Incorporating the values of the services that ecosystems provide into decision making is becoming... more Incorporating the values of the services that ecosystems provide into decision making is becoming increasingly common in nature conservation and resource management policies, both locally and globally. Yet with limited funds for conservation of threatened species and ecosystems there is a desire to identify priority areas where investment efficiently conserves multiple ecosystem services. We mapped four mangrove ecosystems services (coastal protection, fisheries, biodiversity, and carbon storage) across Fiji. Using a cost-effectiveness analysis, we prioritised mangrove areas for each service, where the effectiveness was a function of the benefits provided to the local communities, and the costs were associated with restricting specific uses of mangroves. We demonstrate that, although priority mangrove areas (top 20%) for each service can be managed at relatively low opportunity costs (ranging from 4.5 to 11.3% of overall opportunity costs), prioritising for a single service yields relatively low co-benefits due to limited geographical overlap with priority areas for other services. None-the-less, prioritisation of mangrove areas provides greater overlap of benefits than if sites were selected randomly for most ecosystem services. We discuss deficiencies in the mapping of ecosystems services in data poor regions and how this may impact upon the equity of managing mangroves for particular services across the urban-rural divide in developing countries. Finally we discuss how our maps may aid decision-makers to direct funding for mangrove management from various sources to localities that best meet funding objectives, as well as how this knowledge can aid in creating a national mangrove zoning scheme.
Collision between the South Bismarck Plate and the northern edge of the Australian Plate has prod... more Collision between the South Bismarck Plate and the northern edge of the Australian Plate has produced an actively subsiding foreland basin in the western Huon Gulf. A series of drowned coral reef platforms and pinnacles are preserved on this margin as a result of this rapid subsidence. Previous data and models suggest that these platforms drowned due to the combined affects of rapid relative sea-level rise associated with glacial terminations and continual subsidence (up to 5.7 mm/year) over the last 400 ky. A multidisciplinary cruise on the R/V Melville (Aug-Sep 2001). mapped and sampled nine platforms and pinnacles using; (1) Seabeam 2000; (2) high-resolution side-scan mapping (DSL120) and (3) the ROV Jason for outcrop sampling. Two U-Th ages (348 ka at 1950 mbsl and 60 ka at 240 mbsl) confirm the platforms age and deepen progressively NE towards the Markham Fault. The bathymetric and sidescan data indicates the platforms are composite features, often recording multiple terrace levels and pinnacle structures that probably formed during less dramatic interstadial sea-level fluctuations. The edges of the platforms have experienced substantial lateral modification through fracturing and slumping, producing vertical outcrop exposures, slumped blocks and debris fields. However, the tops of each platform appear to preserve the signature and timing of platform drowning. Coral assemblages and microfacies data indicate there are significant differences in paleoenvironmental settings between the shallow, middle and deep platforms. Prior to drowning, the deeper platforms developed in significantly higher energy reefal conditions compared with the middle or shallow platforms. Thus the paleoenvironmentals conditions have changed substantially through time in the Huon Gulf. The changes may be related a re-organisation of the oceanographic/climatic conditions of the Huon Gulf as a result of; (1) the rotation and uplift of the Huon Peninsular and/or (2) variation in more regional factors such as the position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) over the last 400 ka.
Coastal Fijian communities have historically fished spawning aggregation sites for subsistence. A... more Coastal Fijian communities have historically fished spawning aggregation sites for subsistence. As market pressures have escalated, vulnerable aggregations are rapidly being extirpated. There are no provisions within the current Fiji Fisheries Act that provide legal controls on fishing aggregations. However, communities can set customary rules to manage spawning aggregations within local management plans covering their traditional fishing grounds. Their local knowledge can be used to determine the spatial placement of fisheries closures (e.g. across channels and/or on steep forereefs), as well as the timing of seasonal bans on harvesting spawning species. Although not legally binding, compliance is high when there is strong respect for decision-makers and broad participation in decision-making process. We present an example from Kubulau District, Bua Province, where communities banned grouper catch during the month of August but were more reluctant to protect a well-known mullet agg...
Locally managed marine areas (LMMAs) are often recommended as a
strategy to achieve conservation ... more Locally managed marine areas (LMMAs) are often recommended as a strategy to achieve conservation and fisheries management, though few studies have evaluated their performance against these objectives. We assessed the effectiveness of eight periodically harvested closures (PHCs), the most common form of management within Fijian LMMAs, focusing on two outcomes: protection of resource units and biodiversity conservation. Of the eight PHCs, only one provided biodiversity benefits, whereas three were moderately successful in protecting resource units (targeted fish biomass). Protection of resource units was more likely when PHCs were harvested less frequently, less recently, and when total fish biomass in open areas was lower. Our findings further suggest that monitoring, enforcement, and clearly defined boundaries are critical, less frequent harvesting regimes are advised, and culturally appropriate management incentives are needed. Although PHCs have some potential to protect resource units, they are not recommended as a single strategy for broad-scale biodiversity conservation.
