A guide for planners and managers - IUCN

230 MARINE AND COASTAL
PROTECTED AREAS
Culture. Culture itself is a resource that requires protection. Protected areas often
attract tourism, which can engulf cultures, particularly those of small populations,
and alter economies.
Permits. For entry to island protected areas permits often can reinforce the value
of the resources being protected and earn needed revenue to subsidize management
expenses. However, such revenues are unpredictable and should be factored into a business
plan for the running of the site. In some cases they will form more of a bonus, rather
than the primary source of management funds.
Communal land ownership. Where land is communally owned, efforts should
be made to convince the local community of the value of a protected area (which may
require economic arguments) and to seek their involvement. Ideally, they can be
persuaded to establish and manage the area themselves within the framework of their
own community, and benefit directly (jobs, revenue, and resource rights) from this
responsibility.
Financial management. Examples of partnerships for island protected area
management demonstrate that careful business planning can support conservation
activities without the need for external revenues from government or international
donors. Examples include Cousin Island Reserve in Seychelles which is run by the
national NGO BirdLife Seychelles and the Chumbe Island Coral Sanctuary off
Zanzibar which is run as a private venture (see cases X and Y in Part III).
These examples show that total delegation of management responsibility can
be a successful formula to achieve self-sustainability of these areas. However, there
are some essential prerequisites for this kind of delegated partnership to work:
– Security of tenure
– Tax breaks or similar incentives
– Total responsibility for hiring and firing, and revenue collection and disbursement
– Cooperation from government
See Section I-5 and also Hooten & Hatziolos (1995) for more on financing
mechanisms for marine protected areas.
Appropriate technology. Protected area facilities should attempt to incorporate
alternative energy sources (e.g., solar and wind energy) both as a long-term moneysaving
exercise and to educate others in the value of such devices. Import of expensive
fossil fuels forces islanders to intensify their harvest of local resources, which in turn
creates additional conservation problems. Use of alternative energy sources can
reduce the dependence on imports.
Volunteers. Volunteers can be used to carry out certain unskilled jobs and
interpretative programmes in protected areas.