7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: NGUNA-PELE MARINE AND LAND PROTECTED AREA NETWORK
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/case-studies-undp-nguna-pele-marine-and-land-protected-area-network 1/13
Equator Initiative Case StudiesLocal sustainable development solutions for people, nature, and resilient communities
Vanuatu
NGUNA-PELE MARINE ANDLAND PROTECTED AREANETWORK
Empowered live
Resilient nation
Empowered live
Resilient nation
7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: NGUNA-PELE MARINE AND LAND PROTECTED AREA NETWORK
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/case-studies-undp-nguna-pele-marine-and-land-protected-area-network 2/13
UNDP EQUATOR INITIATIVE CASE STUDY SERIES
Local and indigenous communities across the world are advancing innovative sustainable development solutions that wo
or people and or nature. Few publications or case studies tell the ull story o how such initiatives evolve, the breadth
their impacts, or how they change over time. Fewer still have undertaken to tell these stories with community practition
themselves guiding the narrative.
To mark its 10-year anniversary, the Equator Initiative aims to ll this gap. The ollowing case study is one in a growing ser
that details the work o Equator Prize winners – vetted and peer-reviewed best practices in community-based environmenconservation and sustainable livelihoods. These cases are intended to inspire the policy dialogue needed to take local succ
to scale, to improve the global knowledge base on local environment and development solutions, and to serve as models
replication. Case studies are best viewed and understood with reerence to ‘The Power o Local Action: Lessons rom 10 Years
the Equator Prize’, a compendium o lessons learned and policy guidance that draws rom the case material.
Click on the map to visit the Equator Initiative’s searchable case study database.
EditorsEditor-in-Chie: Joseph Corcoran
Managing Editor: Oliver HughesContributing Editors: Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Erin Lewis, Whitney Wilding
Contributing WritersEdayatu Abieodun Lamptey, Erin Atwell, Toni Blackman, Jonathan Clay, Joseph Corcoran, Larissa Currado, Sarah Gordon, Oliver Hughe
Wen-Juan Jiang, Sonal Kanabar, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Rachael Lader, Patrick Lee, Erin Lewis, Jona Liebl, Mengning Ma,
Mary McGraw, Gabriele Orlandi, Juliana Quaresma, Peter Schecter, Martin Sommerschuh, Whitney Wilding, Luna Wu
DesignOliver Hughes, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Amy Korngiebel, Kimberly Koserowski, Erin Lewis, John Mulqueen, Lorena de la Pa
Brandon Payne, Mariajosé Satizábal G.
AcknowledgementsThe Equator Initiative acknowledges with gratitude the Nguna-Pele Marine and Land Protected Area Network. All photo credits court
o Nguna-Pele Marine and Land Protected Area Network. Maps courtesy o CIA World Factbook and Wikipedia.
Suggested CitationUnited Nations Development Programme. 2012. Nguna-Pele Marine and Land Protected Area Network, Vanuatu. Equator Initiative C
Study Series. New York, NY.
7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: NGUNA-PELE MARINE AND LAND PROTECTED AREA NETWORK
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/case-studies-undp-nguna-pele-marine-and-land-protected-area-network 3/13
PROJECT SUMMARY This network o marine and terrestrial protected areas span-
ning the Vanuatu islands o Nguna and Pele has brought
together local, national and international actors in a diverse
partnership or the conservation o the area’s unique bio-
diversity. The network comprises sixteen indigenous com-
munities engaged in the conservation o more than 3,000
hectares o marine and terrestrial resources.
The project has become a case study or best practice in
community marine conservation within Vanuatu and the
Pacic islands or its strategies o proactive conservation,resilient management, and locally-appropriate awareness-
raising. Among more than 60 dierent partner organiza-
tions are local and regional NGOs, government ministries,
international volunteer organizations, research institutes,
and tour operators who promote the islands as an ecotour-
ism destination.
KEY FACTS
EQUATOR PRIZE WINNER: 2008
FOUNDED: 2002
LOCATION: Islands of nguna and Pele
BENEFICIARIES: 16 Nguna-Pele villages
BIODIVERSITY: Nguna-Pele Marine and Land Protected Ar
3
NGUNA-PELE MARINE AND LANDPROTECTED AREA NETWORKVanuatu
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Background and Context 4
Key Activities and Innovations 6
Biodiversity Impacts 8
Socioeconomic Impacts 9
Policy Impacts 10
Sustainability 11
Replication 11
Partners 12
7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: NGUNA-PELE MARINE AND LAND PROTECTED AREA NETWORK
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/case-studies-undp-nguna-pele-marine-and-land-protected-area-network 4/13
4
he Nguna-Pele Marine and Land Protected Area Network is aon-governmental organization which brings together sixteen
ndigenous communities on the islands o Nguna and Pele in the
entral Shea province o the Republic o Vanuatu. The initiative
romotes the sustainable use o marine and terrestrial resources in
ver 3,000 hectares o community-managed rees, sea grass beds,
mangrove orests and intertidal lagoons, coordinating a network
shing communities in conducting biological monitoring,
nvironmental education, waste management, and alternative
velihood projects. The project has become a case study or best
ractice in community marine conservation within Vanuatu and the
acic islands or its strategies o proactive conservation, resilient
management, and locally-appropriate awareness-raising.
