A change in Government policy to approve the expansion of Marine Protected Areas in the UK Overseas Territory of the Cayman Islands increased the ‘no-take’ areas of protection from 14% of coastal waters to 48%. This exceeds the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Aichi Biodiversity Target 11 for 10% of coastal and marine areas, and Caribbean Challenge Initiative of 20%, and fulfils the call made by the UK at the UN General Assembly 2018 for governments to designate 30% of oceans as Marine Protected Areas by 2030. It also comes close to achieving the target of 50% protection by 2050, to be proposed at the CBD in China 2020A change in Government policy to approve the expansion of Marine Protected Areas in the UK Overseas Territory of the Cayman Islands increased the ‘no-take’ areas of protection from 14% of coastal waters to 48%. This exceeds the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Aichi Biodiversity Target 11 for 10% of coastal and marine areas, and Caribbean Challenge Initiative of 20%, and fulfils the call made by the UK at the UN General Assembly 2018 for governments to designate 30% of oceans as Marine Protected Areas by 2030. It also comes close to achieving the target of 50% protection by 2050, to be proposed at the CBD in China 2020Bangor University (BU) has been instrumental in scientific assessment underpinning Marine Protected Area (MPA) creation and management for 50 years. This extends from the 1969 BU Expedition to Watamu Marine National Park, Kenya (one of the oldest MPAs in the world and now a UNESCO Man and Biosphere Reserve) through MPA implementation in Socotra- Archipelago, Yemen, (now a Man & Biosphere Reserve 2003, Ramsar Site 2007 and World Heritage Site 2008), to the latest work supporting the Chagos Archipelago MPA.
A well established and enforced MPA system has existed in the Cayman Islands since 1986, but population and tourism growth, coastal development, invasive species and climate change currently threaten biodiversity and ecosystem services (Turner et al., 2013). A programme (2010-2015) funded by 2 grants from the UK Government’s DEFRA Darwin initiative to PI Turner (BU) totalling £463,914, secured a further £1.53 million in funds to design a new MPA system for the Cayman Islands to protect between 30 and 50% of marine and coastal areas. The aim was to enhance the protection of coral reefs and associated shallow water ecosystems through increasing resilience to human impacts and climate change by protecting ecologically representative and well-connected ecosystems. The programme was a collaboration between the School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, The Nature Conservancy and the Department of the Environment, Cayman islands Government.
The first project ‘To enhance an established Marine Protect Areas system, Cayman islands’ (Turner et al, 2013b) provided scientific evidence of ‘reserve effects’, an assessment of options for protected area enhancement, a mechanism for stakeholder involvement and public consultation, and plans to promote and enforce an enhanced MPA system in the Caribbean. This was achieved by: (1) Assessing reef health at 68 monitoring sites in representative habitats showing that strict marine reserves confer local resilience through high live coral to algal cover (algae compete with corals and indicate a degraded reef state), high coral recruitment and low level disease (Turner et al., 2013b). (2) Demonstrating ‘overspill’ of fish from no-take areas which replenish surrounding waters where they can be caught legally (McCoy et al., 2009; Dromard et al., 2010). (3) Understanding incentives of legal and illegal fishers through structured interviews (fishing is an important part of Caribbean culture) and assessing enforcement prosecution records (Meier et al., 2011). (5) Consulting ‘stakeholders’: A campaign of public awareness, education and consultation maximised understanding and support for the new MPA system and included 81 stakeholder meetings, an exhibition,43 press articles, 54 TV and 8 radio programmes, 16 online news items, and 10 other outputs (eg. school information packs &‘marketing’ materials).
The second project ‘Assuring engagement in Cayman’s enhanced MPA system’ (Turner et al., 2015) addressed issues identified from consultation that could undermine the success of the new MPA system: (1) Invasive species control: frequent Lionfish culling programmes were shown to mitigate the impact of this voracious invasive fish on coral reef fish communities. (2) Protection of fish spawning aggregations: New legislation protects Nassau Grouper when they aggregate to spawn, but the project identified 26 other fish species that gather at these sites (Egerton, 2016) every month and need protection. (3) Sustainability of concessions to fishers: The MPA system allows fishing in ‘slots’ between marine reserves and fish overspill across reserve boundaries has been quantified to monitor sustainability. (4) Enforcement: Larger protected areas require greater enforcement, but there are no resources to achieve this. An innovative solution was developed called SIREN (System for Incident Reporting and Enforcement) linking Enforcement Officers in the field to a central database via tablets and engaging the general public via a smart phone ‘application’ allowing anonymous reports of transgressions, sightings and access to MPA information.
