A guide for planners and managers - IUCN

134 MARINE AND COASTAL
PROTECTED AREAS
where an expatriate tourism developer was able to remove half a kaya forest despite
strenuous objections of local elders and the Kenya Wildlife Service.
6.3 Different Laws for Different States
Mechanisms to implement MPA programmes can then be incorporated in a legal system
appropriate to each individual country. This section is based on the understanding
that it cannot be too prescriptive since there are probably as many approaches to MPAs
as there are coastal countries. Provincial or local planning and management can be
more responsive to local needs and changing circumstances, but, in contrast, national
agencies usually have access to greater financial resources and expertise and have a
more comprehensive view of conservation needs. Resource protection is often, if not
always, seen to be more stringent in national protected areas than in locally organized
ones. In any event, national governments usually have jurisdiction over marine waters
and will have to be involved in some way.
The legal/institutional arrangement chosen for a particular country or programme
may depend upon many elements, including the form of government (for example,
whether centralized or decentralized), available finances and other institutional
resources, lines of jurisdiction and decision-making, commonly accepted practice, etc.
The variations possible may include elements of the following:
– Strong central programme with delegation of staff and resources directly from
headquarters on all matters
– Strong central programme with decentralized units at the regional or local levels
to handle day-to-day operations of each protected area or region with supervision
from headquarters
– Central programme which provides guidance and coordination to strong
decentralized and independently operating institutions with their own staff and
institutional resources for each region or unit.
Most coastal and marine waters (including wetlands) come under the public
domain and are treated as a “commons.” There are exceptions; such as in the Pacific
islands where rights to fish certain areas are vested by custom with individuals. In
principle, the public authorities have jurisdiction over the seabed and the surface of
the sea. There are a number of traditional interests bound up with seacoasts that
legislators must address: the livelihood of inhabitants of the protected area, water sports
and recreational activities, and economic interests and shipping. (Box I-16).
Administrative, scientific, managerial, enforcement, financial, and other
responsibilities may be delegated to various divisions of the appropriate authority
structure. Advisory bodies and consultative organizations may be used to ensure
representative participation and technical assistance by public, scientific, governmental,
and other concerns. For example, in Tanzania a Board of Trustees established under