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Integrated coastal management and adaptive management
Co-management can be an effective approach to integrated coastal management (ICM).
ICM is a process for taking decisions on the sustainable use, development, and protection of coastal and marine areas and resources. Its advantage over other approaches is that it acknowledges the intricate relationships among coastal and marine uses and environments. It promotes linkages and harmonization among coastal activities and the physical processes of nature. It provides a comprehensive perspective for management
Figure 5 : Integrated coastal management includes many types of relationships
As important as integration is, the ability of management systems to be flexible is paramount. A good approach is to learn through adaptive management.
INTEGRATED
COASTAL
Tourism (^) HUMAN Fishing SYSTEM
Shipping Agriculture
Reeffish^ MANAGEMENT Coral reef
COASTAL RESOURCE Mangrove (^) SYSTEM Seagrass
Adaptive management is an experimental, learning approach where management measures are designed, tested and evaluated to determine the features of the managed system that inform the most appropriate management for subsequent testing and refinement.
Why co-manage in the Caribbean?
Change is often not easy. There must be good and substantial reasons for wanting to try co-management as an alternative to the conventional management mainly by government that some describe as “command-and-control” due to its heavy reliance on formal regulation.
Demand for co-management
♦ Increasing conflicts among coastal and marine resource users not being managed ♦ Many resources being fully or overexploited under management by government alone ♦ Coastal habitats being increasingly degraded by marine and land-based pollution ♦ Public sector reform and down-sizing of state agencies changing the nature of governance ♦ Trend towards empowering non-governmental organisations, communities and civil society ♦ Citizens’ demands for greater legitimacy and transparency in management decision-making ♦ Donor agencies often have establishing co-management as a condition for receiving funds ♦ Where there are significant populations of indigenous people, it is seen a traditional right ♦ Multilateral environmental agreements contain provisions for cooperation in management
Not all of the above apply everywhere, and in some places the list will be longer or different.
Can you list additional drivers from your experience or country situation?
Livelihood diversification:
♦ Is common in Caribbean socio-culture ♦ Reduces income-related vulnerability ♦ Features highly in pro-poor policies ♦ Makes part-time fishing a preference ♦ Is assisted by occupational mobility ♦ May be favoured by open access
A sustainable livelihood is resilient to disruption and can be maintained or improved upon without depleting natural resources.
An alternative livelihood replaces an unsustainable one such as irresponsible or destructive fishing or pollution.
A complementary livelihood is similar, but recognises that people who work by the sea often cling tenaciously to their main lifestyle as an expression of their culture and personality, preferring complementary work. Complementary livelihoods may evolve into alternatives if the conditions and benefits are right. New recruits should not replace those getting out of the livelihood that is unsustainable.
Livelihoods initiatives :
♦ Are often part of holistic people-centred policy ♦ Require interdisciplinary and holistic research ♦ Are better done in partnership with beneficiaries ♦ Are multi-level beyond individual and household ♦ Recognise that livelihood strategies are dynamic
Can you identify the livelihoods initiatives in your country or area?
Co-managers must be sensitive to livelihood situations, especially where any group is poor or has limited options that result in destructive strategies of resource use as a matter of short-term survival
Social and cultural fit
Co-management is more successful when it becomes part of the fabric of society and way of doing things in the lives of ordinary people. In general, there is not yet a very good fit for co-management, largely due to the novelty of civil society participation in natural resource governance in the Caribbean. Some argue that the colonial period, followed by persistent patronage politics, has fostered a climate of dependency among citizens that today’s more participatory democratic
movements have found difficult to eradicate.
