- Description: Post-industrial society is driving global environmental change, which is a challenge for all generations, current and future. The Anthropocene is the geological epoch in which humans dominate and it is rooted in the past, present, and future. Future sustainability is building on the momentum of the fundamental importance of studying human dynamics and governance of coupled social and ecological systems. In the Anthropocene, social innovation may play a critical role in achieving new pathways to sustainability. This conventional narrative review uses a qualitative analysis anchored in the Grounded Theory Method and a systematic collection and analysis of papers to identify broad types of social innovations. Scientific journal articles published since 2018 were prioritised for inclusion. The six types of social innovation proposed are (a) authentic engagement; (b) artful and engaging communication; (c) urging and compelling change; (d) governance for social-ecological systems; (e) anticipation in governance; and (f) lived experiences and values. The six innovations proposed in this paper can be embedded within, and form part of, social action using a science–society compact for the sustainable development of coasts in the Anthropocene.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Celliers, Louis , Costa, Maria M , Rölfer, Lena , Aswani, Shankar , Ferse, Sebastien
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/391410 , vital:68649 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1017/cft.2023.12"
- Description: Post-industrial society is driving global environmental change, which is a challenge for all generations, current and future. The Anthropocene is the geological epoch in which humans dominate and it is rooted in the past, present, and future. Future sustainability is building on the momentum of the fundamental importance of studying human dynamics and governance of coupled social and ecological systems. In the Anthropocene, social innovation may play a critical role in achieving new pathways to sustainability. This conventional narrative review uses a qualitative analysis anchored in the Grounded Theory Method and a systematic collection and analysis of papers to identify broad types of social innovations. Scientific journal articles published since 2018 were prioritised for inclusion. The six types of social innovation proposed are (a) authentic engagement; (b) artful and engaging communication; (c) urging and compelling change; (d) governance for social-ecological systems; (e) anticipation in governance; and (f) lived experiences and values. The six innovations proposed in this paper can be embedded within, and form part of, social action using a science–society compact for the sustainable development of coasts in the Anthropocene.
- Full Text:
Socio-Economic and Environmental Challenges of Small-Scale Fisheries: Prognosis for Sustainable Fisheries Management in Lake Kariba, Zambia
- Imbwae, Imikendu, Aswani, Shankar, Sauer, Warwick H H
- Authors: Imbwae, Imikendu , Aswani, Shankar , Sauer, Warwick H H
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/391422 , vital:68650 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043179"
- Description: The Lake Kariba fishery is of regional importance; it accounts for 35% of the total Zambian fish production. However, emerging evidence in the recent decades suggests that the fishery is facing socio-economic and environmental challenges. Using Ostrom’s framework for analysing socio-ecological systems, we examined the social, economic, and environmental problems faced by the fishing communities in Lake Kariba. The framework links various social, economic, and ecological factors to devise a sustainable fisheries management plan. A combination of survey questionnaires, focus group discussions, observations, and key informant interviews were used to assess this sustainability challenge. The data collected were subjected to bivariate and descriptive analysis. The results obtained did not show a significant decline in fish production over the past 13 years (R2 Linear = 0.119, p = 0.248). However, the experts and the fishers have reported declining trends in valuable fish species such as Oreochromis mortimeri, compounded by the increased fishing efforts (X2 = 180.14, p value = ˂ 0.00001). The key threats identified include: overfishing, weak institutions, and the introduction of invasive fish species such as Oreochromis niloticus. This situation has raised fears of fish depletion among the stakeholders. Based on these results, we recommend stronger institutional collaboration among the stakeholders in the riparian states and education that illustrates the global value of fisheries for food security and biodiversity conservation in pursuing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Imbwae, Imikendu , Aswani, Shankar , Sauer, Warwick H H
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/391422 , vital:68650 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043179"
- Description: The Lake Kariba fishery is of regional importance; it accounts for 35% of the total Zambian fish production. However, emerging evidence in the recent decades suggests that the fishery is facing socio-economic and environmental challenges. Using Ostrom’s framework for analysing socio-ecological systems, we examined the social, economic, and environmental problems faced by the fishing communities in Lake Kariba. The framework links various social, economic, and ecological factors to devise a sustainable fisheries management plan. A combination of survey questionnaires, focus group discussions, observations, and key informant interviews were used to assess this sustainability challenge. The data collected were subjected to bivariate and descriptive analysis. The results obtained did not show a significant decline in fish production over the past 13 years (R2 Linear = 0.119, p = 0.248). However, the experts and the fishers have reported declining trends in valuable fish species such as Oreochromis mortimeri, compounded by the increased fishing efforts (X2 = 180.14, p value = ˂ 0.00001). The key threats identified include: overfishing, weak institutions, and the introduction of invasive fish species such as Oreochromis niloticus. This situation has raised fears of fish depletion among the stakeholders. Based on these results, we recommend stronger institutional collaboration among the stakeholders in the riparian states and education that illustrates the global value of fisheries for food security and biodiversity conservation in pursuing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
- Full Text:
Transboundary Fisheries Management in Kavango–Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA-TFCA): Prospects and Dilemmas
- Imbwae, Imikendu, Aswani, Shankar, Sauer, Warwick H H, Hay, Clinton J
- Authors: Imbwae, Imikendu , Aswani, Shankar , Sauer, Warwick H H , Hay, Clinton J
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/391433 , vital:68651 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.3390/su15054406"
- Description: Inland fisheries in the Kavango–Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA-TFCA) offer food security to the riverine communities across the region. They also contribute towards the attainment of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals 1 and 15, which aim to alleviate poverty and maintain biodiversity conservation. Despite this significant role, the fisheries have suffered severe declines in the previous decades due to multiple factors, such as overfishing and poor legislation. Furthermore, climate change is exerting pressure by altering the ecology and productivity of the river systems. The unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have further constrained management efforts. Attempts to address these challenges have pointed towards transboundary fisheries management as a silver bullet in moving towards sustainable fisheries management. However, the implementation of this strategy in the region has encountered numerous roadblocks, thereby subjecting the river ecosystem to a wider environmental threat, with dire consequences on livelihoods. This paper reviews existing management and governance structures together with key informant interviews to elicit primary and secondary data essential for management at the regional level. The study identifies conflicting regulations, and inadequate policies and institutions across the region as major bottlenecks affecting the successful implementation of transboundary fisheries management. Finally, the paper offers some suggestions for the improvement of fisheries management in the region.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Imbwae, Imikendu , Aswani, Shankar , Sauer, Warwick H H , Hay, Clinton J
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/391433 , vital:68651 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.3390/su15054406"
- Description: Inland fisheries in the Kavango–Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA-TFCA) offer food security to the riverine communities across the region. They also contribute towards the attainment of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals 1 and 15, which aim to alleviate poverty and maintain biodiversity conservation. Despite this significant role, the fisheries have suffered severe declines in the previous decades due to multiple factors, such as overfishing and poor legislation. Furthermore, climate change is exerting pressure by altering the ecology and productivity of the river systems. The unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have further constrained management efforts. Attempts to address these challenges have pointed towards transboundary fisheries management as a silver bullet in moving towards sustainable fisheries management. However, the implementation of this strategy in the region has encountered numerous roadblocks, thereby subjecting the river ecosystem to a wider environmental threat, with dire consequences on livelihoods. This paper reviews existing management and governance structures together with key informant interviews to elicit primary and secondary data essential for management at the regional level. The study identifies conflicting regulations, and inadequate policies and institutions across the region as major bottlenecks affecting the successful implementation of transboundary fisheries management. Finally, the paper offers some suggestions for the improvement of fisheries management in the region.