he Republic o Vanuatu, an archipelago o 84 islands in the South-
West Pacic, has a population o over 220,000 people, 80% o whom
ngage in artisanal agriculture and 77% in small-scale fisheries. The
slands o Nguna and Pele lie just north o the larger island o Eate,
nd were home to approximately 1,100 people at the time o the
ational census in 2000. The population is spread unevenly among
ixteen communities, ten o which are located directly on the coast;
hese villages are no more than a three-hour walk rom one another.
A hereditary paramount chie presides over each village, assisted in
overnance duties by one or more lower chies. These chies largely
eal with the preservation and promotion o local custom. Day-to-
ay aairs and administration o the community alls, however, to
emocratically elected village councils, as is common in other parts
Vanuatu. The councils are oten themselves made up o several
pecialized committees. The advent o this system can be traced
ack to the inuence o Christian missionaries in the 1870s, which
esulted in a reorganization o local social structures; a shit rom a
lan-line elected system o governance to a hereditary royal-amily
hiey system.
An unclear land tenure context
In Vanuatu all land belongs to customary owners by decre
the national constitution. However, the denition o custo
ownership remains vague; customary land owners are not us
individuals, a trait that existing statutory land policy does
appropriately capture. Communal right o access to natural reso
is typical o many Pacic island societies, and is especially releva
the marine context. While there has been a legal trend away
group and toward private land ownership in Vanuatu, encour
by regional policies and investor-driven land acquisition, ew
deeds have been granted over parts o Nguna and Pele; s
land areas and garden plots have relatively clear boundaries
ownership tends to lie with amilies rather than individuals. Viboundaries are perceived dierently to amily land areas, how
A strong sense o communal identity typies village membersh
Nguna and Pele – belonging to a community or village provid
critical saety net by ensuring access to resources or those wit
hereditary entitlements. Geographical boundaries o a comm
are thereore treated with importance on the islands; due to dyn
settlement trends and the uncodied nature o communities, vi
boundaries are typically unclear and oten disputed. These disp
have occasionally led to hostilities when benets o tourism
inrastructural development were at stake.
A history o cooperation in Nguna and PeleDespite these inrequent tensions, the Nguna-Pele area is lo
renowned or a history o inter-community collaboration. Villag
the two islands share a unique dialect as well as similar cultura
customary practices. Intermarriage between island villages ens
social connections remain strong. Another legacy o the presen
missionaries is the existence o robust networks that span the
islands, such as the Nguna-Pele Presbyterian Session uniting e
rom each community, the Nguna-Pele Council o Chies (NAPE)
the Nguna-Pele Shea Provincial Councilor Technical Advisory G
Background and Context
7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: NGUNA-PELE MARINE AND LAND PROTECTED AREA NETWORK
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/case-studies-undp-nguna-pele-marine-and-land-protected-area-network 5/13
55
his history o cooperation on the issue o resource access and territory
emarcation was the context or marine resource management
orts in Nguna-Pele. Each island is surrounded by ringing rees,
ypically extending 10 to 200 metres rom the shoreline. While ew
ndividuals or households on Nguna and Pele make an exclusive
ving rom the sea, most are involved in opportunistic shing and
ee gleaning. The importance o sea resources or household diets
aries across the islands. In contrast to land ownership, areas o ree
re not demarcated or use by amilies or groups, but are ratherpen or use by all members o a particular community. Access to
marine resources is typically allowed or subsistence or small-scale
ommercial needs. Large-scale commercial harvests, however,
equire permission o the chie and the village council. Village
members may make a monetary contribution to the council when
ndertaking a larger-than-usual harvest rom village marine tenure
rea. Boundaries are dened in many dierent ways – one common
enition is the outer edge o the ree – but the use o these
oundaries to exclude non-community members rom using village
esources is a de acto practice on Nguna and Pele. Permission must
lways be sought beore rees can be used by an outsider. One role
village chies is to grant or revoke permission or outsiders to use
community’s ree resources, in their customary roles as community
tewards. In practice, the village council holds the responsibility
dening the uses, developments and restrictions within the
ommunity’s sea tenure area.
Resource conservation rooted in local tradition
he design and implementation o marine closures to meet social,
ultural, or conservation needs is a common eature o many Pacic
sland communities. Traditionaltabu declarations prohibit harvesting
within dened community marine access areas, and may last or
weeks, years, or indenitely. Some o these tabu periods incorporate
hort-term harvests dictated by economic, social, or cultural
rocesses. Rotational or periodic harvests within marine closures
ave been shown to allow or increased biomass or abundance o
arget species. In Vanuatu, communities have traditionally declared
marine closures more oten or resource conservation than or
ustainable harvesting purposes; in the past, closures employed
y communities on Nguna and Pele were enacted to stockpile
esources in preparation or a celebration or community event
uch as a wedding or chiey ordination. Closure duration was pre-
ecided, and was oten independent o the quality or quantity o
esources available on the ree. Reserve implementation, regulation
norcement, size, type, and location are typically governed by the
ocal community with advisory support rom national government
epartments.
