The Rock Islands of Palau, a World Heritage Site, harbor popular tourist destinations like the jellyfish lake.

The mystical seascape of Micronesia connects more than 600 islands across one million square miles of the western Pacific Ocean. Roughly 150,000 people live on the islands that cover a land area about the same size as Rhode Island. Their reefs consistently rank among the most immaculate dive sites in the world. The idyllic image of paradise, however, masks the fragility of the interconnected ocean ecosystems.

On the islands of Chuuk the crystal blue waters pair perfectly with the white sand and green hills, but in town there is no sewage or trash system and the roads are more pothole than pavement. “Their livelihoods depend on natural resources,” says Khanh Nguyen, Rare senior partnership manager. “But recent globalization has contributed to the dismantling of many traditional practices.” In some areas like the Marshall Islands, where the highest elevation is only 10 meters above sea level, people see themselves as potentially the last generation to live on the islands. The imperative of conservation seems inconsequential compared to eking out a living before the effects of climate change cause the ocean to submerge their homes. Such fears exacerbate existing threats like overfishing, soil erosion and pollution.

This year Rare will partner with organizations to work at 11 sites throughout Micronesia to restore and maintain healthy reefs and resilient livelihoods. Seven of the sites will establish governance systems for existing marine protected areas and four of the sites will implement best practices for terrestrial development to mitigate soil erosion which smothers the reefs. “We have the potential to reach everyone,” says Matt Lutkenhouse, Rare’s director of the Micronesia program. “The entire population is our target audience. Everyone’s behavior matters.” The program will pioneer concepts in social resiliency by helping communities figure out how to best adapt to climate change and preserve traditional livelihoods. It will also serve as a pilot program that can be replicated in similar island environments around the world.

Rare has a rich history in the islands of Micronesia. With 14 successful campaigns already completed in the region, people have a positive impression of the organization. One of the most famous tourists sites on the island of Palau is a saltwater lake – isolated from the ocean for more than 10,000 years, jellyfish have evolved a more benign sting and proliferated to the millions. The trail leading up to the popular snorkeling destination was actually built in partnership with Rare many years ago. “This is a great opportunity to capitalize on Rare’s brand recognition and mobilize the people of Micronesia toward a common goal,” says Nguyen.

One of Rare’s greatest spokespeople on the islands is Yalap P. Yalap. More than a decade ago he began his social marketing campaign with Rare to help save the endangered hawksbill turtle. His continued efforts, with the resolute support of a local women’s group, resulted in landmark legislation. In 2010, the president of Palau signed a five-year moratorium on the hunting of hawksbill turtles. Yalap has remained a close member of the Rare family. He recently mentored 12 Rare Conservation Fellows in the Philippines. He was also just awarded an alumni grant to use media to reinforce his campaign message, to observe and protect turtle nesting grounds and buy fuel for monitoring visits. “Yalap ran his campaign by himself,” says Lutkenhouse. “Imagine if there had been a dozen campaigns, maybe there would have been 12 turtle bans across the region.”

Yalap is excited to get involved with the next set of campaigns in Micronesia. “I hope that the Rare Conservation Fellows in Micronesia will learn from each other, network and share ideas,” says Yalap. “After all, we are all connected by the ocean.”

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Fellows practice yoga three times a week at ITESCO University in Guadalajara.

Eight master’s degrees, two pregnancies, one marriage, two home purchases, one birth. Luis quit smoking. Jaime gained eight kilograms. Marco lost just as many. The 11 Rare Conservation Fellows who just completed their two-year program with Rare changed their own lives while changing behaviors in their communities.

Two years ago, Rare selected 11 conservationists from Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador to launch Rare’s signature Pride campaigns to build pride around natural resources through unique social marketing techniques. Their objectives were dauntingly ambitious. In order to protect species identified by the Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) the fellows needed to gain community support to preserve critical watershed habitat. The fellows established agreements between upstream and downstream community members that generate funds to incentivize farmers to protect water sources.

“The magic of Pride opened new professional paths for me, but it also transformed and changed my life.” Claudia Cespedes, Rare Conservation Fellow

The incentives varied by site based on what the farmers found most useful – some wanted troughs to stop cattle from drinking from the river, others received organic coffee beans and training to offer an alternative to deforestation. “The campaigns and agreements are very important,” says Miguel Mendoza from Colombia’s Ministry of the Environment. “The agreements are more than just a payment.” Perhaps most impressive is that they found solutions within existing legal frameworks. Through creativity and tenacity they established new financial mechanisms for conservation generated by community members and local officials.