- Full Text:
Can Local Knowledge of Small-Scale Fishers Be Used to Monitor and Assess Changes in Marine Ecosystems in a European Context?
- Piñeiro-Corbeira, Cristina, Barrientos, Sara, Barreiro, Rodolfo, Aswani, Shankar, Pascual-Fernández, José, De la Cruz-Modino, Raquel
- Authors: Piñeiro-Corbeira, Cristina , Barrientos, Sara , Barreiro, Rodolfo , Aswani, Shankar , Pascual-Fernández, José , De la Cruz-Modino, Raquel
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/391331 , vital:68642 , ISBN 978-3-031-01980-7 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-01980-7_24
- Description: Significance Statement In the last decades, many coastal areas have observed dramatic changes in marine ecosystems, due to anthropogenic and environmental alterations. The general absence of long-term data sets in the marine environment and, more specifically, on benthic and demersal communities represents a severe issue for management and conservation. We propose to incorporate the small-scale fishers’ knowledge and science for better policy recommendations, both in terms of fisheries optimization and resource conservation. Based on two different cases of study with diverse ecosystems, we explore the combination of quantitative and qualitative tools, and participative techniques used to incorporate fishers’ local ecological knowledge. The results highlight fishers’ capacity to identify coastal and marine landscapes resources and changes, reinforcing and complementing the scientific assessment.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Piñeiro-Corbeira, Cristina , Barrientos, Sara , Barreiro, Rodolfo , Aswani, Shankar , Pascual-Fernández, José , De la Cruz-Modino, Raquel
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/391331 , vital:68642 , ISBN 978-3-031-01980-7 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-01980-7_24
- Description: Significance Statement In the last decades, many coastal areas have observed dramatic changes in marine ecosystems, due to anthropogenic and environmental alterations. The general absence of long-term data sets in the marine environment and, more specifically, on benthic and demersal communities represents a severe issue for management and conservation. We propose to incorporate the small-scale fishers’ knowledge and science for better policy recommendations, both in terms of fisheries optimization and resource conservation. Based on two different cases of study with diverse ecosystems, we explore the combination of quantitative and qualitative tools, and participative techniques used to incorporate fishers’ local ecological knowledge. The results highlight fishers’ capacity to identify coastal and marine landscapes resources and changes, reinforcing and complementing the scientific assessment.
- Full Text:
Cultural Seascapes in the ‘Sea of Calms’ and La Restinga Coast
- De la Cruz-Modino, Raquel, Piñeiro-Corbeira, Cristina, Aswani, Shankar, González-Cruz, Carla, Domínguez, David, Ordóñez García, Paula, Santana-Talavera, Agustín, Pascual-Fernández, José
- Authors: De la Cruz-Modino, Raquel , Piñeiro-Corbeira, Cristina , Aswani, Shankar , González-Cruz, Carla , Domínguez, David , Ordóñez García, Paula , Santana-Talavera, Agustín , Pascual-Fernández, José
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/391319 , vital:68641 , ISBN 978-3-031-07289-5 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07289-5
- Description: El Hierro has been characterized by the balance between human development and environmental sustainability. The island was historically far from the mass tourism developments dominant on the other Canary Islands. Tourism accommodations in El Hierro are few compared to more developed coastal areas in the Archipelago, and recreational activities are mainly linked to cultural and natural sites and resources. This chapter focuses on La Restinga fishing village and its coasts, where the ‘Sea of Calms’ and one multiple-use Marine Reserve (MR) are located, both of which became popular over the last decade. The tourist development experience has promoted a new way of looking at the sea and conceptualizing its habitats and populations. In 2014, after the submarine volcano eruption occurred in 2011, we estimated that at least 25,391 dives had been carried out in the diving spots established by the MR and other diving sites close to La Restinga. Despite the difficulties experienced after the volcano eruption, a unique imaginaire has been consolidated, thanks to the image of the island's exclusive nature and iconic elements. In addition, the rapid recovery of the destination is an excellent example of how the tourism system can adapt and incorporate unexpected events such as volcanic eruptions.
- Full Text:
- Authors: De la Cruz-Modino, Raquel , Piñeiro-Corbeira, Cristina , Aswani, Shankar , González-Cruz, Carla , Domínguez, David , Ordóñez García, Paula , Santana-Talavera, Agustín , Pascual-Fernández, José
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/391319 , vital:68641 , ISBN 978-3-031-07289-5 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07289-5
- Description: El Hierro has been characterized by the balance between human development and environmental sustainability. The island was historically far from the mass tourism developments dominant on the other Canary Islands. Tourism accommodations in El Hierro are few compared to more developed coastal areas in the Archipelago, and recreational activities are mainly linked to cultural and natural sites and resources. This chapter focuses on La Restinga fishing village and its coasts, where the ‘Sea of Calms’ and one multiple-use Marine Reserve (MR) are located, both of which became popular over the last decade. The tourist development experience has promoted a new way of looking at the sea and conceptualizing its habitats and populations. In 2014, after the submarine volcano eruption occurred in 2011, we estimated that at least 25,391 dives had been carried out in the diving spots established by the MR and other diving sites close to La Restinga. Despite the difficulties experienced after the volcano eruption, a unique imaginaire has been consolidated, thanks to the image of the island's exclusive nature and iconic elements. In addition, the rapid recovery of the destination is an excellent example of how the tourism system can adapt and incorporate unexpected events such as volcanic eruptions.
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Is the instrumental approach a ‘silver bullet’for addressing non-compliance in recreational fisheries: A South African case study
- Bova, Christopher S, Stephens, Jed, Aswani, Shankar, Potts, Warren M
- Authors: Bova, Christopher S , Stephens, Jed , Aswani, Shankar , Potts, Warren M
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/391359 , vital:68644 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2022.106439"
- Description: Non-compliance with recreational fishery regulations is considered to be one of the biggest threats to the sustainability of fisheries. Dedicated non-compliance studies are seldom carried out at the national level which makes it difficult to discern the behavioural compliance norms within a population. The instrumental approach for compliance is the traditional paradigm in recreational fisheries. It postulates that increased enforcement activities and the corresponding punishment will improve compliance behaviour, although there is little empirical evidence for such a supposition within the recreational fisheries context. Using face-to-face encounter surveys employing the ballot box method for reducing social desirability bias (SDB), South African marine shore-based fishery (MSBF) participants were questioned on their compliance behaviour with a set of regulations pertaining to the fishery. Overall non-compliance levels were very high (52%), and non-compliance levels with individual regulations varied based on provincial locality. Perceptions and observations of enforcement activity had no significant impact on compliance behaviour. Participants that had previously been caught by law enforcement violating the regulations were still more likely to violate the regulations than participants that had not faced enforcement action. Results indicate that calls for increased enforcement as a means of improving compliance behaviour are questionable in the South African MSBF, and further emphasise the need to develop alternative approaches, such as those pertaining to normative theory, within recreational fisheries.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Bova, Christopher S , Stephens, Jed , Aswani, Shankar , Potts, Warren M
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/391359 , vital:68644 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2022.106439"
- Description: Non-compliance with recreational fishery regulations is considered to be one of the biggest threats to the sustainability of fisheries. Dedicated non-compliance studies are seldom carried out at the national level which makes it difficult to discern the behavioural compliance norms within a population. The instrumental approach for compliance is the traditional paradigm in recreational fisheries. It postulates that increased enforcement activities and the corresponding punishment will improve compliance behaviour, although there is little empirical evidence for such a supposition within the recreational fisheries context. Using face-to-face encounter surveys employing the ballot box method for reducing social desirability bias (SDB), South African marine shore-based fishery (MSBF) participants were questioned on their compliance behaviour with a set of regulations pertaining to the fishery. Overall non-compliance levels were very high (52%), and non-compliance levels with individual regulations varied based on provincial locality. Perceptions and observations of enforcement activity had no significant impact on compliance behaviour. Participants that had previously been caught by law enforcement violating the regulations were still more likely to violate the regulations than participants that had not faced enforcement action. Results indicate that calls for increased enforcement as a means of improving compliance behaviour are questionable in the South African MSBF, and further emphasise the need to develop alternative approaches, such as those pertaining to normative theory, within recreational fisheries.
