A guide for planners and managers - IUCN

PART III
Case Histories of Marine Protected Areas
The objectives of the reserve and monitoring programme have also been
confounded by the coral bleaching event of late 1998. The reefs of Ngeruangel were
hit very hard, with most areas of the atoll losing more than 50 percent of their hard
corals. While there are no obvious impacts of the coral loss on local fish populations,
impacts may come in the future as the coral structure breaks down and the composition
of the benthos changes.
In spite of the lack of conclusive evidence of any rebound in fish populations
in the reserve so far, it is clear that the community, in general, perceives the reserve
as being successful with regard to fish stocks. In addition, they have commented
favorably on the apparent increase in seabird nesting (seabird nesting has not been
part of the monitoring programme). Part of that perception may rest in the belief that
the benefits are yet to come, be they from tourism revenues or increased trochus yields.
Those perceptions may or may not be realistic. But clearly, part of the perception of
success has to do with the fact that the community has regained control over an area
and resource that is important to them for a variety of reasons. Apart from any net
benefits or costs stemming from the creation and management of the reserve, it has
certainly catalyzed a sense of broader resource stewardship within the community.
The reserve, although limited to only one atoll, has served to better enclose (in the
economic sense) all the marine resources of Kayangel. The benefits of that are likely
to be considerable.
The experience of Ngeruangel has also revealed several important constraints
and challenges to effective management of the inshore marine resources of Palau.
First, because most marine protected areas are being established by local communities,
in response to local needs, with little national support or coordination, they are
resulting in an ad hoc system of protected areas that may not take into account the
ecology of the archipelago as well as it might. Working on such small scales, it is difficult
to design protected areas to take best advantage of water currents in terms of
pollution, sedimentation, and sources and sinks of pelagic larvae. As these initiatives
are purely community-driven, there may be relatively little incentive to protect areas
that offer valuable ecological benefits for wider areas, such as fish nursery areas and
spawning aggregation sites (see Johannes, Case No. 18, this volume). Second, these
local-level conservation initiatives suffer from poor economies of scale. Unless a
reasonable degree of inter-state cooperation and national support can be achieved,
each and every state will have to support the whole of the institutions, personnel, and
operations necessary to manage their natural resources. Such a management regime
is unlikely to be cost-effective, especially in areas like Ngeruangel where the potential
for revenues from tourism and other activities is relatively small.
The recent upsurge in community-driven marine conservation initiatives in Palau
attests to there being adequate incentive and means for villages to take conservation
action. But it also begs the need for technical, legal, and financial assistance to the
communities from the national government, as well as innovative enforcement
techniques and better nationwide coordination.
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