Rare Conservation Fellow Luis López from Ecuador reports that an upstream community within his municipality, but not targeted by his campaign, wrote to the mayor asking to put land in conservation and establish a water fund to ensure the provision of clean water. The mayor and López couldn’t believe that people were actually asking to pay more taxes!

Demonstrable conservation results will take a few years to prove. However, early indications show positive links between behavior changes and ecological health: parrot populations in Colombia increased, coliforms in a river in Ecuador dramatically declined and people understand that water does not just come from the tap.

The 11 fellows who finished their Pride campaigns in December have catalyzed long-term change to benefit the people and species that share unique ecosystems throughout the Andes. “The magic of Pride opened new professional paths for me,” says Rare Conservation Fellow Claudia Cespedes, “but it also transformed and changed my life.”

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December 15, 2011 was the patrol team’s lucky day – for the illegal fishers, not so lucky.

Representatives from the department of forestry, department of fishery, local patrol team and police force had convened to revise standard operating procedures for patrolling the waters of Dampier Strait – an area between the famous reefs of Bird’s Head Seascape and Raja Ampat in Indonesia. In the middle of their training a local fisher spotted an unfamiliar boat. Rare Conservation Fellow Rosita “Mona” Tariola and her Conservation International (CI) colleagues facilitated the session and decided to divert from the lesson plan to actually implement the procedures and check out the boat that had entered the wrong waters at the wrong time.

"The community got very angry and furious about the illegal fishing." ~Rosita Tariola, Rare Conservation Fellow

They first found shark fins on the upper level of the boat. Upon further inspection, they uncovered a ton of fins and dead sharks including white tip and hammerhead sharks. In 2010 the district banned shark finning, so there is no precedent for a seizure of this size and the specifics of potential penalties have yet to be established.

“The involvement of the police and other agencies is encouraging,” says Eleanor Carter, director of Rare’s marine program in Indonesia. “It shows that the level of understanding, and support of these issues, has improved.” Tariola and her colleagues at CI have worked very hard to establish a patrolling and training system. Last year she and CI partnered with Rare to launch a campaign to build community support for the maintenance of sustainable marine reserves, as well as the creation and enforcement of areas where fishing is prohibited. Since then relations between community authorities have improved. “Before the campaign, the patrolling team didn’t have good coordination with the local police,” says Rare program manager Yayat Afianto. “The new patrolling system is not exclusive to one group. I think that is really good.”

The local paper covered the incident linking the ecological significance of sharks to the economic health of tourism and fisheries in the area. They also noted shark-fishing bans in other regions around the world from Palau to California showing a broad understanding of the issue and its global significance.

“When we explained the role of sharks to the ecosystem and tourism in Raja Ampat, the community got very angry and furious about the illegal fishing,” says Tariola. “Support for the community patrol team who caught the boat is now much higher and the community is more committed to reducing illegal shark finning in Dampier.”

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Rare Conservation Fellow Xiahong Li

In early December, Rare Conservation Fellow Xiahong Li traveled from his home in northern China to Beijing to receive the prestigious Ford Environmental Award. He won third place in the category of communications for the social marketing campaign he ran in partnership with Rare. The project increased community adoption and awareness of fuel-efficient stoves in homes surrounding Yuhe Nature Reserve – an area that supports giant pandas and endangered snub-nosed monkeys.

Li’s campaign, augmented by a follow-up campaign supported by a Rare alumni grant, aimed to get individuals to switch from using traditional “tiger stoves” to more fuel-efficient options. The traditional models got their name because of their size and the immense amounts of fuel wood they consume. Li recounts the response from one stove convert: “ He told me, ‘Thanks to your aid, we can use such a clean and wonderful stove, which used to be seen only in TV.’ He then showed us their old tiger stove, which looked like a DJ booth.”

86% of the 3,400 calendars Li distributed were put up.

