A guide for planners and managers - IUCN

PART III
Case Histories of Marine Protected Areas
During the growth of tourism in the eastern Caribbean in the 1980s and 1990s,
increasing numbers of visitors came to dive in Soufriere. Much of the interest had
its origin in the species and structural diversity of the coral reefs. When the SMMA
was being created, 4,500 scuba dives per month were being made on the Soufriere
reefs.
Many of the visitors stayed at the three major hotels of Soufriere, one of them
being a resort specializing in scuba diving. The other tourists came to Soufriere for
half-day visits from the other hotels on the island or from cruise ships. The visitors
attracted to Soufriere included yachters, who were cruising in the West Indies. The
yachtsmen preferred to anchor in the same sandy bays, which were used for the fishing
of the pelagics.
Initial management attempts
The fact that the coastal area of Soufriere was being used intensively and the resources
needed to be conserved efficiently were realized by several interests. Consequently,
numerous attempts to solve the problems with conflicting resource uses were initiated
during a period covering more than ten years before the establishment of the SMMA.
The actors involved the Fisheries Unit (later Fisheries Department) of the Ministry
of Agriculture, the Soufriere Regional Development Foundation (SRDF), the Soufriere
Fishermen s Cooperative, the dive operators and the yacht charter enterprises. Usually
the meetings held resulted only in temporary solutions but were unable to resolve the
resource ownership and management problems in the long term.
One major example of concrete attempts was the declaration of most of the
Soufriere reefs as Marine Reserves in 1986. However, this was not based on a conflict
resolution process. No efficient means of enforcement was provided either. Consequently,
the formal closure of the majority of the trap fishing grounds on the reefs and the
creation of three fishing priority areas in the sandy bays did not win the respect of
the users.
The new conflict resolution approach
As the many attempts to solve the coastal resource use conflicts in Soufriere had failed,
a new attempt was initiated in 1992. The forces behind this attempt were the SRDF,
the Department of Fisheries and the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI).
The goal was an agreement, which would let the coastal activities co-exist in harmony.
The interest groups were assisted by professionals in a negotiation, conflict resolution
and participatory planning exercise, so they could feel they had an equal footing in
the process leading to a compromise. Also several government agencies were involved.
Development cooperation funding from U.S.A. and French governments facilitated
the implementation.
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