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Lessons from bright-spots for advancing knowledge exchange at the interface of marine science and policy
- Karcher, Denis B, Cvitanovic, Christopher, van Putten, Ingrid E, Colvin, Rebecca M, Armitage, Derek, Aswani, Shankar, Ballesteros, Marta, Ban, Natalie, Barragán-Paladines, María José, Bednarek, Angela, Bell, Johann D, Brooks, Cassandra M, Daw, Tim M, De la Cruz-Modino, Raquel, Francis, Tessa B, Fulton, Elizabeth A, Hobday, Alistair J, Holcer, Draško, Hudson, Charlotte, Jennerjahn, Tim C, Kinney, Aimee, Knol-Kauffman, Maaike, Löf, Marie F, Lopes, Priscila F, Mackelworth, Peter C, McQuatters-Gollop, Abigail, Muhl, Ella-Kari, Neihapi, Pita, Pascual-Fernández, José J, Posner, Stephpen M, Runhaar, Hens, Sainsbury, Keith, Sander, Gunnar, Steenbergen, Dirk J, Tuda, Paul M, Whiteman, Elizabeth, Zhang, Jialin
- Authors: Karcher, Denis B , Cvitanovic, Christopher , van Putten, Ingrid E , Colvin, Rebecca M , Armitage, Derek , Aswani, Shankar , Ballesteros, Marta , Ban, Natalie , Barragán-Paladines, María José , Bednarek, Angela , Bell, Johann D , Brooks, Cassandra M , Daw, Tim M , De la Cruz-Modino, Raquel , Francis, Tessa B , Fulton, Elizabeth A , Hobday, Alistair J , Holcer, Draško , Hudson, Charlotte , Jennerjahn, Tim C , Kinney, Aimee , Knol-Kauffman, Maaike , Löf, Marie F , Lopes, Priscila F , Mackelworth, Peter C , McQuatters-Gollop, Abigail , Muhl, Ella-Kari , Neihapi, Pita , Pascual-Fernández, José J , Posner, Stephpen M , Runhaar, Hens , Sainsbury, Keith , Sander, Gunnar , Steenbergen, Dirk J , Tuda, Paul M , Whiteman, Elizabeth , Zhang, Jialin
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/391378 , vital:68647 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.114994"
- Description: Evidence-informed decision-making is in increasing demand given growing pressures on marine environments. A way to facilitate this is by knowledge exchange among marine scientists and decision-makers. While many barriers are reported in the literature, there are also examples whereby research has successfully informed marine decision-making (i.e., ‘bright-spots’). Here, we identify and analyze 25 bright-spots from a wide range of marine fields, contexts, and locations to provide insights into how to improve knowledge exchange at the interface of marine science and policy. Through qualitative surveys we investigate what initiated the bright-spots, their goals, and approaches to knowledge exchange. We also seek to identify what outcomes/impacts have been achieved, the enablers of success, and what lessons can be learnt to guide future knowledge exchange efforts. Results show that a diversity of approaches were used for knowledge exchange, from consultative engagement to genuine knowledge co-production. We show that diverse successes at the interface of marine science and policy are achievable and include impacts on policy, people, and governance. Such successes were enabled by factors related to the actors, processes, support, context, and timing. For example, the importance of involving diverse actors and managing positive relationships is a key lesson for success. However, enabling routine success will require: 1) transforming the ways in which we train scientists to include a greater focus on interpersonal skills, 2) institutionalizing and supporting knowledge exchange activities in organizational agendas, 3) conceptualizing and implementing broader research impact metrics, and 4) transforming funding mechanisms to focus on need-based interventions, impact planning, and an acknowledgement of the required time and effort that underpin knowledge exchange activities.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Karcher, Denis B , Cvitanovic, Christopher , van Putten, Ingrid E , Colvin, Rebecca M , Armitage, Derek , Aswani, Shankar , Ballesteros, Marta , Ban, Natalie , Barragán-Paladines, María José , Bednarek, Angela , Bell, Johann D , Brooks, Cassandra M , Daw, Tim M , De la Cruz-Modino, Raquel , Francis, Tessa B , Fulton, Elizabeth A , Hobday, Alistair J , Holcer, Draško , Hudson, Charlotte , Jennerjahn, Tim C , Kinney, Aimee , Knol-Kauffman, Maaike , Löf, Marie F , Lopes, Priscila F , Mackelworth, Peter C , McQuatters-Gollop, Abigail , Muhl, Ella-Kari , Neihapi, Pita , Pascual-Fernández, José J , Posner, Stephpen M , Runhaar, Hens , Sainsbury, Keith , Sander, Gunnar , Steenbergen, Dirk J , Tuda, Paul M , Whiteman, Elizabeth , Zhang, Jialin
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/391378 , vital:68647 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.114994"
- Description: Evidence-informed decision-making is in increasing demand given growing pressures on marine environments. A way to facilitate this is by knowledge exchange among marine scientists and decision-makers. While many barriers are reported in the literature, there are also examples whereby research has successfully informed marine decision-making (i.e., ‘bright-spots’). Here, we identify and analyze 25 bright-spots from a wide range of marine fields, contexts, and locations to provide insights into how to improve knowledge exchange at the interface of marine science and policy. Through qualitative surveys we investigate what initiated the bright-spots, their goals, and approaches to knowledge exchange. We also seek to identify what outcomes/impacts have been achieved, the enablers of success, and what lessons can be learnt to guide future knowledge exchange efforts. Results show that a diversity of approaches were used for knowledge exchange, from consultative engagement to genuine knowledge co-production. We show that diverse successes at the interface of marine science and policy are achievable and include impacts on policy, people, and governance. Such successes were enabled by factors related to the actors, processes, support, context, and timing. For example, the importance of involving diverse actors and managing positive relationships is a key lesson for success. However, enabling routine success will require: 1) transforming the ways in which we train scientists to include a greater focus on interpersonal skills, 2) institutionalizing and supporting knowledge exchange activities in organizational agendas, 3) conceptualizing and implementing broader research impact metrics, and 4) transforming funding mechanisms to focus on need-based interventions, impact planning, and an acknowledgement of the required time and effort that underpin knowledge exchange activities.