Li’s methodical measures show that the fuel-efficient stoves use roughly half the fuel wood of traditional stoves. Based on those he has already distributed, the community has saved the equivalent of 10 hectares of forest. They also reduce time spent collecting wood in the forest by about 13 days per year. Li’s survey results show that 90 percent of the community would spend 500 Chinese yuan (about $80 dollars) for a fuel-efficient stove. 152 stoves were subsidized in his initial campaign, which laid a solid foundation to reach an even larger audience in continued efforts.

Li plans to expand the campaign to areas surrounding another nature reserve with similar social circumstances. The potential for replicating Li’s successes is not restricted to China. Rampant deforestation for fuel wood is a global issue. “Our experience with fuel-efficient stove programs in China and Indonesia creates a solid platform to explore rural energy projects in countries like India where the government has expressed a strong interest,” says Rare Vice President Steve Watkins.

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Johnson measures fish trap

“Speaking with the fishermen in Curaçao helped me decide where to place the escape gaps,” says Johnson. “I was told that fish inside traps swim in circles. If you place the gaps in the corners, fish are more likely to see them when they are turning.” Johnson tested escape gaps of varying sizes and monitored their efficacy with hundreds of scuba dives. Her results showed an 80 percent reduction in bycatch. This encouraged Johnson not because trap fishing is the main method of fishing in Curaçao, but because it is widely used on reefs all around the world. “That kind of reduction could result in hundreds of thousands of unmarketable fish left alive per fisher per year,” says Johnson.

Tim McClanahan, a senior conservation zoologist at the Wildlife Conservation Society, heard Johnson give a presentation on her research and wanted to see if the escape-gap traps would work on reefs in Kenya. In Kenya they often use woven traps that can easily be given escape gaps by essentially dropping a stitch like in knitting.  McClanahan showed that the value of catches can actually increase with the gaps. When there are too many fish in the traps the fish can become damaged and reduce their value. Retrofitting traps costs less than a dollar per trap.

“Ocean conservation seems like a daunting problem,” says Johnson. “But the solutions can be simple.” Johnson received about a dozen emails from colleagues encouraging her to apply to Solution Search – an online platform designed to find successful innovation in conservation.  “Everyone thought it was a good fit,” says Johnson. “Apparently, they were right.”

Johnson and McClanahan jointly applied and won the $20,000 grand prize. “This award will increase the visibility that simple technologies like these fish traps can be implemented in fisheries around the world,” says McClanahan.

Read More

• www.solutionsearch.org

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“Law enforcers cannot do it on their own. We need the whole community.” Renante “Tian” Cempron, Rare Conservation Fellow

The day began with an 8 a.m. mass followed by a spirited parade of local school bands playing music and dancing. “Dance routines are very popular in the Philippines,” says Rare’s senior program manager Brooke Sadowsky. A float introduced the campaign mascot, Meloy, the lovable panther grouper that is now a local celebrity. The rhythmic procession moved through the mid-morning swelter with an energy seldom seen in Inabanga. It seemed like half the community marched with the parade and the other half applauded and participated from the sidelines. When the parade reached the municipal auditorium, the 2,000 seats were filled; the basketball courts accommodated the overflow. “You could really feel the pulse of the community,” says Sadowsky.

Perhaps the youngest mayor ever elected in the Philippines (21 when elected in 2007), Honorable Jose Jono Jumamoy, belied his youth with a commanding eloquence as the cheers quieted for a moment of sobriety. The entire municipal government, as well as thousands of community members, stood with their right hands raisedto declare their commitment to protect marine resources. And pledged to call or text 09176311963, an anonymous hotline, to report illegal fishing incidents inside the marine sanctuary.

Two days later the hotline received several anonymous texts resulting in apprehensions for the use of illegal nets. The number of reports have more than doubled since the event. Although the hotline has existed for over a year, a fear of retaliation filled the community since most of the illegal fishers are community members. “We have really emphasized confidentiality,” says Cempron. “Law enforcers cannot do it on their own. We need the whole community.”

In coastal towns like Inabanga throughout the Philippines, families rely on fishing for food and supplemental, if not all, income. Human pressures have resulted in smaller fish and smaller catches, forcing many to resort to illegal and dangerous fishing techniques like dynamite fishing. The most memorable moment of the day for Cempron was during the awards ceremony when Rare CEO Brett Jenks presented a plaque of recognition to Jesus Sucajel for his contributions to the campaign.

