Browsing by Author "Gill, David"

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    A novel framework for analyzing conservation impacts: evaluation, theory, and marine protected areas.
    (Ann N Y Acad Sci, 2017-07) Mascia, Michael B; Fox, Helen E; Glew, Louise; Ahmadia, Gabby N; Agrawal, Arun; Barnes, Megan; Basurto, Xavier; Craigie, Ian; Darling, Emily; Geldmann, Jonas; Gill, David; Holst Rice, Susie; Jensen, Olaf P; Lester, Sarah E; McConney, Patrick; Mumby, Peter J; Nenadovic, Mateja; Parks, John E; Pomeroy, Robert S; White, Alan T
    Environmental conservation initiatives, including marine protected areas (MPAs), have proliferated in recent decades. Designed to conserve marine biodiversity, many MPAs also seek to foster sustainable development. As is the case for many other environmental policies and programs, the impacts of MPAs are poorly understood. Social-ecological systems, impact evaluation, and common-pool resource governance are three complementary scientific frameworks for documenting and explaining the ecological and social impacts of conservation interventions. We review key components of these three frameworks and their implications for the study of conservation policy, program, and project outcomes. Using MPAs as an illustrative example, we then draw upon these three frameworks to describe an integrated approach for rigorous empirical documentation and causal explanation of conservation impacts. This integrated three-framework approach for impact evaluation of governance in social-ecological systems (3FIGS) accounts for alternative explanations, builds upon and advances social theory, and provides novel policy insights in ways that no single approach affords. Despite the inherent complexity of social-ecological systems and the difficulty of causal inference, the 3FIGS approach can dramatically advance our understanding of, and the evidentiary basis for, effective MPAs and other conservation initiatives.
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    Assessing Fishing Pressure in a Small-Scale Fishery in St. Eustatius, Dutch Caribbean
    (2020-04-24) Cullinan, Grace
    World fisheries are an important source of food and income for millions of people around the world, and represents a billion dollar industry (FAO, 2018). As a result, research on fisheries has mainly focused on large, commercial fisheries and less on small-scale, subsistence and artisanal fisheries (Anticamara et al., 2011). The result is a perceived lack of data from small-scale fisheries, and therefore less is known about their impact on the surrounding environment and importance to the communities that utilize them. Recent research on small-scale fisheries (SSF) has shown that data deficiencies can impact sustainability efforts, and have a large impact on small island developing states (Nash et al. 2016, Gill et al. 2019). Global fisheries are at risk, and SSF even more so, as anthropogenic effects reduce catch, change the range distribution of fish, change productivity, and drive the decline of fish stocks (Brander, 2010; Doney et al., 2012; Hanich et al., 2018). In order to curb these potentially dangerous declines, more research and capital needs to be invested in researching small-scale fisheries. St. Eustatius, a small island developing nation, which is part of the Dutch Caribbean, has a marine park surrounding the entire island from the high water line down to 30 meters, as well as two marine reserves. As a small developing island territory, maintaining their coral reef ecosystem and their reef fisheries is important for the island economy, nutrition, and food security (de Graaf et al., 2015). However, up until now the effects of different gear types and fishing pressure on the surrounding coral reefs, fish populations, fish size, and how those trends have changed over time in St. Eustatius has been poorly understood. In this Masters Project, we will utilize the fisheries landings data and GCRMN data collected by STENAPA to assess fishing intensity and its potential effects on the surrounding reef ecosystem, in an effort to help with future management strategies, and offer a cost effective approach to addressing some of the knowledge gaps surrounding St. Eustatius fisheries.