- Full Text:
Marine robots for coastal ocean research in the Western Indian Ocean
- Palmer, Matthew R, Shagude, Yohana W, Roberts, Michael J, Popva, Ekaterina, Wihsgott, Juliane U, Aswani, Shankar, Coupland, Jack, Howe, John A, Bett, Brian J, Osuka, Kennedy E, Abernethy, Colin, Alexiou, Sofia, Painter, Stuart C, Kamau, Joseph N, Nyandwi, Ntahondi, Sekadende, Baraka
- Authors: Palmer, Matthew R , Shagude, Yohana W , Roberts, Michael J , Popva, Ekaterina , Wihsgott, Juliane U , Aswani, Shankar , Coupland, Jack , Howe, John A , Bett, Brian J , Osuka, Kennedy E , Abernethy, Colin , Alexiou, Sofia , Painter, Stuart C , Kamau, Joseph N , Nyandwi, Ntahondi , Sekadende, Baraka
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/403445 , vital:69962 , xlink:href="https://hdl.handle.net/10520/ejc-cristal-v10-n1-a7"
- Description: Marine robots have the potential to enhance WIO marine research to improve regional adaptation to the challenges presented by climate change by providing enhanced research capacity that bypasses the requirement for expensive infrastructure, such as large research vessels. This paper tests this potential and assesses the readiness of WIO communities to adopt autonomous technologies to meet its marine research priorities. We apply a range of analyses to a marine robots case study undertaken in waters around the island of Pemba, part of the Zanzibar archipelago, in Tanzania in 2019. The campaign formed part of a multinational project focused on increasing WIO capacity to meet food security and ocean sustainability challenges. A community engagement programme with six Tanzanian coastal communities resulted in positive changes in attitudes towards marine robots with reported increases in understanding and acceptance of such technologies. Suspicion of the robots was reduced and a lower risk of removing operational equipment was recorded following the provision of educational material. Cost, risk and benefit analysis shows that marine robots are perceived to provide high level benefits, but come at a high cost that is difficult to achieve using national or regional funding. An assessment of the capacity of WIO marine institutes to adopt such technologies shows that prior to this work, few skills or infrastructure related to marine robots were available to researchers and further confirmed that funding opportunities were perceived to be largely unavailable at institutional, national, regional or international levels. Responses from regional partners following completion of the case study however, revealed an uplift in perceived capacity, particularly related to access to infrastructure and expertise as well as support and opportunities for funding at each level. The presented case study is shown to have been a valuable demonstrator of the benefits of using marine robots to meet WIO coastal ocean research requirements and regional capacity was shown to be substantially increased within the broad range of marine institutes surveyed throughout the case study period. This study demonstrates that taking early steps towards adopting marine autonomous robots has increased WIO regional marine research capacity and increased the confidence and willingness of local researchers to seek alternative solutions to ongoing marine research challenges. Recommendations for future action that will continue to increase the capacity and readiness for regional adoption of marine robots include investment at local, national and regional levels to provide accessible training opportunities and to facilitate regional and international collaborations; investment in a regional hub, or centre of excellence for marine robotic technology; early adoption of newly emerging smaller, cheaper autonomous technologies; investment in local skills and support facilities to aid local buy-in and acceptance while supporting regional capacity.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Palmer, Matthew R , Shagude, Yohana W , Roberts, Michael J , Popva, Ekaterina , Wihsgott, Juliane U , Aswani, Shankar , Coupland, Jack , Howe, John A , Bett, Brian J , Osuka, Kennedy E , Abernethy, Colin , Alexiou, Sofia , Painter, Stuart C , Kamau, Joseph N , Nyandwi, Ntahondi , Sekadende, Baraka
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/403445 , vital:69962 , xlink:href="https://hdl.handle.net/10520/ejc-cristal-v10-n1-a7"
- Description: Marine robots have the potential to enhance WIO marine research to improve regional adaptation to the challenges presented by climate change by providing enhanced research capacity that bypasses the requirement for expensive infrastructure, such as large research vessels. This paper tests this potential and assesses the readiness of WIO communities to adopt autonomous technologies to meet its marine research priorities. We apply a range of analyses to a marine robots case study undertaken in waters around the island of Pemba, part of the Zanzibar archipelago, in Tanzania in 2019. The campaign formed part of a multinational project focused on increasing WIO capacity to meet food security and ocean sustainability challenges. A community engagement programme with six Tanzanian coastal communities resulted in positive changes in attitudes towards marine robots with reported increases in understanding and acceptance of such technologies. Suspicion of the robots was reduced and a lower risk of removing operational equipment was recorded following the provision of educational material. Cost, risk and benefit analysis shows that marine robots are perceived to provide high level benefits, but come at a high cost that is difficult to achieve using national or regional funding. An assessment of the capacity of WIO marine institutes to adopt such technologies shows that prior to this work, few skills or infrastructure related to marine robots were available to researchers and further confirmed that funding opportunities were perceived to be largely unavailable at institutional, national, regional or international levels. Responses from regional partners following completion of the case study however, revealed an uplift in perceived capacity, particularly related to access to infrastructure and expertise as well as support and opportunities for funding at each level. The presented case study is shown to have been a valuable demonstrator of the benefits of using marine robots to meet WIO coastal ocean research requirements and regional capacity was shown to be substantially increased within the broad range of marine institutes surveyed throughout the case study period. This study demonstrates that taking early steps towards adopting marine autonomous robots has increased WIO regional marine research capacity and increased the confidence and willingness of local researchers to seek alternative solutions to ongoing marine research challenges. Recommendations for future action that will continue to increase the capacity and readiness for regional adoption of marine robots include investment at local, national and regional levels to provide accessible training opportunities and to facilitate regional and international collaborations; investment in a regional hub, or centre of excellence for marine robotic technology; early adoption of newly emerging smaller, cheaper autonomous technologies; investment in local skills and support facilities to aid local buy-in and acceptance while supporting regional capacity.
- Full Text:
Small but strong: Socioeconomic and ecological resilience of a small European fishing community affected by a submarine volcanic eruption
- De la Cruz-Modino, Raquel, Piñeiro-Corbeira, Cristina, Gutiérrez-Barroso, Josué, González-Cruz, Carla, Barreiro, Rodolfo, Batista-Medina, José A, Pascual-Fernández, José, González, José A, Santana-Talavera, Agustín, Aswani, Shankar
- Authors: De la Cruz-Modino, Raquel , Piñeiro-Corbeira, Cristina , Gutiérrez-Barroso, Josué , González-Cruz, Carla , Barreiro, Rodolfo , Batista-Medina, José A , Pascual-Fernández, José , González, José A , Santana-Talavera, Agustín , Aswani, Shankar
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/391397 , vital:68648 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2022.106124"
- Description: Small-scale coastal fishing communities are facing many new challenges, such as rapid ecological changes created by anthropogenic and natural events like earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. This paper explores how a coastal population has responded to such an event and highlights the diverse coping strategies used to tackle it. This research was conducted on the island of El Hierro (Spain), where a submarine volcanic eruption occurred in 2011, affecting a multiple-use Marine Protected Area (MPA) and the nearby fishing community of La Restinga. Our study illustrates how the local population coped with this situation by combining multiple monetary and non-monetary activities (e.g., informal exchanges) as well as the role of institutions in increasing local resilience by supporting fishers' demands and allowing their participation in the decision-making process in the immediate wake of a catastrophic event. Local families also exploited various natural resources in and near the MPA, thus ensuring access to crucial marine resources and continued recreational/cultural services. The results suggest that collective action played a key role in the recovery process after the eruption, creating some advantages for different local groups despite the hazardous nature of the event.