Sucajel was a renowned illegal fisher in the village. He habitually ignited bombs on the reefs to increase his catch and decrease time spent out at sea. He started to see the negative impacts of his actions and decided to change his ways and help conserve marine resources. He tried to convince his brother to follow his lead, but his brother was killed in a dynamite fishing accident. The tragedy only reinforced Sucajel’s commitment to conservation. He is now a coastal enforcer championing the messages of the campaign to protect the reef so that fish stocks will rebound and continue to sustain the community.

“It was the only time in his life that he received an award,” says Cempron who always visits Sucajel’s home when he conducts surveys and monitoring trips near the marine sanctuary of Hambongan.

As the sun set and the day’s activities wound down, Cempron reflected on the success of his hard work in a joyful exhaustion. “One teacher told me that she has attended many events and conventions,” says Cempron. “But she said that my campaign launch was the most memorable.”

All photos: AG Saño 5

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Cesar Laura partners with Rare

Seven years ago, 75 percent of the people in Oxapampa, Peru did not know anything about their neighboring national park. Rare Conservation Fellow César Laura partnered with Rare to change that mindset. To help him sell conservation he enlisted the spectacled bear as an ambassador for the forests and called him Bromelio. Since then Bromelio has attended every community event. In 2010, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) announced the creation of the Oxapampa- Asháninka-Yanesha Biosphere Reserve. Laura believes that the celebrity of Bromelio and the hundreds of field trips to the park with students and teachers contributed to the creation of the biosphere reserve.

Two years ago, Laura again partnered with Rare to help preserve critical watershed habitat in the area. Rare spoke to Laura about his experience running two social marketing campaigns with Rare.

The Alliance for Zero Extinction identified a frog species in Oxapampa so rare that its population is not even known to science. How did you introduce the frog to your community?
In Peru frogs mean witchcraft. I had to convince people otherwise. So, I had Bromelio present Anita the ranita (little frog) as his friend who lives in the highlands that provide water, but who has problems with deforestation and pollution from cattle.

Bromelio the bear introduces Anita the frog.

Did it work?
The image of the flagship species is key. At the beginning my organization resisted using the frog. The frog is a bit ugly. On top of that, I am a bit ugly. But now, after a few months, you can tell that the people care about Anita. There is a group of farmers that live in the watershed that want to build a tourism trail and they asked me if they could include her in their souvenirs. And I tell them: “It is your species. It belongs to all of us. It is a source of pride about where we live.”

“The campaign not only makes people want to act, it creates a path for action.”

Next year another dozen campaigns will work throughout Latin America to preserve critical freshwater sources. What advice do you have for the next class?
I would say many things. The first is that you really learn by your actions. Give it heart, dedication and enthusiasm. There will be challenges, but you have to think about what you are doing and what you are leaving behind for the next generation.

I was the voice of the bear and now the frog. I once was within meters of the bear and it really changes your life. It reminds you what you are fighting for. It is worth it. With the tools that Rare gives you, you actually get results that are measurable.

Do you think that you and your campaign have succeeded in reaching the community?
The main success is that the people now know that the water they consume comes from the upland watershed and that the solution to protect it is not in the hands of the government. A lot of times we wait for the authorities to act. In this case, the solution is within each of us. And I say “in each of us” because I too live in the area. I too want to give my children clean water.

This two-year project set out to establish a reciprocal relationship whereby downstream water users pay into a fund that incentivizes upstream farmers to help protect the water source. What do you think about this strategy?
The reciprocal water agreements empower the people to have pride in something they have done. They can take credit for helping the forest and protecting their water supply. The idea is that both parties win. Four farmers have already signed the agreements and are now models for the rest of the community. The campaign not only makes people want to act, it creates a path for action.

The challenge now is how do we do more campaigns in the eight municipalities in the reserve.

Now that your campaign is over what will you do?
The end is really just the beginning. I made a commitment to the people. One of the first things I had to do was earn the confidence of the upland farmers and it was very difficult. I spent six months convincing them. This is not just a professional commitment; it is personal. We have a responsibility to use resources responsibly. I have to continue the campaign.

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Close-up underwater photo of escape gaps on fish trap.