More recently, however, marine closures in the Nguna-Pele and
urrounding areas have been established with the clear objective
resource maintenance or conservation. This has been driven
y the perception o declining marine resources on communities’
ees, as well as awareness o the global state o marine resources.
ocal communities have witnessed changes in their marine and
and resources resulting rom human and environmental pressures:
mprovements in shing methods and technologies, population
rowth, and increased urbanization in the capital o Vanuatu have
riven increases in the demand or seaood resources, while cyclones,
earthquakes, coral bleaching, and the impacts o invasive spe
have posed environmental challenges to resource sustainability
Origins o the Nguna-Pele Network
In the 1990s, the Vanuatu Fisheries Department began wor
with communities on the north coast o Eate Island to encou
marine area closures or trochus stock recovery. Ater some i
success, the Vanuatu-based Wan Smolbag Theatre group crethe “Turtle Monitor” network as a tool or engaging Vanuatu’s
communities in conserving endangered turtle species. The Ng
Pele chies subsequently enacted an area-wide ten-year ba
turtle harvesting across the two islands. In 1998, the commu
o Mere-Sauwia created a terrestrial permanent protected
the ollowing year, the community o Utanlangi established
rst marine tabu area on Nguna. In 2002, the Pele communi
Piliura began work on creating a permanent marine closure
The momentum created by these cumulative eorts led the c
o the Piliura, Worearu, Unakap and Taloa communities to esta
an inormal network called the Nguna-Pele Marine Protected
in 2003. In 2011, this designation was changed to the Nguna-
Marine and Land Protected Area (MLPA) to incorporate its marine and terrestrial conservation ocus.
Since its creation, the Nguna-Pele MLPA has reerred to a netw
o both marine and terrestrial community-managed areas, ra
than a single protected area. This network now includes six
communities across the two islands: the chies and people o
member communities have each set aside an area o village-ow
ree or orest as a tabu resource reserve. These community rese
are small, typically measuring less than 0.05km2, and cover betw
15-45% o the available marine tenured area. Although the goals
objectives o individual marine closures are similar, their orm
expression is highly diverse across the islands. Three closure de
are common in the Nguna and Pele area: permanent, rotatand periodically harvested reserves. Permanent reserves are t
in which the community indenitely closes all harvest. Rotat
reserves do not permit harvest during their closure period,
are designed to be permanently opened in the uture. Period
harvested reserves may allow inrequent and controlled harv
at any time, but generally not more than on one or two occas
per year. Reserves o all kinds commonly restrict harvesting o a
species within them, although reserve openings and harvests
selectively target specic organisms.
Member communities have elected volunteer MLPA representa
to conduct ree surveys, biological monitoring, and ong
environmental awareness. A representative o each community t
part in monthly meetings o the network’s Management Comm
to make decisions guiding the current and uture manageme
the MLPA network. The committee is headed by a Chairman
Project Coordinator. Each member community takes decision
how to conserve and protect their resources, with the broader M
network supporting and guiding these individual projects.
network has engaged international and local researchers, volunt
and educators in collaboration with their members, and has prov
opportunities or peer-to-peer learning and knowledge sharing
7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: NGUNA-PELE MARINE AND LAND PROTECTED AREA NETWORK
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/case-studies-undp-nguna-pele-marine-and-land-protected-area-network 6/13
6
Key Activities and Innovations
Decisions over tabu implementation, regulations, and enorcementre taken by individual communities, with guidance rom Vanuatu’s
Department o Fisheries and Department o Environment. The
Nguna-Pele MLPA network gives technical support where needed to
ssist communities in their decision-making processes, enorcement
nd tabu demarcation.
Marine Protected Area governance
he decision to implement a marine reserve is taken democratically
n the majority o cases. Each community’s village council has
stablished a conservation committee; this body commonly proposes
esource prohibitions in a village meeting, which is then ollowed by
public debate among residents. I a closure is approved, residentsiscuss potential locations and the type o tabu to be implemented.
inal approval by residents to declare a reserve can take up to a year
o detailed planning by the conservation committee.
Marine reserve declarations are attended by customary ceremonies.
he village chie, as the symbolic resource steward, proclaims the
rea o-limits under the terms set by the community. The paramount
hie will generally evoke ancestral protection over the area.
oundaries o the closed area are demarcated with recognizable
objects; on Nguna and Pele, a namele palm lea tied to a stake is
he most commonly-employed marker, though large white stones,
pig jaws and painted signs are also used. Each village conservation
ommittee is responsible or the maintenance and regulation o
errestrial and marine resources. Conservation committees propose
nd adapt the specic rules or use o the ree. These committees
eport to and ollow the mandates o the village council, which
n turn works under the guidance o the paramount chie. It is
onsidered the responsibility o all community members, including
esidents, the conservation committee, village council and chies, to
omply with village marine regulations and to report trespassers.
