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Equator Initiative Case StudiesLocal sustainable development solutions for people, nature, and resilient communities

ComorosMOHLI MARINE PARK

Empowered live

Resilient nation

Empowered live

Resilient nation

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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 Initiatives searchable case study database.

EditorsEditor-in-Chie: Joseph CorcoranManaging Editor: Oliver Hughes

Contributing 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, Mariajos Satizbal G.

AcknowledgementsThe Equator Initiative acknowledges with gratitude the Mohli Marine Park. All photo credits courtesy o Mohli Marine Park. M

courtesy o CIA World Factbook and Wikipedia.

Suggested CitationUnited Nations Development Programme. 2012. Mohli Marine Park, Comoros. Equator Initiative Case Study Series. New York, NY.

http://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/Power_of_Local_Action_Final_2013.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/Power_of_Local_Action_Final_2013.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_winners&view=casestudysearch&Itemid=858http://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/Power_of_Local_Action_Final_2013.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/Power_of_Local_Action_Final_2013.pdf

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PROJECT SUMMARYBetween 1998 and 2005, the Comoros island o Mohli

was the setting or an initiative that brought together

international organizations and local communities

in creating a co-managed marine protected area.

The idea was to conserve 404 square kilometres

o ocean, home to key marine species such as the

coelacanth, humpback whales, dugong and dolphin,

while beneting local livelihoods through ecotourism.

The result, the Mohli Marine Park, is an ongoing

experiment in setting the right conditions or co-managedmarine management. Benet-sharing arrangements and

enorcement o harvesting regulations are key issues that

have aected the success o the initiative in recent years;

early results in increasing live coral cover on the parks

rees and increases in tourism numbers, however, indicate

that the park may yet be able to deliver on its promise.

KEY FACTS

EQUATOR PRIZE WINNER: 2002

FOUNDED: 1995

LOCATION: Mohli island

BENEFICIARIES: 10 communities of southern Mohli coas

BIODIVERSITY: Mohli Marine Park

3

MOHLI MARINE PARKComoros

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Background and Context 4

Key Activities and Innovations 6

Impacts 7

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4

Comoros is an archipelago island nation in the Indian Ocean, located

the eastern coast o Arica, between Madagascar and northeastern

Mozambique. The country consists o the our islands in the volcanic

Comoros archipelago: Grande Comore, Mohli, Anjouan, and

Mayotte, although the latter is politically administered by France as

n overseas department. Comoros was declared independent rom

rance in 1975 and is one o the worlds poorest countries: in 2008,

lmost hal the population o 798,000 lived on less than USD 1.25 per

ay. The islands have inadequate transportation links, ew natural

esources, and a young and rapidly increasing population, which

as been exacerbated in recent decades with an inux o Comorians

who were orced to leave Madagascar and Zanzibar.

Environmental degradation and persistent poverty

he labour orce is characterised by low levels o educational

ttainment and high unemployment, while the country is heavily

ependent on oreign grants and technical assistance. Agriculture,

shing, hunting, and orestry account or 40% o gross domestic

roduct, employ 80% o the labour orce, and provide most o the

ountrys exports. An over-reliance on subsistence livelihoods has

reated a vicious cycle o poverty and resource over-exploitation.

Coastal communities on the island o Mohli, or example, which

ccount or approximately 80% o the islands population o 30,000,

se poison and dynamite to maximise short-term sh catches,

educing sh stock in the long run and urther contributing toncome poverty.

nvironmental degradation threatens Mohlis abundant biological

iversity; the island is a tropical paradise, home to more than 500

pecies o plants, 21 species o birds, and nine species o reptiles.

lagship species or conservation include the endemic Livingstones

ruit Bat (Pteropus livingstonii), a giant bat with a wing span o more

han one metre, that numbered only 1,200 individuals in 2003. The

eaches are an important nesting ground or green sea turtles,

while the waters surrounding it are home to the coelacanth, a rare

prehistoric sh with limb-like ns that was thought to be ex

until 1938.

