A guide for planners and managers - IUCN

Community Engagement
In the past decade it has become obvious that coastal resources conservation
benefits from decentralization of authority. This approach has been variously
termed “community based management”, “joint management”, “the partnership”,
“collaborative management”, or “co-management”. The approach, whatever its title,
succeeds because empowering communities always works better than commanding
them (Clark, 1998). Collaborative management requires networking, forging linkages
to community leaders, local law enforcement officers, private business, and national
agencies like tourist authorities and environmental and fishery agencies.
3.1 Participation
Any move toward a democratic approach to implementing MPAs must itself be
commended, but there are more than socio-political advantages to be gained. Most
importantly, where a community has management responsibility, there is a good
chance that more care will be exercised in the use of resources. For example, the quantity
of fish or shellfish removed will be controlled, abstinence may be practiced during
spawning periods, and less destructive fishing methods may be used. Also there may
be a greater willingness to curb pollution and conserve habitats.
MPA managers have come to realize over the fifteen years since this book was
first written that coastal communities should be closely involved with planning and
management of MPAs. Local people are not now so easily displaced and disenfranchised
by regional or central governments in the creation of protected areas nor marginalized
in the planning process.
Community participation may be perceived by some environmental interests
to entail compromising conservation objectives to achieve public support. On the
contrary, where an area of high conservation value and a coastal community coexist,