Enorcement and surveillance is not difcult in most cases asareas are visible rom the village. In cases where the ree is loc
urther away rom the settlement area, however, trespassing is o
more requent. Rule inringements generally invoke a ne pay
to the chie, which is then divided among the village council
conservation committee. Inractions that involve non-commu
members are dealt with directly by the chie or village counc
each respective community. Fines or non-community member
generally higher as these oenses are viewed as more severe.
Land conservation areas have been more difcult to establish
to maintain due to conicts over land ownership, although s
cases have succeeded. In Mere village on Nguna Island, or insta
despite disputes over the tabu land area, the communitymanaged to maintain a conservation area in which ying oxes
small birds are protected.
7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: NGUNA-PELE MARINE AND LAND PROTECTED AREA NETWORK
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/case-studies-undp-nguna-pele-marine-and-land-protected-area-network 7/13
7
A supportive network
he role o the Nguna-Pele MLPA network has been to coordinate
nd acilitate action between a large number o community sites;
he network has brought together communities that would not
therwise work together to discuss conservation issues and work
ogether on management solutions or their individual communities.
n addition to this, the initiative is engaged in ongoing negotiationswith the national government or greater local rights to manage
nd access natural resources that will better support community-
evel action. The network also oversees comprehensive campaigns
n raising environmental awareness, waste management,
eveloping mariculture livelihoods, and conducting environmental
ssessments. To date, the Nguna-Pele initiative has undertaken a
umber o noteworthy projects, including an attempt to breed
rochus and giant clams – both endangered species – and a
urtle-tagging project that has enabled monitoring o hundreds o
urtles. Supported projects include school education programs and
working with international universities in biological monitoring.
he MLPA network uses local custom and modern management
tyles, by maintaining and respecting traditional practices alongside
a scientic approach to marine management. Finally, the M
network has ocused on developing ecotourism projects on the
islands to promote create alternative sustainable sources o inc
or the member villages.
The Nguna-Pele MLPA has a constitution and a democ
organizational structure. Each community has elected one or
volunteer representatives to conduct regular ree surveys, tagturtles, plant coral and run continuous environmental aware
sessions. A Management Committee, comprised o representa
rom every community, meets monthly to make decisions gui
the current and uture management o the overall MLPA netw
this Management Committee is led by a seven-person execu
committee, which is elected by village representatives to serv
a two-year term and chairs monthly meetings. All representa
on the management and executive committees are volunt
The Network Manager and our part-time sta assist vi
representatives to carry out day-to-day administration. The M
network has inrastructure on the two islands, including an o
and survey equipment, which is collectively owned by all commu
members.
7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: NGUNA-PELE MARINE AND LAND PROTECTED AREA NETWORK
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/case-studies-undp-nguna-pele-marine-and-land-protected-area-network 8/13
8
Impacts
BIODIVERSITY IMPACTS
The Nguna-Pele MLPA network incorporates eleven marine and
wo orest conservation areas on the two islands, collaboratively
managed by sixteen communities. Each area employs locally-
dapted strategies or conservation and management, although
ome approaches are common to multiple sites. In Unakap
village on Nguna Island, or instance, the chies have set aside
hree dierent marine conservation areas: a permanent reserve, a
periodic reserve, and a general use zone. The permanent reserve
does not allow any type o shing activities, but is open to tourism
ctivities and clean-up campaigns or crown-o-thorns starsh. The
periodic reserve is closed to harvesting until the area is needed
or community events such as celebrations or undraising or
ommunity development projects, when high-value species areollected or sale or consumption. Lastly, the general use zone is
open or public access subject to prohibitions on destructive shing
practices and over-harvesting. One indication o the efcacy o tabu
rea implementation is that none o the terrestrial and marine areas
originally set aside or conservation has been reversed; the MLPA
pproach is seen as an appropriate solution to the twin challenges
o conserving threatened species and preserving local culture.
Conservation o agship species
One example o this is that o the sea turtle, undoubtedly Vanuatu’s
most iconic species. Throughout the south-west Pacic, where sea
urtles have traditionally been hunted or millennia, these speciesre now at precipitously low levels, with many biologists predicting
heir imminent extinction unless harvesting is reduced dramatically.
Green (Chelonia mydas) and hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricate) sea
urtles are common to the Vanuatu archipelago, while leatherback
urtle nesting sites have also been reported. Green sea turtles are
sted as endangered species on the IUCN Red List; hawksbills and
eatherbacks are critically endangered. There have been many
ttempts to reduce harvesting o these species on Nguna and Pele,
ncluding attempts to raise conservation awareness and engage local
shers in monitoring species population numbers. In 1995, the Wan
molbag Theatre group distributed turtle-tagging equipment to
many communities to promote tagging o nesting turtles in resp
to the South Pacic Regional Environment Program’s (SPREP’s) o the Turtle’. A network o villagers, initially called Turtle Mon
was established to directly link community representatives to
Smolbag. Members were required to tag at least three turtle
month. Now known as the Vanua-Tai network, this organiza
serves as a major conduit o conservation inormation and disco
between remote communities.