Other key species include humpback whales, dugong, the Sp

dolphin (Stenella longirostris) and Bottlenose dolphin (Tur

truncatus), corals, sea cucumbers, and the large gastropod T

marmoratus. The island is also home to Lake Bundouni, a Ra

site and the largest body o reshwater in the Comoros, which

nesting site or hundreds o migratory bird species.

As well as the threats o species extinction, the islands ecosyst

have also sustained damage rom unsustainable land-use pract

Deorestation, increased agriculture on hillsides due to

shortages, and cattle grazing have resulted in severe soil ero

and runo that have damaged the islands coral rees. Overs

has depleted stocks, while the search or building materials

destroyed mangrove orests and beaches that are essential bree

grounds or turtles. Coral rees have also suered bleaching

result o the warming Indian Ocean.

Background and Context

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55

An international intervention to support local action

n 1998, IUCN, the United Nations Environment Programme

nd the Comorian government, with unding rom the Global

nvironment Facility and United Nations Development Programme,nitiated a ve-year project entitled Conservation o Biodiversity

nd Sustainable Development in the Federal Islamic Republic o

he Comoros (typically shortened to Project Biodiversity.) This

rojects most notable achievement was the declaration o the

Mohli Marine Park in 2001. This was the rst protected area to

e gazetted in the Comoros, and was an attempt to counter the

ocial, economic, and environmental threats o population growth,

esource over-exploitation, and poverty by adopting a collaborative

nd community-based approach to management o the marine

esources upon which the islanders livelihoods depend.

he establishment o the park represented the culmination o a

multi-stakeholder process begun in 1993, when the governmentntroduced a National Environmental Policy designed to halt the

piral o environmental degradation. The policy introduced the

dea o involving a broad spectrum o parties to marine and coastal

management, namely local resource users, non-governmental

rganisations, government departments, the private sector, and

nternational donors. This was the rst time the government had

ought to work with local communities in resource management.

Consultations were held with coastal villages, aiming to both

dentiy socioeconomic needs and to raise awareness o the need

or conservation.

This process led, in 1995, to the ten communities that make up

southern coast o Mohli advocating or the designation o

oshore waters as a marine protected area. These communitie

home to approximately 10,000 inhabitants. Meetings took p

with dierent stakeholders including shermen, youth leadersvillage elders to discuss collaborative management options o

marine park. The principle o joint management guided t

consultations, in which communities were encouraged to nego

and dene the respective unctions, rights and responsibi

o dierent stakeholders in the management o the park.

management agreements were signed between the Como

government and each village community detailing the manage

and regulation o the coastal and marine areas under the d

responsibility o the respective villages.

Parc Marin de Mohli

Together, these ten community-managed marine reservesincorporated within the Mohli Marine Park, which was ofc

gazetted on 19th April 2001. This Marine Protected Area co

404km2 o ocean extending rom the southern coast o the is

The conservation area was chosen or its rich biological dive

including the presence o key coastal coral and mangrove

habitats, and endangered marine species such as humpback wh

dugong, and a globally-important nesting site or the endang

green sea turtle.

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6

Key Activities and Innovations

he designation, establishment and management o the Mohli

Marine Park was an important instrument in the Comorian

overnments sustainable development strategy, providing a range

o benets or sheries, local economies and the marine environment,

uch as a sae haven or sh stocks to recover, an alternative source

o income or local people through ecotourism, the prevention o

urther coastal habitat damage, and the maintenance o globally-

mportant biodiversity.

While the management o the park alls within the governments

onstitutional responsibility, the daily regulation o local coastal areas

s devolved to the community level. Regulations concerning marine

oning, boundaries, management, and local access are largely basedon consultations with villagers, shermen, community groups, and

esource users in each o the villages that lie within the protected

one. For instance, regulations allow only traditional shing methods

within the parks boundaries, prohibiting the use o ne mesh nets,

ynamite shing, and the destruction o corals. Village committees

re mandated to deal with cases o non-compliance, with cases

eerred to the national judiciary i local solutions cannot be ound.

UNDP, UNEP and IUCN provided nancial support and technical

ssistance to train community volunteers as eco-guards, who are

esponsible or awareness-raising as well as monitoring.

