1. Fiji Locally Managed Marine Area (LMMA) Network.
Use of Evaluation Results for Adaptive Management: Case study: Veratavou district Locally Managed Marine Area (LMMA) Project in Fiji.
Alifereti Tawake,
Fiji Locally Managed Marine Area (LMMA) Network.

2. What is a Locally Managed Marine Area (LMMA)
What is a Locally Managed Marine Area (LMMA)? LMMA is a Strategy that advocates active participation of communities and other local stakeholders in developing, implementing and evaluating their marine area management plans through adaptive management approaches:
Categories
Community-based marine area management initiatives.
Collaborative management (national, NOGs, institutions and resource owners/users) of marine resources
LMMA Tools (3 types):
No take areas, MPA, marine reserves, sanctuaries.
Species specific harvest refugia
Restriction of Fishing or harvesting effort.
For more information:

3. Adaptive management Cycle
Develop a
Monitoring
Plan D B
Implement
Develop a
Management &
The
Management Plan:
Monitoring
Goals, Objectives,
Plans
Project
& Activities
Cycle E E A
Develop
Analyze
Conceptual
Data and
Model Based
Communicate
on Local Site
Results
Conditions
Start
Iterate
Clarify Group's
Use Results to
Mission
Adapt & Learn

4. Presentation Overview
1. Brief site description
2. History of project activity implementation and evaluation of monitoring results leading to Adaptive Management
3. Lessons learned on
Challenges
Opportunities for applying evaluation results to improve the management of a protected area (LMMA) and replication beyond boundaries of specific sites
4. Recommendations

5. Veratavou Project, Fiji Islands Veratavou project
Source: FAO Review of the State of World Fishery Resources: Marine Fisheries (1997)
Veratavou project

6. Project Site Description
Verata is a district with 8 villages and approx resident population
Fishing ground that they have customary tenural control over and access to is 95sq km.
Protected or tabu areas is not an alien concept as it is part of our traditional management practices but only for a short period of time.

7. History of the Project Implementation
Initiation
Implement monitoring
plan
Request
Assess interest/expectation and awareness raising
Collect and
analyze data to evaluate management plan effectiveness and communicate results
Monitoring plan
Developed and training on monitoring
skills
Marine Resource management Planning workshop
Implement management plan (review and discuss how to improve the plan)
Ongoing
management

8. Adaptive management Cycle
Develop a
Monitoring
Plan D B
Implement
Develop a
Management &
The
Management Plan:
Monitoring
Goals, Objectives,
Plans
Project
& Activities
Cycle E E A
Develop
Analyze
Conceptual
Data and
Model Based
Communicate
on Local Site
Results
Conditions
Start
Iterate
Clarify Group's
Use Results to
Mission
Adapt & Learn

9. Veratavou’s mission
To rehabilitate and improve degraded habitats and depleted economically important species to improve the livelihood of the Verata people that heavily depended on them.

10. Adaptive management Cycle
Develop a
Monitoring
Plan D B
Implement
Develop a
Management &
The
Management Plan:
Monitoring
Goals, Objectives,
Plans
Project
& Activities
Cycle E E A
Develop
Analyze
Conceptual
Data and
Model Based
Communicate
on Local Site
Results
Conditions
Start
Iterate
Clarify Group's
Use Results to
Mission
Adapt & Learn

11. Management Plan Identified Threats Key Interventions
Over harvesting or overfishing of resources
A lot of commercial fishing license given to outside fishers and using undersize gilnets
More people are fishing and harvesting resources and selling to the market than before
A lot of cash demand and lack of other income generation opportunities apart from exploiting marine resources.
Poison and destructive fishing Fishing
Delineate species-specific reserves via refuge areas or tabu.
Stop the issue of commercial fishing license and the use of gillnets.
Alternative income source arranged by USP through bioprospecting enterprise to offset short-term losses in income from actions taken.
Encourage farming as an alternative to fishing
Ban the use of Derris sp plant and other killing agents.
Mangrove and coral extraction
Banned
Siltation
Mangrove replanting, Practice sustainable farming practices, Ban logging and burning