In Nguna and Pele, these eorts have been supplemented b
approach to turtle monitoring that integrates ecotourism
local communities. Sea turtle hunting is not undertaken p
or consumption; the act o catching sea turtles and the c
association between islanders and sea turtles has strong cu
roots. The species is also an important attraction or ecotouvisitors. The MLPA network has thereore developed a progra
that encourages traditional hunters to continue practicing
custom, but or conservation rather than consumption purp
or a ee, tourists are able to tag and release these wild-ca
turtle specimens. Turtle Sponsors are presented with a certi
recognizing their nancial contribution and detailing the biolo
particulars o their individual turtle. The name o the sponsor
the turtle are placed on the Nguna-Pele MLPA’s website, and
inormation contributes to an international conservation data
Sponsorship ees are divided among the individual hunter
village conservation committee, and the Nguna-Pele M
providing a regular and sustainable source o income or vil
and the network.
The annual number o sea turtles tagged has quadrupled
the introduction o this initiative, with sea turtle sponsors
contributing to increases in household incomes. The initi
has maintained the cultural identity surrounding turtle hun
and encouraged younger generations to ollow these custo
practices. As an indicator o progress o this programme
associated awareness-raising activities, the number o sea tu
consumed among all villages on the two islands has decline
under ve each year.
7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: NGUNA-PELE MARINE AND LAND PROTECTED AREA NETWORK
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/case-studies-undp-nguna-pele-marine-and-land-protected-area-network 9/13
Quantiying the evidence base or conservation
Partnerships with universities and research institutes have provided
a broad evidence base or the positive benets o community
approaches to conservation. A study in 2009 o reserves on Nguna,
Pele and Emao islands ound that permanent and periodic reserves
were o benet to local marine ecosystems. The study showed that
pecies o sh that are commonly shed by local communities had
higher abundances in periodic reserves in comparison to open areas.Vulnerable species such as Trochus and Giant Clams were identied
as species that were not suited to periodic harvesting, however. The
positive impacts o marine protected areas in Nguna and Pele was also
demonstrated by the act that sh biomass and marine invertebrate
abundance in community reserves was signicantly larger than in
unmanaged areas. In addition, live coral cover is signicantly greater
within marine reserves due to protection rom destructive shing
activities such as small-mesh gill netting and ree trampling. The
MLPA network has worked with Ree Check International’s regional
nitiative to coordinate monitoring o the islands’ coral rees. Ree
check monitoring occurs between one and our times per year, with
esults entered into the Ree Check Vanuatu database.
Community perceptions o the benets o marine conservation
have largely reected empirical ecological studies o marine health.
A study in 2009 used surveys to assess local resident’s perceptions o
conservation eorts: the report ound that responses corroborated
he hypothesis that permanent reserves were more eective
han periodic closures in enhancing target sh biomass, trochus
abundance, and live coral cover. In particular, higher perceived
coral cover inside permanent reserves was validated by underwater
urveys, while perceptions o the abundance o giant clams inside
eserves also matched ree check results. The study concluded that
as management decisions in the Pacic are commonly made in the
absence o empirical ecological or sheries data, the accuracy and
validity o local perceptions can play an important role in inuencing
management approaches.
Combating an invasive species
The network has also provided evidence or the efcacy o
community-based approaches to invasive species eradication. A
tudy rom December 2009 to March 2010 (Albers 2010) ound that
he Nguna-Pele area was under threat rom the invasive species
crown-o-thorns starsh ( Acanthaster planci ); the study showed
hat an outbreak was likely to occur in the village o Unakap, with
he number o juvenile A. planci increasing and levels o hard coral
cover simultaneously decreasing. The MLPA network subsequentlycoordinated a ‘land and sea clean-up campaign’. This was organized
as a competition between communities: in total, over 10,000 starsh,
ncluding 3,000 rom within the Unakap village land boundary, were
collected, along with more than 53,000 Arican snails.
SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS
Since the initiative began in 2002, there have been ma
improvements in both the household income and comm
wellbeing o Nguna-Pele’s villages. This is largely attributab
increased ecotourism, improvements in the involvement o wo
and youth in governance and decision-making, and a resurg
o local cultural and linguistic traditions through inter-vi
partnerships.