Through online voting at solutionsearch.org, the public voted for their top three solutions. The Wildlife Conservation Society won the grand prize with its solution, “Bycatch Escape Gaps for Fish Traps” in Curaçao and Kenya. It received a U.S. $20,000 prize to support its conservation and resource management initiative. The two runners-up, Off the Hook Community Supported Fishery and the Misool Baseftin Foundation, each received prizes of U.S. $5,000 for their respective solutions, “Fresh. Fair. Fish.” in Canada and “Defending the Heart of Marine Biodiversity: Community Stewardship of Raja Ampat’s Reefs” in Raja Ampat. The winners will receive their awards at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 8.

This first-ever global Solution Search sought applications from organizations worldwide with demonstrated innovations that benefit coastal communities and marine ecosystems. More than 100 applications were received from 48 countries, from which a panel of expert judges selected 10 finalists, with the public choosing the winners. Solutions submitted for the contest includedthe implementation of no-take zones, introduction of innovative fishing gear and the development of alternative livelihoods. Submissions came from across the globe, including Indonesia, Madagascar, Brazil and Turkey.

“For too long the conservation community has focused on problems,” said Brett Jenks, president and CEO of Rare. “But there are a lot of working solutions in remote parts of the planet. These finalists, and particularly the winners, prove just that. By sharing their solutions with the world, they are improving conservation everywhere.”

“Discovering and sharing solutions that restore marine life and human communities is key to changing the broader world of fishing and seafood,” said Miguel A. Jorge, director of National Geographic’s Ocean Initiative. “By telling the stories of these win-win innovations, we hope to inspire more people and communities to transform their relationship with the ocean.”

Platform sponsors are the Goldring Family Foundation, the Barr Foundation and the Cedar Hill Foundation. Judges for the contest were Steve Gaines, professor of ecology, evolution and marine biology, and director of the Marine Science Institute at the University of California at Santa Barbara; Carl Safina, president of the Blue Ocean Institute; Ahmed Djoghlaf, executive secretary of the Convention of Biological Diversity; Eileen de Ravin, program manager of the Equator Initiative at the United Nations Development Programme; Enric Sala, marine ecologist and a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence; Monique Barbut, CEO and chairperson of the Global Environment Facility; and Nicolas Gutiérrez, fisheries scientist with the Marine Stewardship Council.

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Town of Amaluza (downstream) with upstream watershed in background

A week or so after returning from visiting our China campaign managers in Kunming, I was back in the air again, this time heading west to Ecuador, a country of geological and geographic contrasts. From the offshore islands of the Galapagos (where Rare has a campaign) to the Amazon rainforests; from the Pacific to the towering Andes. It is also a country made up of great human and biological diversity. This nation is not only one of 17 mega-diverse in the world according to Conservation International, but has more biodiversity per square kilometer than any other nation on the planet.

After an overnight in the capital of Quito, I headed south to Loja close to the Peruvian border where I met up with Rare’s Pride Program Manager, Alan Hesse. Alan has been with Rare a little over a year and is responsible for over-seeing the campaign that I was to visit. However, I first met Alan years earlier at a Parrot Conference in the Canary Islands and our paths crossed again when he kindly helped produce a suite of cartoons for our Pride curriculum. From Loja we drove further south to Espíndola, site of a Pride campaign being run by Maritza Azanza and the Ecology Foundation, “Arcoiris.” Maritza is a member of Rare’s first thematic cohort, a group of dedicated campaign managers all working in the Andes on watershed threats, with the solution being so-called “reciprocal agreements”.

Agreements based on the principle that users and beneficiaries of a natural resource should compensate those who safeguard the resource. Lowland farmers, who depend on stewardship of highland watershed habitats, contribute to a conservation fund. [This] fund provides “payments” to the highland landowners as an incentive to maintain healthy forests. Pride campaigns accelerate and deepen community support for this approach (1/2).

Another shared attribute of the “Guad 8” cohort – so called this because the campaign mangers that comprise this group are the 8^th cohort to train at our Mexican university node in Guadalajara, Mexico – is that they are all working to conserve habitat for “AZE species”.

The Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) is a global initiative of biodiversity conservation organizations, that aims to prevent extinctions by identifying and safeguarding key sites where species are in imminent danger of disappearing (3).