Summary The Republic of Fiji shares with other independent Pacific Island Countries a globally un... more Summary The Republic of Fiji shares with other independent Pacific Island Countries a globally unique situation in which most of the territory is under customary ownership. While this situation originally represented a considerable challenge to European models of protected area establishment, the past 15 years have seen a proliferation of Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas (ICCAs) mainly in marine and coastal areas where they are known as Locally Managed Marine Areas (LMMAs). ICCAs comprise all of Fiji's Marine ...
The efficacy of protected areas varies, partly because socioeconomic factors are not sufficiently... more The efficacy of protected areas varies, partly because socioeconomic factors are not sufficiently considered in planning and management. Although integrating socioeconomic factors into systematic conservation planning is increasingly advocated, research is needed to progress from recognition of these factors to incorporating them effectively in spatial prioritization of protected areas. We evaluated 2 key aspects of incorporating socioeconomic factors into spatial prioritization: treatment of socioeconomic factors as costs or objectives and treatment of stakeholders as a single group or multiple groups. Using as a case study the design of a system of no-take marine protected areas (MPAs) in Kubulau, Fiji, we assessed how these aspects affected the configuration of no-take MPAs in terms of trade-offs between biodiversity objectives, fisheries objectives, and equity in catch losses among fisher stakeholder groups. The achievement of fisheries objectives and equity tended to trade-off concavely with increasing biodiversity objectives, indicating that it is possible to achieve low to mid-range biodiversity objectives with relatively small losses to fisheries and equity. Importantly, the extent of trade-offs depended on the method used to incorporate socioeconomic data and was least severe when objectives were set for each fisher stakeholder group explicitly. We found that using different methods to incorporate socioeconomic factors that require similar data and expertise can result in plans with very different impacts on local stakeholders.
Incorporating the values of the services that ecosystems provide into decision making is becoming... more Incorporating the values of the services that ecosystems provide into decision making is becoming increasingly common in nature conservation and resource management policies, both locally and globally. Yet with limited funds for conservation of threatened species and ecosystems there is a desire to identify priority areas where investment efficiently conserves multiple ecosystem services. We mapped four mangrove ecosystems services (coastal protection, fisheries, biodiversity, and carbon storage) across Fiji. Using a cost-effectiveness analysis, we prioritised mangrove areas for each service, where the effectiveness was a function of the benefits provided to the local communities, and the costs were associated with restricting specific uses of mangroves. We demonstrate that, although priority mangrove areas (top 20%) for each service can be managed at relatively low opportunity costs (ranging from 4.5 to 11.3% of overall opportunity costs), prioritising for a single service yields relatively low co-benefits due to limited geographical overlap with priority areas for other services. None-the-less, prioritisation of mangrove areas provides greater overlap of benefits than if sites were selected randomly for most ecosystem services. We discuss deficiencies in the mapping of ecosystems services in data poor regions and how this may impact upon the equity of managing mangroves for particular services across the urban-rural divide in developing countries. Finally we discuss how our maps may aid decision-makers to direct funding for mangrove management from various sources to localities that best meet funding objectives, as well as how this knowledge can aid in creating a national mangrove zoning scheme.
Collision between the South Bismarck Plate and the northern edge of the Australian Plate has prod... more Collision between the South Bismarck Plate and the northern edge of the Australian Plate has produced an actively subsiding foreland basin in the western Huon Gulf. A series of drowned coral reef platforms and pinnacles are preserved on this margin as a result of this rapid subsidence. Previous data and models suggest that these platforms drowned due to the combined affects of rapid relative sea-level rise associated with glacial terminations and continual subsidence (up to 5.7 mm/year) over the last 400 ky. A multidisciplinary cruise on the R/V Melville (Aug-Sep 2001). mapped and sampled nine platforms and pinnacles using; (1) Seabeam 2000; (2) high-resolution side-scan mapping (DSL120) and (3) the ROV Jason for outcrop sampling. Two U-Th ages (348 ka at 1950 mbsl and 60 ka at 240 mbsl) confirm the platforms age and deepen progressively NE towards the Markham Fault. The bathymetric and sidescan data indicates the platforms are composite features, often recording multiple terrace levels and pinnacle structures that probably formed during less dramatic interstadial sea-level fluctuations. The edges of the platforms have experienced substantial lateral modification through fracturing and slumping, producing vertical outcrop exposures, slumped blocks and debris fields. However, the tops of each platform appear to preserve the signature and timing of platform drowning. Coral assemblages and microfacies data indicate there are significant differences in paleoenvironmental settings between the shallow, middle and deep platforms. Prior to drowning, the deeper platforms developed in significantly higher energy reefal conditions compared with the middle or shallow platforms. Thus the paleoenvironmentals conditions have changed substantially through time in the Huon Gulf. The changes may be related a re-organisation of the oceanographic/climatic conditions of the Huon Gulf as a result of; (1) the rotation and uplift of the Huon Peninsular and/or (2) variation in more regional factors such as the position of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) over the last 400 ka.