Combating income poverty
A measurable quantitative outcome o the work o the Nguna
MLPA has been the doubling o average incomes as the villages
shited rom shing to ecotourism as an alternative livelihood act
The marine conservation areas have acted as spurs or tourism t
islands, as Nguna and Pele have gained a reputation within Van
or the ecological diversity o their marine sanctuaries, whil
indicator o the growth in ecotourism is the quadrupling o tu
tagging by tourists since the inception o the programme in 20
Catalyzing collective action
In qualitative terms, the wellbeing o local residents has bene
rom the empowering nature o sel-initiated comm
conservation. Communal management o natural resources
had a catalytic eect in stimulating other attempts to imp
local standards o living. Involvement in community developm
projects has nearly tripled since the MLPA network be
encouraging communities to engage in community mobili
Additionally, sustainable resource management eorts have
local organizational and administrative capacities, providing
oundation or urther community-level development.
Improving local governance and democracy
Prior to the establishment o the MLPA network, comm
governance systems on Nguna and Pele were weak, with
accountability or democratic transparency, and while i
community cooperation was conducted on a sporadic basis
was not ormalized within an institutional arrangement. Now
order to be accepted as a member o the network, each villa
required to have a democratically elected conservation comm
and the ull endorsement o the chie and village council.
creation o a multi-community executive committee has acilit
a orum or exchange, collaboration and capacity-building. Thro
regular attendance at MLPA events and meetings, village cand councilors can learn rom and support one another in die
aspects o local development.
Empowering community voices in development dialog
Social justice has also been a critical element in the establishm
o the Nguna-Pele MLPA, both in correcting the imbalanc
prevailing conservation and development discourses at the nat
level, and in empowering marginalized groups within commun
Previously, communities elt they had little voice in the sustain
9
7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: NGUNA-PELE MARINE AND LAND PROTECTED AREA NETWORK
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/case-studies-undp-nguna-pele-marine-and-land-protected-area-network 10/13
evelopment discourse dominated by government and international
NGO approaches; community-centred approaches to resource
management – while supported by government departments and
nternational partners – have helped to empower communities as
utonomous actors and root development in local capacities.
Growing social equity
mpowerment o marginalized groups has ollowed rom thenitiation o communal action, beginning in village councils and
onservation committees, and then spilling over to village men’s,
women’s and youth associations. The region is well known or its
male-dominated culture, with most, i not all community decisions
ypically taken by men. The Nguna-Pele MLPA network recognized
hat women in Vanuatu play a critical role in the use and management
biodiversity, deciding what marine and terrestrial resources are
arvested and in what quantities or sale in markets. Empowering
women through participation in conservation committees and
eadership roles, the network has been able to eect change at the
ndividual and household level. Many more village women are also
aking leadership positions within community organizations due to
heir success within the MLPA committee structures.
As well as environmental education in local schools, ensuring that
tudents have a greater awareness o conservation and waste
management issues, the Nguna-Pele MLPA has also acilitated
ctivities or those island youth no longer in school, such as biological
monitoring and clean-up competitions. Due to the initiative’s
mphasis on inclusive participation o marginalized groups, broad
mprovements to social equity have been witnessed.
POLICY IMPACTS
he Nguna-Pele MLPA network has had a dynamic eect on
ational level policies concerning environmental conservation. The
etwork is the rst nationally recognized example o a community-
managed network o marine reserves and conservation activities
n Vanuatu, and has acted as a model or other community-led
evelopment initiatives in the island nation. The network was also
n important inuence in the drating o government policy and
egislation recognizing community conservation areas, through
he Environmental Management and Conservation Act (2002).
Underpinning this is the recognition o communal right
resources enshrined in Vanuatu’s national constitution, which g
all land to Vanuatu customary owners and their descendants a
with the duty to “protect and saeguard” national resources and
environment.
Tension and ambiguity characterize the relationship betw
village, provincial and national-level marine policies, however. W
higher levels o government recognize local governance institusuch as Island Courts and Land Tribunals, village councils thems
are not ormally endorsed by national legislation. And while
Environmental Management and Conservation Act recog
marine regulations set by village councils, it does not provid
enorcement to support community-level conservation. In prac
resource management occurs in a local context where the
neither supports nor signicantly impedes community-b
approaches. Employing innovative and adaptive managem
techniques, village-level conservation approaches have ouri
in this space, leading to their rapid replication and extension.
The hybridization o marine management discourse
The success o the Nguna-Pele example has led to calls or a m
nuanced government policy approach to devolving reso
management to the local level. The islands’ diversity o approa
to marine conservation in particular has lent support to the
that the “protected area categories” discourse does not sufci
capture the varieties o local innovation and adaptation
underpin real community-based resilience. Bartlett et al (2009) a
convincingly that the multiplicity o experiences and blurrin
distinctions between customary approaches and modern prote
area terminology in Nguna, Pele, and other Vanuatu islands pro
evidence or the view that conservation area strategies shoul
tailored to t local needs. The study cites the use o terms suctabu, conservation area (adapted to konsevesen eria in Bislama)
marine protected area in the cases o Nguna-Pele’s commun
emphasizing that their local uses have diverged rom their stan
denitions during the process o expansion and replication a
the islands. The result is a wide range o endemic, novel,
hybridized community conservation approaches that have achi
a high degree o success in conserving biodiversity and impro
local social and economic wellbeing.