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    Classifying Marine Protected Areas
    (2020-04-21) Mancini, Gia
    Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a widely used method to protect fisheries, ocean resources, and areas of cultural significance. In recent years, they have garnered increased global support as an effective conservation and management strategy. MPA regulations and management strategies vary widely across the globe and even within MPAs themselves. This project aims to classify MPAs based on fishing gear regulations within MPA zones and examine the relationship between regulations and the surrounding environmental and socioeconomic context. We compiled data on 280 zones in 125 MPAs in 24 countries, classifying MPAs based on their estimated impact of allowed fishing activities. MPA gear regulations varied greatly, with impact scores ranging from 0-9. With these data, we assess the relationships between MPA fishing regulations and the surrounding socio-environmental context. This project has revealed issues of inconsistency in the reporting of MPA fishing regulations between MPAs. This makes it challenging to assess which MPA regulations and management strategies are the most effective at protecting ocean resources. This study underscores the need for a global, streamlined database on MPA fishing regulations to better inform more effective MPA management and data collection methods.
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    Geospatial Resources for the Deployment of New Artificial Reef Materials in North Carolina
    (2023-04-28) Stouffer, Alison
    The North Carolina coast is home to forty-three offshore artificial reefs that have been deployed by the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries Artificial Reef Program since the 1970s. Primarily utilized by anglers and recreational divers, the purpose of these reefs is to increase the structural complexity of benthic habitat and the abundance of commercially and recreationally valuable fish species. Moving forward, DMF hopes to address data gaps surrounding ecological connectivity and fish use of existing and future artificial reef material placement in order to focus management decisions on maximizing benefits to stakeholders. This project aims to provide DMF with the ecological, biophysical, and regulatory geospatial resources needed to inform decisions surrounding the deployment of new artificial reef materials at existing, permitted reefs in the form of a geodatabase and recommendations for its use.
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    Global Assessment of Perceptions of Procedural Equity in Marine Protected Areas
    (2024-04-25) Ahsanullah, Tasneem
    Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) can benefit local communities but they can also have negative social impacts especially when communities are not equitably included in decision making processes i.e. procedural equity. As equity is becoming more prominent with targets like “30 by 30” calling for “equitable governance” of MPAs, it is important to think about what equity means in practice and to identify what MPA managers are doing to govern equitably. We analyzed global survey results from the Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool and the World Bank Scorecard to assess MPA managers/stakeholders perceptions of local community involvement in MPA management decisions. We created a global map of procedural equity for 367 MPAs and found some countries had groups of MPAs that had high or low equity while other countries had no distinct equity patterns. Our findings also showed that governance type had no significant effect on procedural equity, however, there were many more state governed MPAs (170) than any other governance type (<50). Respondents cited advisory bodies and consultative meetings as the most common activities associated with inclusive decision making. Pre-existing social context was the category with the most barriers to inclusive decision making. Insufficient communication was a common barrier to inclusive decision making but open, transparent communication was also cited as an enabler which shows that communication could be a good starting point to improve inclusive decision making. The most cited strategy to address the barriers or enhance the enablers to inclusive decision making was improving the relationship between communities and management. This research will help elucidate areas that potentially need equity interventions and what is currently being done/could be done to include local people in decision making.
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    Mapping Tourism Pressure in the Sunda-Banda Seascape (Indonesia) MPA Network and Implications for MPA Management
    (2020-04-24) Husseini, Tamera
    In the Indonesian archipelago – an epicenter of marine tropical biodiversity – local communities rely on marine resources to provide food and support livelihoods. The government has implemented an extensive network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) to protect its marine resources. As tourism increasingly plays a role in Indonesia’s economy, the relationships between tourism, local communities and conservation is becoming increasingly relevant for effective MPA management. The WWF works closely with managers in Indonesia’s Sunda-Banda Seascape (SBS) MPA-network to support ecological and social monitoring efforts. Using location data sourced online, this study spatially mapped the distribution of tourism activities (dive centers, dive sites, hotels, homestays, liveaboards, and sea/air ports) in and around 10 MPAs in the SBS and modeled tourism pressure using economic “gravity” theory. Generalised linear mixed-effects models were then used to explore the effects of tourism pressure on fish biomass data collected by WWF. The results of this study aim to provide insight into the intersection between tourism and MPA management, particularly in light of communities potentially shifting from fisheries-based to tourism-based livelihoods.