Coastal Fijian communities have historically fished spawning aggregation sites for subsistence. A... more Coastal Fijian communities have historically fished spawning aggregation sites for subsistence. As market pressures have escalated, vulnerable aggregations are rapidly being extirpated. There are no provisions within the current Fiji Fisheries Act that provide legal controls on fishing aggregations. However, communities can set customary rules to manage spawning aggregations within local management plans covering their traditional fishing grounds. Their local knowledge can be used to determine the spatial placement of fisheries closures (e.g. across channels and/or on steep forereefs), as well as the timing of seasonal bans on harvesting spawning species. Although not legally binding, compliance is high when there is strong respect for decision-makers and broad participation in decision-making process. We present an example from Kubulau District, Bua Province, where communities banned grouper catch during the month of August but were more reluctant to protect a well-known mullet agg...
Locally managed marine areas (LMMAs) are often recommended as a
strategy to achieve conservation ... more Locally managed marine areas (LMMAs) are often recommended as a strategy to achieve conservation and fisheries management, though few studies have evaluated their performance against these objectives. We assessed the effectiveness of eight periodically harvested closures (PHCs), the most common form of management within Fijian LMMAs, focusing on two outcomes: protection of resource units and biodiversity conservation. Of the eight PHCs, only one provided biodiversity benefits, whereas three were moderately successful in protecting resource units (targeted fish biomass). Protection of resource units was more likely when PHCs were harvested less frequently, less recently, and when total fish biomass in open areas was lower. Our findings further suggest that monitoring, enforcement, and clearly defined boundaries are critical, less frequent harvesting regimes are advised, and culturally appropriate management incentives are needed. Although PHCs have some potential to protect resource units, they are not recommended as a single strategy for broad-scale biodiversity conservation.
Summary The Republic of Fiji shares with other independent Pacific Island Countries a globally un... more Summary The Republic of Fiji shares with other independent Pacific Island Countries a globally unique situation in which most of the territory is under customary ownership. While this situation originally represented a considerable challenge to European models of protected area establishment, the past 15 years have seen a proliferation of Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas (ICCAs) mainly in marine and coastal areas where they are known as Locally Managed Marine Areas (LMMAs). ICCAs comprise all of Fiji's Marine ...
The efficacy of protected areas varies, partly because socioeconomic factors are not sufficiently... more The efficacy of protected areas varies, partly because socioeconomic factors are not sufficiently considered in planning and management. Although integrating socioeconomic factors into systematic conservation planning is increasingly advocated, research is needed to progress from recognition of these factors to incorporating them effectively in spatial prioritization of protected areas. We evaluated 2 key aspects of incorporating socioeconomic factors into spatial prioritization: treatment of socioeconomic factors as costs or objectives and treatment of stakeholders as a single group or multiple groups. Using as a case study the design of a system of no-take marine protected areas (MPAs) in Kubulau, Fiji, we assessed how these aspects affected the configuration of no-take MPAs in terms of trade-offs between biodiversity objectives, fisheries objectives, and equity in catch losses among fisher stakeholder groups. The achievement of fisheries objectives and equity tended to trade-off concavely with increasing biodiversity objectives, indicating that it is possible to achieve low to mid-range biodiversity objectives with relatively small losses to fisheries and equity. Importantly, the extent of trade-offs depended on the method used to incorporate socioeconomic data and was least severe when objectives were set for each fisher stakeholder group explicitly. We found that using different methods to incorporate socioeconomic factors that require similar data and expertise can result in plans with very different impacts on local stakeholders.
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Papers by Stacy Jupiter
strategy to achieve conservation and fisheries management, though
few studies have evaluated their performance against these objectives.
We assessed the effectiveness of eight periodically harvested
closures (PHCs), the most common form of management within Fijian
LMMAs, focusing on two outcomes: protection of resource units and
biodiversity conservation. Of the eight PHCs, only one provided
biodiversity benefits, whereas three were moderately successful in
protecting resource units (targeted fish biomass). Protection of
resource units was more likely when PHCs were harvested less
frequently, less recently, and when total fish biomass in open areas
was lower. Our findings further suggest that monitoring, enforcement,
and clearly defined boundaries are critical, less frequent harvesting
regimes are advised, and culturally appropriate management incentives
are needed. Although PHCs have some potential to protect
resource units, they are not recommended as a single strategy for
broad-scale biodiversity conservation.
strategy to achieve conservation and fisheries management, though
few studies have evaluated their performance against these objectives.
We assessed the effectiveness of eight periodically harvested
closures (PHCs), the most common form of management within Fijian
LMMAs, focusing on two outcomes: protection of resource units and
biodiversity conservation. Of the eight PHCs, only one provided
biodiversity benefits, whereas three were moderately successful in
protecting resource units (targeted fish biomass). Protection of
resource units was more likely when PHCs were harvested less
frequently, less recently, and when total fish biomass in open areas
was lower. Our findings further suggest that monitoring, enforcement,
and clearly defined boundaries are critical, less frequent harvesting
regimes are advised, and culturally appropriate management incentives
are needed. Although PHCs have some potential to protect
resource units, they are not recommended as a single strategy for
broad-scale biodiversity conservation.