Given that externally imposed management approaches
be socially disruptive and/or locally inappropriate, alienate
stakeholders rom active management, ail to recognize
complexity o local knowledge, or derive rom an incompaworldview, the study argues that interventions should ocu
‘hotspots o protected area hybridization where managem
institutions embrace the overlapping concepts o past, pre
local, oreign, colloquial and scientic.’ In supporting active
experimentation with closure practices, Vanuatu has demonstr
its exibility and adaptive capacity in the ace o environme
and social change. The Nguna-Pele cases support the conclu
that ‘hybridization o protected area operational rules and rhe
combining Western scientic and traditional ecological knowle
likely presents a valuable policy option or the Pacic region.’
10
7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: NGUNA-PELE MARINE AND LAND PROTECTED AREA NETWORK
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/case-studies-undp-nguna-pele-marine-and-land-protected-area-network 11/13
11
Sustainability and Replication
SUSTAINABILITYhe tailoring o conservation solutions to local need helps to explain
he sustained success o community conservation on Nguna and Pele
ince the mid-1990s. The management o individual sites depends
argely on volunteers whose commitment to conservation activities
s evidence o the social and environmental benets they obtain
n return. The sustained impact o local resource management on
ousehold incomes, livelihoods, and on general local wellbeing is
hereore critical to the continued sustainability o these initiatives.
his is also enhanced by existing social structures and traditional
nstitutions. Nguna and Pele island communities’ shared language,istory, and strong cultural and amilial links increase motivation
or collective action. A tradition o cooperation between the islands
ncludes networks such as the Nguna-Pele Presbyterian Session that
nites the elders rom each community, the Nguna-Pele Council
Chies (NAPE), and the Nguna-Pele Shea Provincial Councilor
echnical Advisory Group.
nto the uture, the network plans to build more partnerships
with local youth and women’s groups as a means o ensuring
rganizational sustainability and renewed leadership. The network
s also exploring additional ecotourism project ideas as a method
maintaining nancial sustainability. A strong partnership o
takeholders in the project has also been an important actor in aidingustainability, bringing together government, NGOs, communities,
nternational donors, and research institutes. The re-naming o the
nitial MPA network as the Nguna-Pele Marine and Land Protected
Area is an acknowledgement o the substantial scaling-up o initial
onservation activities during the 1990s to meet a large set o
hallenges to marine and terrestrial resource management across
he two islands. In recent years this has also included a widespread
ree-planting campaign, as Vanuatu communities have been
ncouraged to help meet the challenges o climate change though
argeted awareness-raising.
REPLICATION The pattern o rapid replication o community conserv
approaches across Nguna and Pele since 1995 is testament
process that has been documented in conservation literature a
‘prodigious multiplier eect’, in which villages or individuals
the actions o their neighbours ater observing the positive ben
that can result. A similar concept known throughout the Pa
islands is that o “copycat entrepreneurship”; this copycat appr
to conservation strategies has been an extremely valuable pro
or acilitating rapid and widespread replication o closure strat
that are locally perceived to be eective.
Since 2002, this replication process has been enabled by
development o the Nguna-Pele MLPA network, which
brought together representatives rom each community to dis
coordinate and collaborate on marine and terrestrial na
resource issues o wide relevance. Networking also enhances
political bargaining power communities have with the nat
and provincial government, and will continue to benet advo
attempts or greater enorcement and nancial support.
The benets o collaboration are locally recognized within
network, with villages oten willing to adopt managem
strategies that may be most valuable to neighboring, “downstr
communities. For instance, the crown-o-thorns starsh outbwas successully contained because area representatives plan
and implemented a cross-tenure clean-up strategy. Meeting
the network’s representatives have also inuenced the positio
o new reserves, particularly when they share boundaries
other communities, in order to create larger cross-tenure rese
The network has also aided in some cases o conict over disp
tenure boundaries. The islands’ widespread collaboration repres
Vanuatu’s rst attempt at ecosystem-level conservation plannin
7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: NGUNA-PELE MARINE AND LAND PROTECTED AREA NETWORK
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/case-studies-undp-nguna-pele-marine-and-land-protected-area-network 12/13
1212
he total area now managed by the Nguna-Pele Marine and
and Protected Area is over 3,000 hectares, including sea grass,
ntertidal lagoons, coral rees, and land protected areas. Due to the
verwhelming success o the initiative in Vanuatu, the Foundation
or the Peoples o the South Pacic Vanuatu (FSP) has begun a series
pilot conservation projects on a nearby island. The MLPA network
as also joined the Pacic’s Locally Managed Marine Area Network,
within which it hopes to exchange lessons learned with other
ommunity-conservation sites in Fiji, Indonesia, the Philippines, andther Pacic island states.