12. Adaptive management Cycle
Develop a
Monitoring
Plan D B
Implement
Develop a
Management &
The
Management Plan:
Monitoring
Goals, Objectives,
Plans
Project
& Activities
Cycle E E A
Develop
Analyze
Conceptual
Data and
Model Based
Communicate
on Local Site
Results
Conditions
Start
Iterate
Clarify Group's
Use Results to
Mission
Adapt & Learn

13. Monitoring and Evaluation Step
Community Monitoring and analysis Training
Monitoring and evaluation plan implemented
Biological surveys
socio-economic surveys
Implementation of a Learning Framework

14. Adaptive management Cycle
Develop a
Monitoring
Plan D B
Implement
Develop a
Management &
The
Management Plan:
Monitoring
Goals, Objectives,
Plans
Project
& Activities
Cycle E E A
Develop
Analyze
Conceptual
Data and
Model Based
Communicate
on Local Site
Results
Conditions
Start
Iterate
Clarify Group's
Use Results to
Mission
Adapt & Learn

15. Socialize information
Collect data –community monitoring
Analyse data and information
Present results
Socialize information

16. Adaptive management Cycle
Develop a
Monitoring
Plan D B
Implement
Develop a
Management &
The
Management Plan:
Monitoring
Goals, Objectives,
Plans
Project
& Activities
Cycle E E A
Develop
Analyze
Conceptual
Data and
Model Based
Communicate
on Local Site
Results
Conditions
Start
Iterate
Clarify Group's
Use Results to
Mission
Adapt & Learn

17. RESULTS and Learning. Results of clam species (indicator) at tabu site.90
June, 2003
Survey area:
50 x 1 m2 quadrats = 50 m2 80 70 60
April 1997
Clam Frequency 50 30
Lomo
(tabu site) 20 10
< >6
Size Class (cm)

18. Matanaiverata (harvest site)
RESULTS AND LEARNING. Results of clam species (indicator) at harvest site 90
Survey area:
50 x 1 m2 quadrats = 50 m2 80
June, 2003 70 60
April 1997
Clam Frequency 50 40 30
Matanaiverata (harvest site) 20 10
< >6
Size Class (cm)

19. Results Tracking, Reporting and Learning
Results Tracking, Reporting and Learning. Effectiveness of refuge area application
Village
Status of monitored sites
Indicator species
Years
% stock change
Ucunivanua
Permanent Tabu
Clams 6
2393
harvest
clams
833
Kumi
rotational Tabu 4
-500
166
Sawa
mudlobster
500
200
Naivuruvuru 2
425 1
156
Naloto
525
233

20. Use of Results to adapt and learn
Shift from Temporary tabu area or rotational closure to Permanent Protection.
Shift from single species protection to total protection of species

21. Use of Results to adapt and learn
Commercial Fishing license
tons/year of fish/invertebrate stocks worth US$125,000 are extracted from their fishing ground by commercial fishermen
After banning it for 5 yrs, fish catches have tripled and are allowing 1 license/yr again
High Dependence on marine resources
Action: Encourage farming
Result :
Household depending on fishing decreased from 54% to 27%
Household depending on farming increased from 46% to 73%
35% increase in household income from 1998 to 2002
AM:
Encourage fishing outside protected area

22. Iteration and Replication.
Increasing scale reflects their awareness of the benefits.

23. Replication and Adaptation at Fiji Network Level: -
LMMA sites, 2 districts
LMMA sites, 6 districts
2003- over 70 known LMMA sites in 36 of the 187 districts in Fiji and covering approx. 11 % of Fiji’s inshore area

24. Ongoing (adaptive) management∞

25. Lessons learned Challenges Opportunities
A lot of investment and commitments is required to train communities in AM
Not to lose the objectivity of the evaluation
Need to continuously and systematically evaluate management actions
Simplify and standardize evaluation methods
Opportunities
Engage communities in monitoring, evaluating and communicating results
Continuous follow-up of management plans and evaluation results
Learning Framework as a guide to systematically evaluate LMMA projects
Encourage communities to tell their own success stories and mistakes

26. Recommendations
Encourage scientific community to trial and test the credibility of local communities to judge and communicate themselves the effectiveness of their management actions.
Evaluation results to be periodically communicated to communities in a simplified and “user friendly” way in order for adaptive management and learning to occur