As well as regulating shing practices, the park management has

lso sought to develop sustainable livelihood alternatives to marinearvesting. The Comorian government provided co-nancing or the

evelopment o income-generating activities proposed by village

evelopment associations. A community that raised 50% o the cost

o a proposed livelihood activity, or example, received a matching

nvestment rom the government o 50%. A community that raised

0% o the total cost o its activity, meanwhile, received a matching

rant o 30%, and the remaining 40% in an interest-ree loan.

A Park Management Committee oversees management o the

park. This consists o sixteen individuals, including ten elected

representatives o the member communities, and brings toge

the government and local communities in a joint managem

approach. Two government ofcials provide support and tech

expertise in administration and nance to the committee, w

overall responsibility or the park resides with the Comoros Min

or Environment.

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7

Impacts

The creation o the Mohli Marine Park had tangible benets or

he marine environment and its member communities in the early

years o its existence. For instance, coral health was seen to improve

hanks to bans on destructive shing practices. Between 1998 and

2001, live coral cover on the parks rees increased rom 30% to 65%.

Other regulations regarding local access include bans on harvesting

ea cucumbers, starsh, and crustaceans, as well as a ban on turtle

poaching. Turtle nesting sites were ound at more locations on the

slands southern beaches as a result.

While the conservation o more than 400 square kilometres o ocean

has had visible benets or the regions endangered marine species,

ustainable management regulations have also produced socialnd economic gains or local communities. Government unding

or sustainable livelihood projects acilitated the construction o

ecotourism lodges by our community development associations.

This led to the number o tourists visiting Mohli to rise rom 75

ourists per village in 1998 to 140 in 2001. This has had spill-over

eects in terms o creating related livelihood opportunities or

villagers. Community members have been employed as guides,

n building and managing accommodation acilities, and selling

handicrats. By 2002, the initiative reported the direct creation o 30

new jobs or local people.

ustainable harvesting regulations on shing allowed local

shermen to increase catch sizes. Between 1998 and 2002, catch sizenearly doubled rom 160kg per month to over 300kg, benetting

250 shermen working in the park. With increased revenues rom

higher sh catches, villagers were able to buy motor boats or use in

shing, reserve surveillance, and tourism activities.

Limits to long-term viability

Despite the initial successes o the Mohli Marine Park, it is currently

operating at a vastly reduced capacity. Although some components

o Project Biodiversity were extended or two years in 2003 under

the title The Project or Rehabilitation Activities or the Conserv

o Biodiversity, all GEF-unded activities concluded in 2Since then, while the Mohli Marine Park still nominally e

the management o the park at the community level has

signicantly eroded. Tourism numbers have declined dramat

rom their initial levels, and lack o unding or monitoring

enorcement o park regulations has led to increases in poachin

high-value species such as sea turtles.

A study conducted in 2007 interviewed a large number o respond

across the parks ten communities to assess its impact. All o the

groups agreed that the existence o the park was still impor

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citing its role in ensuring the conservation o marine and coastal

biodiversity, habitats and endangered species, encouraging the

development o ecotourism and other income-generating activities;

ensuring the sustainable use o marine resources; and reinorcing

environmental education, training and communication. This

demonstrates that the project had been eective in communicating

ts purpose and objectives to its target audiences; the extent o

ocal disenchantment with the project arguably reects, in part, the

ailure to meet these high expectations. In particular, communityespondents were oten rustrated by the slow progress in seeing

economic rewards rom sustainable shing that had been promised

by park ofcials.

Although the survey respondents credited the park with eleven key

achievements, such as reducing environmental degradation, raising

environmental consciousness, and increased coral cover, they also

dentied eighteen negative aspects o the park. These included its

ack o sustainability, the lack o eective monitoring or enorcement,

ack o respect or park personnel or ofcial agreements, and poor

management o equipment. Specic criticisms were directed at

he lack o communication between the parks management and

external actors: commercial harvesting o sea cucumbers had beencarried out within the park by oreign companies, or instance,

while local community members were banned rom harvesting

hese commercially valuable species. There was also a widely-

held belie that the parks regulations had unairly discriminated

against women, or instance in outlawing the use o uruva poisonTheophrosia candida) in shing, an activity exclusively carried out

by emale shers. Benets o ecotourism were also not distributed

equally across the ten communities; those that were marginalised

were typically where the worst instances o poaching were seen.