- Full Text:
- Authors: De la Cruz-Modino, Raquel , Piñeiro-Corbeira, Cristina , Gutiérrez-Barroso, Josué , González-Cruz, Carla , Barreiro, Rodolfo , Batista-Medina, José A , Pascual-Fernández, José , González, José A , Santana-Talavera, Agustín , Aswani, Shankar
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/391397 , vital:68648 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2022.106124"
- Description: Small-scale coastal fishing communities are facing many new challenges, such as rapid ecological changes created by anthropogenic and natural events like earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. This paper explores how a coastal population has responded to such an event and highlights the diverse coping strategies used to tackle it. This research was conducted on the island of El Hierro (Spain), where a submarine volcanic eruption occurred in 2011, affecting a multiple-use Marine Protected Area (MPA) and the nearby fishing community of La Restinga. Our study illustrates how the local population coped with this situation by combining multiple monetary and non-monetary activities (e.g., informal exchanges) as well as the role of institutions in increasing local resilience by supporting fishers' demands and allowing their participation in the decision-making process in the immediate wake of a catastrophic event. Local families also exploited various natural resources in and near the MPA, thus ensuring access to crucial marine resources and continued recreational/cultural services. The results suggest that collective action played a key role in the recovery process after the eruption, creating some advantages for different local groups despite the hazardous nature of the event.
- Full Text:
Happy without money: Minimally monetized societies can exhibit high subjective well-being
- Miñarro, Sara, Reyes-García V, Aswani, Shankar, Selim, Samiya, Barrington-Leigh, Christopher P, Galbraith, Eric D
- Authors: Miñarro, Sara , Reyes-García V , Aswani, Shankar , Selim, Samiya , Barrington-Leigh, Christopher P , Galbraith, Eric D
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/403430 , vital:69960 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0244569"
- Description: Economic growth is often assumed to improve happiness for people in low income countries, although the association between monetary income and subjective well-being has been a subject of debate. We test this assumption by comparing three different measures of subjective well-being in very low-income communities with different levels of monetization. Contrary to expectations, all three measures of subjective well-being were very high in the least-monetized sites and comparable to those found among citizens of wealthy nations. The reported drivers of happiness shifted with increasing monetization: from enjoying experiential activities in contact with nature at the less monetized sites, to social and economic factors at the more monetized sites. Our results suggest that high levels of subjective well-being can be achieved with minimal monetization, challenging the perception that economic growth will raise life satisfaction among low income populations.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Miñarro, Sara , Reyes-García V , Aswani, Shankar , Selim, Samiya , Barrington-Leigh, Christopher P , Galbraith, Eric D
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/403430 , vital:69960 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0244569"
- Description: Economic growth is often assumed to improve happiness for people in low income countries, although the association between monetary income and subjective well-being has been a subject of debate. We test this assumption by comparing three different measures of subjective well-being in very low-income communities with different levels of monetization. Contrary to expectations, all three measures of subjective well-being were very high in the least-monetized sites and comparable to those found among citizens of wealthy nations. The reported drivers of happiness shifted with increasing monetization: from enjoying experiential activities in contact with nature at the less monetized sites, to social and economic factors at the more monetized sites. Our results suggest that high levels of subjective well-being can be achieved with minimal monetization, challenging the perception that economic growth will raise life satisfaction among low income populations.
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The complex relationship between asset wealth, adaptation, and diversification in tropical fisheries
- Taylor, Sarah F, Aswani, Shankar, Jiddawi, Narriman, Coupland, Jack, James, Phillip, Kelly, Stephen, Kizenga, Hellen, Roberts, Michael, Popova, Ekaterina
- Authors: Taylor, Sarah F , Aswani, Shankar , Jiddawi, Narriman , Coupland, Jack , James, Phillip , Kelly, Stephen , Kizenga, Hellen , Roberts, Michael , Popova, Ekaterina
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/403475 , vital:69964 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2021.105808"
- Description: Marine small-scale fisheries are complex social and ecological systems that are currently pressurised by climate change, increasing demand for food, and expectation to sustain livelihoods. Species diversification and occupational diversification are often offered as adaptation strategies to increase the resilience of these fisheries to natural and economic shocks. However, little is known about the nature of species diversification within marine tropical fisheries. Based on 293 interviews with artisanal fishers from six coastal communities located at the isles of Zanzibar, Pemba, Mafia, and Mainland Tanga in Tanzania - we assess if fishers with the highest level of species diversification are the most financially secure and able to adapt to changes in the fishing industry. By creating an Asset Wealth Index (AWI) based on a Multiple Correspondence Approach (MCA), we investigate the relative levels of adaptive capacity and fishery connectivity within the different regional wealth quartiles. We find that less wealthy fishers target fewer species, making them less able to absorb changes in management measures focused on species, area, and closures. Likewise, fishers with higher wealth scores and higher adaptive capacity are able to better absorb the short-term losses of fisheries closures when compared to those with lower wealth and adaptive scores reliant on higher levels of fishery connectivity.
- Full Text:
The complex relationship between asset wealth, adaptation, and diversification in tropical fisheries
- Authors: Taylor, Sarah F , Aswani, Shankar , Jiddawi, Narriman , Coupland, Jack , James, Phillip , Kelly, Stephen , Kizenga, Hellen , Roberts, Michael , Popova, Ekaterina
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/403475 , vital:69964 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2021.105808"
- Description: Marine small-scale fisheries are complex social and ecological systems that are currently pressurised by climate change, increasing demand for food, and expectation to sustain livelihoods. Species diversification and occupational diversification are often offered as adaptation strategies to increase the resilience of these fisheries to natural and economic shocks. However, little is known about the nature of species diversification within marine tropical fisheries. Based on 293 interviews with artisanal fishers from six coastal communities located at the isles of Zanzibar, Pemba, Mafia, and Mainland Tanga in Tanzania - we assess if fishers with the highest level of species diversification are the most financially secure and able to adapt to changes in the fishing industry. By creating an Asset Wealth Index (AWI) based on a Multiple Correspondence Approach (MCA), we investigate the relative levels of adaptive capacity and fishery connectivity within the different regional wealth quartiles. We find that less wealthy fishers target fewer species, making them less able to absorb changes in management measures focused on species, area, and closures. Likewise, fishers with higher wealth scores and higher adaptive capacity are able to better absorb the short-term losses of fisheries closures when compared to those with lower wealth and adaptive scores reliant on higher levels of fishery connectivity.
