An evaluation of the effectiveness of management practices of marine protected areas (MPAs) against drivers of ecosystem change : a case study of Mnazi Bay Ruvuma Estuary Marine Park - Tanzania | |
| Author | Machumu, Malali Ernest |
| Call Number | AIT Diss. no.AQ-12-03 |
| Subject(s) | Marine parks and reserves--Tanzania Ecosystem management--Tanzania |
| Note | A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctoral of Philosophy |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | The Mnazi Bay-Ruvuma Estuary Marine Park (MBREMP) in Tanzania was gazetted in 2000. The park was designed to use participatory approaches in managing its resources. The (MBREMP) is the second Marine Protected Area (MPA) to be established in the country. The MPAs in Tanzania are being promoted to mitigate over-fishing and other anthropogenic impacts on marine resources. This study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of management practices of the MBREMP for managing the drivers of ecosystem change and to sustain coastal and marine resources. The study included evaluation of the current resource status, identification of the drivers of ecosystem change particularly, the major ones and their impacts on resources, examine the effectiveness of the MPA management practices (enforcement of legislations/regulations, implementation of management procedures and conservation efforts) in reducing adverse impacts and, suggest enabling factors which should be addressed for effective implementation of MPA activities in future. The effectiveness of MPA in managing those drivers was assessed in the three ecological zones namely; sea-front, mangroves and riverine of MBREMP using Participatory Community Analysis (PCA) techniques, questionnaire survey, checklist, participant observations, resource assessment methods and literature reviews. Eleven major drivers of ecosystem change were identified with moderate to high effects on the ecosystems and human well-being. Resource dependence was identified as a common driver that had major effects in all ecological zones of the park, with relatively higher level of impact on the ecosystems in the mangrove surrounding villages, followed by the seafront and the riverine zones. Migration of outsiders, both local and outsider fishers to the MPA and political patronage were identified as important causes of change in seafront and mangroves ecosystems. Shifting cultivation and deliberate forest fires affected mangrove and riverine ecosystems. The rest of the drivers, including oil and gas exploration/exploitation, were ecosystem specific. The results indicate that the park’s legislations/regulations, management procedures and conservation efforts are reasonably effective in managing its resources. The positive signs accrued from conservation efforts have been realized by the communities in terms of increased fish catch and their sales (P < 0.01); household income data showed a significant increase in the annual income of the park’s residents over Tanzania’s income per capita income in 2010 (P < 0.01). Such an increase shows relatively economic improvement among community members residing in the MPA jurisdiction as opposed to the past prior to establishment of MPA. Other positive signs include: increased awareness, compliance, sense of ownership; and change of attitudes among of people towards proper management of the resources. However, some drivers of ecosystem change both manmade and natural continue to threaten the park’s sustainability. For example, there has been no mechanism to manage the natural drivers of ecosystem change related to climate change such as floods and even some of the anthropogenic drivers are only partially addressed, especially resource dependence which has adverse impacts in all three ecological zones and seems to influence other anthropogenic drivers such as deliberately forest fire, local and fisher’s migration. In addition, some adjustments are needed in implementation of resource use strategies, Alternative Income Generating Activities (AIGAs), benefit-sharing mechanisms, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and monitoring programs. iv The success attained and challenges encountered including experiences gained and lessons learned over implementation of conservation activities have been documented for the purpose of strengthen the management of MPAs and implementation of their conservation activities in accordance with the existing global MPAs vision. The study also stipulates the recommendations aimed at improving implementation of conservation activities and develop management strategies for MBREMP in its future implementation in response to the new MPAs management paradigm and, to meet its stakeholders’ expectations and needs. Recommendations are mainly focusing on improvement and maintenance of MBREMP effectiveness, coordination and linkages with other conservation agency, monitoring and evaluation programs and stakeholders involvement in development and reviews of policy, legislations and regulations. All of these aspects are important and would help to increase accountability and enhance management effectiveness of the MPAs in response to the local needs and elsewhere in the tropics. In general, the MBREMP is reasonably progressing well towards attaining its objectives. However, more conservation efforts are needed to address the remaining challenges. |
| Year | 2012 |
| Type | Dissertation |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources (Former title: Department of Food Agriculture, and BioResources (DFAB)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Aquaculture and Aquatic Resources Management (AQ) |
| Chairperson(s) | Yakupitiyage, Amararatne;Gallardo, Wenresti |
| Examination Committee(s) | Ahmad, Mokbul, |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Marine and Coastal Environment Management Project (MA CEMP ), Tanzania |
| Degree | Thesis (Ph.D.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2012 |