Means of improving the social and cultural fit may include:
♦ Systematic research into social and cultural aspects of co-management ♦ Use of terrestrial management cases for comparison and lessons learned ♦ Promotion of the compatibility between co-management and democracy ♦ Provision of everyday examples of cooperation and organisation as models
Summary
The information presented in the first part of the lecture is a typology of categories and phases of co-management that recognises the diversity embodied in the concept. To be fully understood in use, the term co- management needs to be qualified by descriptions of the nature of arrangements specifically being referred to at any time and place. Importantly as well, co- management fits well within the framework of integrated coastal management (ICM) and is possibly the only approach that can serve the needs of poor people or disadvantaged stakeholders. The concept of adaptive management and not just management flexibility is stressed and is considered crucial for learning from experiences. The second part of the lecture sets out why co-management is becoming the appropriate choice for managing Caribbean coastal resources. The reasons for trying co-management as an alternative to the conventional management by government alone are evident. Poverty is now recognised as one of the critical constraints to development, and a systems perspective on poverty and pro-poor issues is required. Critical to the success of co- management is the engagement of community based organisations in the poverty eradication and alleviation. A livelihoods perspective, which includes the capabilities and assets that one uses to make a living, is critical to co- management success. Additionally co-management is more successful when it becomes part of the fabric of society and the way of doing things in the lives of ordinary people.
Some features of resource use problems :
♦ Natural phenomenon or human cause ♦ Prevent, mitigate, solve, adapt or ignore ♦ Chronic (long-term) or acute (short-term) ♦ Assess risk (how likely and how bad?) ♦ Widespread or local occurrence/impact ♦ Precautionary principle or well informed ♦ Urge self-reliance or further dependency
Can you list other resource use problems form your experience or country?
The benefits of co-management as a means of avoiding or solving issues as a continuous process need to be emphasised. Sharing problems helps to establish common interests and facilitate co-management.
Benefits to groups and individuals
Engaging in co-management often results in benefits and costs for organisations and individuals overtime.
Co-managers need to be concerned about benefits, or incentives, for all of the participating stakeholders so as to ensure that motivation is sustained, especially in delicate early stages where investments or costs can be high with few evident returns.
Stakeholders have their own real costs and need real returns for themselves, often to justify participation to a larger constituency that they represent such as fishers, divers or water taxi operators.
Some possible costs of co-management
♦ Requires initial financial investment ♦ Time requirements for participation ♦ May result in smaller share of resource ♦ May result in less and shared power ♦ Information has to be communicated ♦ May take long to reach joint decisions ♦ Requires skills such as facilitation ♦ May cause demands in other areas
Some possible benefits of co-management
♦ Improves information flows ♦ Promotes conservation ♦ Helps to sustain livelihoods ♦ Encourages self-reliance ♦ Reduces many conflicts ♦ Facilitates compliance ♦ Lowers long run costs ♦ Increases empowerment
Where do we co-manage?
Just as not all resources are equally suitable for co-management, neither are all places. Some features, both physical and institutional, favour co-management more than others.
Boundaries and scale
Managers of coastal and marine areas in the Caribbean deal with several kinds of boundaries. Some are physical, but many are intangible and conceptual boundaries devised by people to categorise or delimit various things.
Property rights
Claim to a benefit stream that is collectively protected, in most cases by the state.
Property rights were generally not burning issues in the fisheries and coastal management authorities or among the other stakeholders. This contrasts with the concern in other regions with establishing property rights as fundamental requirements for efficient resource management.
Property rights encompass :
♦ Individual or communal exclusive access ♦ Expectation of streams of benefits from use ♦ Right to dispose of, damage and destroy ♦ Ability to sell, transfer or divide ownership
Categories of property regimes :
♦ Private or personal property ♦ State or public property ♦ Communal or common property ♦ Open-access or non-property
Summary
The nature of the resource is only one aspect of co-management, understanding what can cause people to work together in management is often more difficult. Co-management is often introduced when there is a resource crisis such as conflict and/or scarcity, especially when people are highly dependent on the resources. Often, only when problems have reached crisis are people really motivated to invest time and effort in co-management. Even then, mutual acknowledgement of a problem does not mean that all parties will want to be part of the solution. Where there is a history of dependency on government, or a tendency to put responsibility on others, people are more likely to form groups to pressure authorities for action, than to form groups to take action. While such pressure groups can be important, they will not become co management partners unless they are also willing to take management action. Co-managers need to be concerned about benefits, or incentives, for all of the participating stakeholders so as to ensure that motivation is sustained, especially in delicate early stages where investments or costs can be high with few evident returns. Stakeholders