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Detecting change in local ecological knowledge: An application of an index of taxonomic distinctness to an ethnoichthyological classification in the Solomon Islands
- Aswani, Shankar, Ferse, Sebastien C, Stäbler, Moritz, Chong-Montenegro, Carolina
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Ferse, Sebastien C , Stäbler, Moritz , Chong-Montenegro, Carolina
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/406521 , vital:70282 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106865"
- Description: The global accelerating loss of biodiversity is having immediate repercussions for ecosystems and human wellbeing, particularly in areas where people depend intimately on their natural environment for their livelihoods. Dovetailing this loss is the demise of local/traditional knowledge systems resulting from factors such as changing lifestyle and the transformation of local belief systems. While the importance of local ecological knowledge (LEK) for documentation of biodiversity and environmental change and development of management responses is well established, quantitative tools to analyze and systematically compare LEK are scarce. In this research, we analyze the complexity of local ecological knowledge used by respondents to classify locally-recognized marine species. We do so by applying a modified index of taxonomic distinctness to an ethnoichthyological classification in coastal communities in the Solomon Islands. In addition, we assess simple taxonomic diversity (richness in locally-recognized species names) by comparing taxonomies collected in 1992–1995 and 2014–2015. Results indicate that both endogenous (gender, age) and exogenous (proximity to market) factors have discernible effects on folk taxonomic knowledge in the region, with younger respondents and communities closer to a regional market center displaying a significantly lower richness of local species names. Folk taxonomic distinctness was significantly reduced closer to the regional market. The modified index of taxonomic distinctness applied in this research provides a useful tool to explore facets of local ecological knowledge in addition to simple richness of terms, and to compare across different regions and cultural backgrounds. Understanding changes in LEK is important because such knowledge enables communities who are highly dependent on living natural resources to harvest and manage resources more efficiently and also to detect and react to environmental change.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Ferse, Sebastien C , Stäbler, Moritz , Chong-Montenegro, Carolina
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/406521 , vital:70282 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106865"
- Description: The global accelerating loss of biodiversity is having immediate repercussions for ecosystems and human wellbeing, particularly in areas where people depend intimately on their natural environment for their livelihoods. Dovetailing this loss is the demise of local/traditional knowledge systems resulting from factors such as changing lifestyle and the transformation of local belief systems. While the importance of local ecological knowledge (LEK) for documentation of biodiversity and environmental change and development of management responses is well established, quantitative tools to analyze and systematically compare LEK are scarce. In this research, we analyze the complexity of local ecological knowledge used by respondents to classify locally-recognized marine species. We do so by applying a modified index of taxonomic distinctness to an ethnoichthyological classification in coastal communities in the Solomon Islands. In addition, we assess simple taxonomic diversity (richness in locally-recognized species names) by comparing taxonomies collected in 1992–1995 and 2014–2015. Results indicate that both endogenous (gender, age) and exogenous (proximity to market) factors have discernible effects on folk taxonomic knowledge in the region, with younger respondents and communities closer to a regional market center displaying a significantly lower richness of local species names. Folk taxonomic distinctness was significantly reduced closer to the regional market. The modified index of taxonomic distinctness applied in this research provides a useful tool to explore facets of local ecological knowledge in addition to simple richness of terms, and to compare across different regions and cultural backgrounds. Understanding changes in LEK is important because such knowledge enables communities who are highly dependent on living natural resources to harvest and manage resources more efficiently and also to detect and react to environmental change.
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An integrated framework for assessing coastal community vulnerability across cultures, oceans and scales
- Aswani, Shankar, Howard, J A, Gasalla, Maria A, Jennings, Sarah, Malherbe, W, Martins, I M, Salim Shyam, Van Putten, Ingrid E, Swathilekshmi, P S, Narayanakumar, R, Watmough G R
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Howard, J A , Gasalla, Maria A , Jennings, Sarah , Malherbe, W , Martins, I M , Salim Shyam , Van Putten, Ingrid E , Swathilekshmi, P S , Narayanakumar, R , Watmough G R
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/421581 , vital:71863 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2018.1442795"
- Description: Coastal communities are some of the most at-risk populations with respect to climate change impacts. It is therefore important to determine the vulnerability of such communities to co-develop viable adaptation options. Global efforts to address this issue include international scientific projects, such as Global Learning for Local Solutions (GULLS), which focuses on five fast warming regions of the southern hemisphere and aims to provide an understanding of the local scale processes influencing community vulnerability that can then be up-scaled to regional, country and global levels. This paper describes the development of a new social and ecological vulnerability framework which integrates exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity with the social livelihoods and food security approaches. It also measures community flexibility to understand better the adaptive capacity of different levels of community organization. The translation of the conceptual framework to an implementable method is described and its application in a number of “hotspot” countries, where ocean waters are warming faster than the rest of the world, is presented. Opportunities for cross-cultural comparisons to uncover similarities and differences in vulnerability and adaptation patterns among the study’s coastal communities, which can provide accelerated learning mechanisms to other coastal regions, are highlighted. The social and ecological framework and the associated survey approach allow for future integration of local-level vulnerability data with ecological and oceanographic models.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Howard, J A , Gasalla, Maria A , Jennings, Sarah , Malherbe, W , Martins, I M , Salim Shyam , Van Putten, Ingrid E , Swathilekshmi, P S , Narayanakumar, R , Watmough G R
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/421581 , vital:71863 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2018.1442795"
- Description: Coastal communities are some of the most at-risk populations with respect to climate change impacts. It is therefore important to determine the vulnerability of such communities to co-develop viable adaptation options. Global efforts to address this issue include international scientific projects, such as Global Learning for Local Solutions (GULLS), which focuses on five fast warming regions of the southern hemisphere and aims to provide an understanding of the local scale processes influencing community vulnerability that can then be up-scaled to regional, country and global levels. This paper describes the development of a new social and ecological vulnerability framework which integrates exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity with the social livelihoods and food security approaches. It also measures community flexibility to understand better the adaptive capacity of different levels of community organization. The translation of the conceptual framework to an implementable method is described and its application in a number of “hotspot” countries, where ocean waters are warming faster than the rest of the world, is presented. Opportunities for cross-cultural comparisons to uncover similarities and differences in vulnerability and adaptation patterns among the study’s coastal communities, which can provide accelerated learning mechanisms to other coastal regions, are highlighted. The social and ecological framework and the associated survey approach allow for future integration of local-level vulnerability data with ecological and oceanographic models.