PARTNERS
he Nguna-Pele MLPA has benetted rom a ar-reaching range o
artnerships it has ormed with provincial, national and international
ctors. In particular, the Nguna-Pele MLPA has received critical
upport rom the Vanuatu Environment Unit, Vanuatu Fisheries
Division, Wan Smolbag Theater, Vanuatu Cultural Center, Foundation
the Peoples o the South Pacic, Wan Tok Environment Center,
eace Corps Vanuatu, Live and Learn, the NAPE Council o Chies,
nd Shea Provincial Ofce.
ocal and regional non-governmental organisations
Wan Smolbag Theatre Group works with remote communities in
anuatu to produce educational theatre productions on sustainable
evelopment themes. This partner played a critical role in the initial
rocess o raising awareness on conservation in Nguna-Pele, leading
o the rst prohibition on marine resource harvesting in 1995, and
stablished the Vanua Tai turtle monitoring network. Many o Nguna-
ele’s leaders and conservation champions emerged rom this turtle
monitor network. Another example o a local NGO working closely
with the Nguna-Pele network is the Foundation or the Peoples o
he South Pacic (FSP-Vanuatu), a not-or-prot working with theacic’s indigenous communities on sustainable development
hrough eective project management, training and local capacity
uilding.
Governmental
he Environment and Fisheries Departments have been consistent
upporters o the Nguna-Pele initiative since its initiation, while the
anuatu Environment Unit has provided technical assistance. The
overnment o Vanuatu has recognized the Nguna-Pele area as the
rst example o a community-managed network o marine reserves
nd conservation activities in Vanuatu.
nternational
.S. Peace Corps Vanuatu has provided volunteers or project sites.
he BBC has shot a number o documentaries ocusing on the area
nd its conservation activities.
Academic
esearchers rom James Cook University have ocused on adaptive
ommunity conservation in Nguna-Pele, while the university
has supported local technical capacity or social and ecolo
monitoring. University o the South Pacic is another rese
institute that has conducted studies within MLPA conserva
areas. Ree Check International has collaborated with the Ng
Pele network to conduct ree assessments.
Private sector
To acilitate ecotourism, the Nguna-Pele management tpartnered with Sailaway Cruises, a tourism agent located in Vanu
capital, to bring visitors to the islands.
Additional partners
• Australian Centre or International Agricultural Research (AC
• Australian Institute o Marine Science
• Center or Tropical Aquaculture
• Changemakers Net
• Coral Ree Alliance
• Coral Ree Initiative or the South Pacic
• Coral Triangle Initiative
• Digicel Vanuatu
• Eate Land Management Area
• Global Coral Ree Monitoring Network
• Global Environment Facility - Vanuatu
• Google Earth & Oceans
• Great Barrier Ree Marine Park - Australia
• Indiana University Workshop in Political Theory and P
Analysis
• International Coral Ree Action Network (ICRAN)
• International Waters Project (IWP)
• IUCN Climate Change Group
• Live and Learn
• Melanesia Interest Group• MPA.gov
• NOAA coral bleaching satellites
• Ocean Revolution
• Pacic Asia Tourism Pty Ltd
• Pacic Institute o Public Policy
• Pacic Island NGOs - PIANGO
• Project Aware
• Protected Areas learning network
• Ree and Rainorest Research Center
• Ree Research Center
• Seacology
• South Pacic Commission
• South Pacic Regional Environment Program (SPREP)• UNESCO World Heritage - Vanuatu
• Vanuatu Aelan Walkabaot
• Vanuatu Cultural Center
• Vanuatu Daily Post
• Vanuatu Meteorology Ofce
• Vanuatu National Statistics Ofce
• Vanuatu News
• Vanuatu Tourism Ofce
• Wan Tok Environment Center
• World database on protected areas
7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: NGUNA-PELE MARINE AND LAND PROTECTED AREA NETWORK
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/case-studies-undp-nguna-pele-marine-and-land-protected-area-network 13/13
Click the thumbnails below to read more case studies like this:
Equator Initiative
Environment and Energy GroupUnited Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
304 East 45th Street, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10017
Tel: +1 646 781 4023
www.equatorinitiative.org
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN’s global development network, advocating or change and
necting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better lie.
The Equator Initiative brings together the United Nations, governments, civil society, businesses and grassroots organizati
o recognize and advance local sustainable development solutions or people, nature and resilient communities.
©2012 by Equator Initiative
All rights reserved
FURTHER REFERENCE
Bartlett, C.Y., Manua, C., Cinner, J., Sutton, S., Jimmy, R., South, R., Nilsson, J. and Raina, J. 2009. Comparison o Outcomes o Perman
Closed and Periodically Harvested Coral Ree Reserves. Conservation Biology 23.6 1475-484.
Bartlett, C.Y., Maltali, T., Petro, G. and Valentine, P. 2010. Policy implications o protected area discourse in the Pacifc islands.
Albers, P. K. 2010. Outbreaks o the crown-o-thorns starfsh (Acanthaster planci) in community based marine protected areas o Nguna-
Vanuatu. BSc Thesis, Eberhard-Karls Universität Tübingen.
Nguna-Pele MLPA website http://www.marineprotectedarea.com.vu/
Nguna-Pele Photo Story (Vimeo) http://vimeo.com/24480714