Bangor University increased capacity within the Department of Environment (DoE), Cayman Islands by providing an embedded Project Support Officer for 5 years, and by leadership of a field campaign involving 25 BU postgraduate researchers in reef assessments along with DoE staff (S1). The DoE’s Geographical Information (GIS) System in Cayman was furnished with monitoring data assessed annually to record coral reef health through measures of reef benthos and fish abundance, biomass and diversity. The Nature Conservancy (TNC) collaborated with the team to undertake an Ecological Gap Analysis to assess the extent to which the existing MPAs met protection goals, and to formulate a risk surface layer in the GIS based on multi-sectoral use of the environment (S2). ‘Marxan with zones’ conservation planning software was used to identify priority areas for the new marine reserve zones. To understand the incentives underpinning legal and illegal fishing, our assessment identified significantly greater fishing than recognised (>20,000 fish extracted per month, 90% reef fish) and the need to educate and change behaviour of older fishers. An independent assessment subsequently valued total reef-related catch to be worth US$2.3 m (S10). In 2011 the team consulted the public at 7 district meetings, to explain threats and present local evidence to show that the existing MPAs work, and then to capture the public’s vision of the Caymanian marine environment (S3). On the basis of scientific evidence and the preliminary round of public consultation, the team used the GIS to draft a new MPA system and re-consulted the public in 2012. Through a series of 2 further consultations (enforced by change in Government) (S4) and a programme of public outreach and awareness, we changed the public perception of the value of MPAs. An independent household survey conducted in 2014 indicated that the MPA enhancement plans were supported by 58%-85% of the population regionally, with households collectively willing to pay US$5.6m per year for enhanced MPAs (S10).
Previously unrecognised threats to the MPA such as predatory invasive lionfish and the efficacy of their culling, and whether fish species use spawning aggregation sites outside closed periods, were investigated. Lionfish declined in density from a peak in 2012 but whether this was due to natural control or the culling programme (effective at a local level) was unclear at a national scale. The importance of fish spawning aggregation sites was demonstrated by observing 27 species using them, and legislation was changed to protect these sites in 2016 (S5). In addition public concerns over whether fishable areas between reserves are sustainable, and how to increase enforcement of a 200% larger protected area were mitigated through continued assessments demonstrating overspill and locations of fishing effort, and the SIREN System for Incident Reporting and Enforcement which recorded 246 incidents in the first 6 months of use. The system was adopted by the Cayman islands Tourist Association and app ownership is now transferred to DoE from BU (S6).
The team prepared an enhanced MPA plan which designated areas and levels of protection through, Marine Reserves, Fish spawning aggregations, Environmental zones (protecting mangrove habitat), Wildlife interaction zones (where tourists can swim with stingrays on sand bars), Line fishing and No dive zones, each agreed in response to public consultation. The plan was accepted by the National Conservation Council in 2016 (S7), and nominated to the Minister for adoption (S8) and submitted to Government. The expansion of the MPA system was finally approved by Cabinet, and announced during the visit of HRH Prince of Wales on 28th March, 2019. (S9)The Environment Minister stated: “This expansion will serve to protect our local marine stocks, as well as the crucially important coral reef network … for generations to come.” The Prince of Wales highlighted: ‘’The Cayman Islands could become a shining example of best practice…Such an integrated approach is not only essential to protect our eco-systems, but also particularly in the Cayman Islands case to protect the long term viability of economic sectors.”
No take protection raised from 14% to 48% and 54.6% shelf and 50% targeted habitats, far exceeding current CBD and TNC Caribbean Challenge Initiative target of 10% and 20% respectively. Marine Conservation Laws are currently being drafted and new signage prepared for launch of the MPAs in early in 2020. The research programme was widely demonstrated across the Caribbean region to promote good practice through the Nature Conservancy’s Caribbean Challenge initiative, recognising Cayman as a world leader in marine conservation. The recent incorporation of plans for a new cruise ship port into the MPA system demonstrates its adaptability.
Independent analysis (S10) showed that the enhanced MPA the proposed MPA enhancement is a low- cost and low-risk investment with the opportunity to substantially improve overall wellbeing in the
Cayman Islands, increasing economic value at (TEV) of US$ 179m by 7%. Results indicate that, per year, local households would be willing to contribute a total of US$5.6 million for enhancing protected areas.
LTS independent reviews (S11) of the project reported: ‘The Project has succeeded in enhancing the existing MPA system in the Cayman Islands, based on sound scientific research, with local stakeholder buy-in and public support. Of particular note is the integration of fisheries into planning, with consultation with local fishers. It’s an excellent example of the long-term benefits of MPA systems, in the face of increasing pressures on marine environments, and can be used as a successful model by other island states in the Caribbean region (as long as it actually gets approved by the Government!).’ Comment from the Darwin Initiative External Reviewer: Review August 2014: ‘The design of the MPAs and activities of the enforcement officers and supporting policies is based on high quality evidence-based scientific research. This project is an excellent model for other islands in the Caribbean in designing an efficient MPA network.’ (Comment from the Darwin Initiative External Reviewer: Final Report September 2015).
| Statws effaith | Ar Gau |
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| Dyddiad effaith | Ebr 2010 → Maw 2019 |
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| Categori effaith | Cymdeithasol |
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