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Multiple drivers of local (non-) compliance in community-based marine resource management: Case studies from the South Pacific
- Rohe, Janne R, Aswani, Shankar, Schlüter, Achim, Ferse, Sebastian
- Authors: Rohe, Janne R , Aswani, Shankar , Schlüter, Achim , Ferse, Sebastian
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/420445 , vital:71744 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2017.00172"
- Description: The outcomes of marine conservation and related management interventions depend to a large extent on people's compliance with these rule systems. In the South Pacific, community-based marine resource management (CBMRM) has gained wide recognition as a strategy for the sustainable management of marine resources. In current practice, CBMRM initiatives often build upon customary forms of marine governance, integrating scientific advice and management principles in collaboration with external partners. However, diverse socio-economic developments as well as limited legal mandates can challenge these approaches. Compliance with and effective (legally-backed) enforcement of local management strategies constitute a growing challenge for communities—often resulting in considerable impact on the success or failure of CBMRM. Marine management arrangements are highly dynamic over time, and similarly compliance with rule systems tends to change depending on context. Understanding the factors contributing to (non-) compliance in a given setting is key to the design and function of adaptive management approaches. Yet, few empirical studies have looked in depth into the dynamics around local (non-) compliance with local marine tenure rules under the transforming management arrangements. Using two case studies from Solomon Islands and Fiji, we investigate what drives local (non-) compliance with CBMRM and what hinders or supports its effective enforcement. The case studies reveal that non-compliance is mainly driven by: (1) diminishing perceived legitimacy of local rules and rule-makers; (2) increased incentives to break rules due to market access and/ or lack of alternative income; and (3) relatively weak enforcement of local rules (i.e., low perceptions of risk from sanctions for rule-breaking). These drivers do not stand alone but can act together and add up to impair effective management. We further analyze how enforcement of CBMRM is challenged through a range of institutional; socio-cultural and technical/financial constraints, which are in parts a result of the dynamism and ongoing transformations of management arrangements. Our study underlines the importance of better understanding and contextualizing marine resource management processes under dynamic conditions for an improved understanding of compliance in a particular setting.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Rohe, Janne R , Aswani, Shankar , Schlüter, Achim , Ferse, Sebastian
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/420445 , vital:71744 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2017.00172"
- Description: The outcomes of marine conservation and related management interventions depend to a large extent on people's compliance with these rule systems. In the South Pacific, community-based marine resource management (CBMRM) has gained wide recognition as a strategy for the sustainable management of marine resources. In current practice, CBMRM initiatives often build upon customary forms of marine governance, integrating scientific advice and management principles in collaboration with external partners. However, diverse socio-economic developments as well as limited legal mandates can challenge these approaches. Compliance with and effective (legally-backed) enforcement of local management strategies constitute a growing challenge for communities—often resulting in considerable impact on the success or failure of CBMRM. Marine management arrangements are highly dynamic over time, and similarly compliance with rule systems tends to change depending on context. Understanding the factors contributing to (non-) compliance in a given setting is key to the design and function of adaptive management approaches. Yet, few empirical studies have looked in depth into the dynamics around local (non-) compliance with local marine tenure rules under the transforming management arrangements. Using two case studies from Solomon Islands and Fiji, we investigate what drives local (non-) compliance with CBMRM and what hinders or supports its effective enforcement. The case studies reveal that non-compliance is mainly driven by: (1) diminishing perceived legitimacy of local rules and rule-makers; (2) increased incentives to break rules due to market access and/ or lack of alternative income; and (3) relatively weak enforcement of local rules (i.e., low perceptions of risk from sanctions for rule-breaking). These drivers do not stand alone but can act together and add up to impair effective management. We further analyze how enforcement of CBMRM is challenged through a range of institutional; socio-cultural and technical/financial constraints, which are in parts a result of the dynamism and ongoing transformations of management arrangements. Our study underlines the importance of better understanding and contextualizing marine resource management processes under dynamic conditions for an improved understanding of compliance in a particular setting.
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The GULLS project: a comparison of vulnerabilities across selected ocean hotspots and implications for adaptation to global change
- Cochrane, Kevern L, Hobday, Alistair J, Aswani, Shankar, Byfield, Val, Dutra, Leo X, Gasalla, Maria A, Haward, Marcus, Paytan, Adina, Pecl, Gretta T, Popova, Katya, Sainulabdeen, Shyam S, Savage, Candida, Sauer, Warwick H H, van Putten, Ingrid E, Visser, Natascha, TG Team
- Authors: Cochrane, Kevern L , Hobday, Alistair J , Aswani, Shankar , Byfield, Val , Dutra, Leo X , Gasalla, Maria A , Haward, Marcus , Paytan, Adina , Pecl, Gretta T , Popova, Katya , Sainulabdeen, Shyam S , Savage, Candida , Sauer, Warwick H H , van Putten, Ingrid E , Visser, Natascha , TG Team
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/422037 , vital:71906
- Description: The GULLS project, `Global learning for local solutions: Reducing vulnerability of marine-dependent coastal communities' has been underway since October 2014. The project has been investigating six regional `hotspots': marine areas experiencing rapid warming. These are south-east Australia, Brazil, India, Solomon Islands, South Africa, and the Mozambique Channel and Madagascar. Rapid warming could be expected to have social, cultural and economic impacts that could affect these countries in different ways and may already be doing so. GULLS has focused on contributing to assessing and reducing the vulnerability of coastal communities and other stakeholders dependent on marine resources and to facilitate adaptation to climate change and variability through an integrated and trans-disciplinary approach. It includes participants from Australia, Brazil, India, Madagascar, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The research programme has been divided into six inter-linked components: ocean models, biological and ecological sensitivity analyses, system models, social vulnerability, policy mapping, and communication and education. This presentation will provide a brief overview of each of these components and describe the benefits that have resulted from the collaborative and transdisciplinary approach of GULLS. Following the standard vulnerability elements of exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity, the vulnerabilities of coastal communities and other stakeholders dependent on marine resources in the five hotspots will be compared using a set of indicators derived and populated from results of the research programme. The implications of similarities and differences between the hotspots for adaptation planning and options will be described.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Cochrane, Kevern L , Hobday, Alistair J , Aswani, Shankar , Byfield, Val , Dutra, Leo X , Gasalla, Maria A , Haward, Marcus , Paytan, Adina , Pecl, Gretta T , Popova, Katya , Sainulabdeen, Shyam S , Savage, Candida , Sauer, Warwick H H , van Putten, Ingrid E , Visser, Natascha , TG Team
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/422037 , vital:71906
- Description: The GULLS project, `Global learning for local solutions: Reducing vulnerability of marine-dependent coastal communities' has been underway since October 2014. The project has been investigating six regional `hotspots': marine areas experiencing rapid warming. These are south-east Australia, Brazil, India, Solomon Islands, South Africa, and the Mozambique Channel and Madagascar. Rapid warming could be expected to have social, cultural and economic impacts that could affect these countries in different ways and may already be doing so. GULLS has focused on contributing to assessing and reducing the vulnerability of coastal communities and other stakeholders dependent on marine resources and to facilitate adaptation to climate change and variability through an integrated and trans-disciplinary approach. It includes participants from Australia, Brazil, India, Madagascar, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The research programme has been divided into six inter-linked components: ocean models, biological and ecological sensitivity analyses, system models, social vulnerability, policy mapping, and communication and education. This presentation will provide a brief overview of each of these components and describe the benefits that have resulted from the collaborative and transdisciplinary approach of GULLS. Following the standard vulnerability elements of exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity, the vulnerabilities of coastal communities and other stakeholders dependent on marine resources in the five hotspots will be compared using a set of indicators derived and populated from results of the research programme. The implications of similarities and differences between the hotspots for adaptation planning and options will be described.