Lack o technical assistance and equipment was also highlighted:

he promised introduction o Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs),

which would have helped to increase shing yields, was not carried

out, or example.

The study identied six main contributing actors to the parks

diminished eectiveness. These were: the inequitable distribution

o benets; the lack o sustainable livelihoods options; the ailure

o involve women in awareness-raising and leadership roles; the

challenges to eective monitoring and enorcement; the number o

environmental threats to biodiversity that remained; and the lack o

ustainability that undermined the management o the project.

Lack o fnancial sustainability

This lack o sustainability was identied as the primary aw in theMohli Marine Park project. Although there were originally plans to

address this, it seems that they were not ully realized by the parks

management team. Project Biodiversity laid the groundwork or a

Biodiversity Trust Fund or the Comoros that would have included

he management o protected areas, but this ailed to materialise.

A much longer time-scale was required to set up the und several

years, rather than the 4-5 years envisaged in the project document

as well as a much greater level o capitalisation: USD 15 million

was required, rather than the USD 2 million proposed in the project

document. The management plan estimated annual management

costs at between USD 87,000 and USD 215,000. In the absenc

the Trust Fund to cover these costs, and no alternative mean

nancing the project, the parks nancial situation was alr

unclear by 2003. This led to reductions in management eective

activity and levels o enorcement; ollowing the end o und

communities were no longer willing to accept the potential o

cost, community-motivated conservation initiatives, preerrin

leave enorcement to the salaried eco-guards. The study conclu

that community enthusiasm or conservation was, in some w

reduced by the creation o Parc Marin de Mohli as stakehobecame disillusioned by the lack o activity and realized ben

ollowing Project Biodiversity.

A quote rom a male respondent rom the community o Oual

sums up the challenges that now ace the project and the dif

o sustaining community enthusiasm or conservation initiativ

the absence o institutional support:

Since Project Biodiversity fnished, we now say that the word Parc M

de Mohli does not exist. There has never been ollow-up to anyt

that was implemented during the project. With the project, we sto

all o the harmul activities that we were told to stop. However, we

that we gained nothing, and now, bit-by-bit, we have started engain harmul activities again. Moreover, the management o the

Marin de Mohli now remains only in the hands o a ew individu

this is the reason that there is more damage occurring now than b

people have lost respect or Parc Marin de Mohli. To make ma

worse, the eco-guards were abandoned as soon as the project fna

stopped. They were expected to work hard and were paid very little

example, they were expected to deend themselves against poac

carrying weapons, without having any weapons themselves or

training in sel-deence.

Looking to the uture

Despite this, there remains a widespread desire to see the prultimately succeed. Its importance or marine biodiversity an

potential or improving local livelihoods are well-recognised. I

words o another respondent rom the community o Ndrondro

We want youth to be involved with Parc Marin de Mohli. We

them to become motivated and to orget about all the past neg

aspects associated with Parc Marin de Mohli. We want them to be

to gain the benefts. Our generation has ailed, but we should loo

improve the situation or the ollowing generations.

8

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FURTHER REFERENCE

C3-Comores. 2007. Stakeholders perceptions o Mohli Marine Park, Comoros: Lessons learned rom ve years o co-managemen

Technical Report Series No. 4. ISSN 1754-5188. Community Centred Conservation (C3), London, UK.

Video on Mohli Marine Park (Vimeo) vimeo.com/36989115

quator Initiative

nvironment and Energy Group

nited Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

04 East 45th Street, 6th Floor

ew York, NY 10017

el: +1 646 781 4023

www.equatorinitiative.org

he United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UNs global development network, advocating or change

onnecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better lie.

he Equator Initiative brings together the United Nations, governments, civil society, businesses and grassroots organizatio

o recognize and advance local sustainable development solutions or people, nature and resilient communities.

2012 by Equator Initiative

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