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Food on the Table: Human Responses and Changing Coastal Fisheries in Solomon Islands
- Albert, Simon, Aswani, Shankar, Fisher, Paul L, Albert, Joelle
- Authors: Albert, Simon , Aswani, Shankar , Fisher, Paul L , Albert, Joelle
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/421887 , vital:71893 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0130800"
- Description: Globally the majority of commercial fisheries have experienced dramatic declines in stock and catch. Likewise, projections for many subsistence fisheries in the tropics indicate a dramatic decline is looming in the coming decades. In the Pacific Islands coastal fisheries provide basic subsistence needs for millions of people. A decline in fish catch would therefore have profound impacts on the health and livelihoods of these coastal communities. Given the decrease in local catch rates reported for many coastal communities in the Pacific, it is important to understand if fishers have responded to ecological change (either by expanding their fishing range and/or increasing their fishing effort), and if so, to evaluate the costs or benefits of these responses. We compare data from fish catches in 1995 and 2011 from a rural coastal community in Solomon Islands to examine the potentially changing coastal reef fishery at these time points. In particular we found changes in preferred fishing locations, fishing methodology and catch composition between these data sets. The results indicate that despite changes in catch rates (catch per unit effort) between data collected in 2011 and 16 years previously, the study community was able to increase gross catches through visiting fishing sites further away, diversifying fishing methods and targeting pelagic species through trolling. Such insight into local-scale responses to changing resources and/or fisheries development will help scientists and policy makers throughout the Pacific region in managing the region’s fisheries in the future.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Albert, Simon , Aswani, Shankar , Fisher, Paul L , Albert, Joelle
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/421887 , vital:71893 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0130800"
- Description: Globally the majority of commercial fisheries have experienced dramatic declines in stock and catch. Likewise, projections for many subsistence fisheries in the tropics indicate a dramatic decline is looming in the coming decades. In the Pacific Islands coastal fisheries provide basic subsistence needs for millions of people. A decline in fish catch would therefore have profound impacts on the health and livelihoods of these coastal communities. Given the decrease in local catch rates reported for many coastal communities in the Pacific, it is important to understand if fishers have responded to ecological change (either by expanding their fishing range and/or increasing their fishing effort), and if so, to evaluate the costs or benefits of these responses. We compare data from fish catches in 1995 and 2011 from a rural coastal community in Solomon Islands to examine the potentially changing coastal reef fishery at these time points. In particular we found changes in preferred fishing locations, fishing methodology and catch composition between these data sets. The results indicate that despite changes in catch rates (catch per unit effort) between data collected in 2011 and 16 years previously, the study community was able to increase gross catches through visiting fishing sites further away, diversifying fishing methods and targeting pelagic species through trolling. Such insight into local-scale responses to changing resources and/or fisheries development will help scientists and policy makers throughout the Pacific region in managing the region’s fisheries in the future.
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Design of Realistic Hybrid Marine Resource Management Programs in Oceania
- Aswani, Shankar, Ruddle, Kenneth
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Ruddle, Kenneth
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/422721 , vital:71972 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.2984/67.3.11"
- Description: This review article synthesizes the authors' several decades of multidisciplinary natural and social science and applied marine resource management experience in the Asia-Pacific region to examine the strengthening of coastal and marine resource management and conservation using alliances between local communities and external institutions. The objective is to assist the design of resource management and conservation programs that enhance the capacity of coastal communities in Oceania to confront both diminishing marine resources and the effects of climate change by providing guidelines for protecting marine biodiversity and vulnerable ecosystem functions. This article describes a management framework that hybridizes local beliefs and institutions expressed in customary management (CM) with such modern management concepts as marine protected areas (MPAs) and ecosystem-based management (EBM). Hybrid management accommodates the social, political, economic, and cultural contexts of Oceanic communities and, compared with recent or conventional management approaches, can therefore better address fundamental local concerns such as coastal degradation, climate change, sea level rise, weak governance, corruption, limited resources and staff to manage and monitor marine resources, and increasing poverty. Research on the hybridization of management systems demonstrates opportunities to establish context-appropriate EBM and/or other managerial arrangements that include terrestrial and adjacent coastal-marine ecosystems. Formal and informal CM systems are widespread in Oceania and in some parts of Southeast Asia, and if appropriate strategies are employed rapid progress toward hybrid CM-EBM could be enabled.
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- Authors: Aswani, Shankar , Ruddle, Kenneth
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/422721 , vital:71972 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.2984/67.3.11"
- Description: This review article synthesizes the authors' several decades of multidisciplinary natural and social science and applied marine resource management experience in the Asia-Pacific region to examine the strengthening of coastal and marine resource management and conservation using alliances between local communities and external institutions. The objective is to assist the design of resource management and conservation programs that enhance the capacity of coastal communities in Oceania to confront both diminishing marine resources and the effects of climate change by providing guidelines for protecting marine biodiversity and vulnerable ecosystem functions. This article describes a management framework that hybridizes local beliefs and institutions expressed in customary management (CM) with such modern management concepts as marine protected areas (MPAs) and ecosystem-based management (EBM). Hybrid management accommodates the social, political, economic, and cultural contexts of Oceanic communities and, compared with recent or conventional management approaches, can therefore better address fundamental local concerns such as coastal degradation, climate change, sea level rise, weak governance, corruption, limited resources and staff to manage and monitor marine resources, and increasing poverty. Research on the hybridization of management systems demonstrates opportunities to establish context-appropriate EBM and/or other managerial arrangements that include terrestrial and adjacent coastal-marine ecosystems. Formal and informal CM systems are widespread in Oceania and in some parts of Southeast Asia, and if appropriate strategies are employed rapid progress toward hybrid CM-EBM could be enabled.
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Oral tradition and the creation of late prehistory in Roviana Lagoon, Solomon Islands
- Sheppard, Peter, Walter, Richard, Aswani, Shankar
- Authors: Sheppard, Peter , Walter, Richard , Aswani, Shankar
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/439958 , vital:73723 , ISBN 0975047639
- Description: The use of oral tradition or oral history in archaeology is often a contentious issue. In this paper we briefly review methodological issues surrounding the use of such data and follow this with a case study using our research into the last 1,000 years of prehistory in Roviana Lagoon (New Georgia Group, Solomon Islands). We argue that it is not possible to generalize cross-culturally about the historicity of oral tradition/history. However, in the Roviana case, careful use of ethnohistory and archaeology together indicates that:(a) Roviana oral history is linear;(b) there is a close relationship between genealogical age and radiocarbon age; and (c) the modern uses of the oral tradition by Roviana provide a theory of their use in the past. We conclude that the model for the formation of the Roviana Chiefdom which emerges from the working back and forth between archaeology and ethnohistory has much more explanatory power than one based on either source of data by itself.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Sheppard, Peter , Walter, Richard , Aswani, Shankar
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/439958 , vital:73723 , ISBN 0975047639
- Description: The use of oral tradition or oral history in archaeology is often a contentious issue. In this paper we briefly review methodological issues surrounding the use of such data and follow this with a case study using our research into the last 1,000 years of prehistory in Roviana Lagoon (New Georgia Group, Solomon Islands). We argue that it is not possible to generalize cross-culturally about the historicity of oral tradition/history. However, in the Roviana case, careful use of ethnohistory and archaeology together indicates that:(a) Roviana oral history is linear;(b) there is a close relationship between genealogical age and radiocarbon age; and (c) the modern uses of the oral tradition by Roviana provide a theory of their use in the past. We conclude that the model for the formation of the Roviana Chiefdom which emerges from the working back and forth between archaeology and ethnohistory has much more explanatory power than one based on either source of data by itself.
- Full Text:
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