Maritza’s campaign has its flagship species the Andean Spectacled Bear which she is using to draw attention to the upper watersheds of her site, a habitat also frequented by a little known and likely endangered frog with the nearly unpronounceable name of  Eleutherodactylus balionotus. Helpfully it is also known as Pristimantis balionotus! Without a common or local name and known only from the type locality, 13.5km east of Loja, at the crest of the Cordillera (Abra de Zamora) between Loja Province and Zamora-Chinchipe Province, it is (like many other AZE species) something of an enigma (4).

Maritza was born in the Ecuadorian city of Loja, on December 27, 1984, and studied Environmental Engineering at the Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja. Her thesis focused on  environmental education and as a result of it she gained experience in working with local authorities, children, teachers and community leaders. After graduating and before joining Fundación Ecológica Arcoiris, Maritza coordinated the construction of several self-guided trails including one in the forests of Colambo Yacuri. She joined Arcoiris, as the technician responsible Environmental Education.

I spent the week working with Maritza and Alan reviewing the progress she was making with the campaign, meeting key stakeholders, visiting the areas where reciprocal agreements were planned, and helping with Pride collateral development.

Maritza (r) Marybelle (campaign assistant) and Alan (l)

You can read more about Maritza’s Pride campaign here.

 References:

1: http://rareconservation.org/program-aze-habitat-and-watershed-protection-andes

2: http://www.rareconservation.org/blog/2011/01/28/protecting-cloud-forests-with-reciprocal-watershed-agreements/

3: http://www.zeroextinction.org/AZE_report.pdf

4: http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/56450/0

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Hidden under the ocean’s surface, most of us do not realize that coral reefs represent one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world.  They are often referred to as the “rainforests of the oceans.”  They support an estimated twenty-five percent of all marine life, play an important role as natural breakwaters, which minimize wave impacts from storms such as cyclones, hurricanes or typhoons, and provide economic benefits through tourism.

They are, however, under increasing threat.  With the continual change in environmental conditions, reef survival will be determined by the capacity of corals to adapt to a shifting climate.

According to OneReef Founder Chris LaFranchi, the time is now to deal with the rapidly diminishing coral reef system. Like Rare, OneReef stresses the fact that if communities want to keep their reefs intact they may find it necessary to adopt effective no-take zones and enforce stronger catch limits.

While many communities want to participate and save the resources that they need to survive, the resources are not there. This is where OneReef comes in.  By linking investors with local communities, OneReef helps create a secure financing stream that fills financial gaps while bolstering capacity of communities to attract and use additional funding from government and science organization partners.

By finding their bright spot in the Micronesian ecosystem “a strategic place to start because of the abundance of coral reefs, favorable political will, and high degree of willingness by communities to protect, manage, and monitor their reefs,” OneReef has seen a huge potential of what can be the future.

Based in Santa Cruz, California OneReef not has used this model to already protect over 300,000 acres in Micronesia and have their sites set for even greater success.  Below, founder Chris LaFranchi answers some questions about what lies in the road ahead for coral reefs and his solution.

Why coral reefs? What role do they play in the vast issues that concern the ocean as of now (i.e.: destructive fishing, global warming, etc)?

Coral reefs provide direct benefits to about 500 million people and support about 25% of marine species.  They are clearly in a state of rapid decline induced by over-fishing, sedimentation, pollution, and the effects of climate change.  They face a critical period in their history during the next 25-50 years, during which time they will need to adapt to new climatic conditions, or undergo dramatic changes, e.g., ecological “phase” shifts to a different sort of ecosystem, likely dominated by fleshy algae instead of hard corals.  What we do in the next 10 years or so will have a huge impact on the capacity for adaptation.  So, the time is now to intervene, to act forcefully and on a large scale.

What factors influenced you to decide where to focus your work at? (i.e.: Micronesia)

A traditional chief in Palau read about our work online and then invited us to come to Palau and talk about it.  We were then invited to begin work on a long-term conservation agreement with his community, the first of its kind in the Pacific Region.  Micronesia is a strategic place for us to start because of the abundance of coral reefs, favorable political will, and high degree of willingness by communities to protect, manage, and monitor their reefs.  We could see right away a huge potential to create ‘bright spots’ and to kick-start what we hope will become a leadership role by countries in the region.

What is the relationship with coral reef growth and climate change?

Climate change is the ultimate threat to reefs.  We do not really know how reefs will respond since there is no climatic analog in the recent past that mirrors the conditions we expect to see this century.  Nothing exists that could tell us how reefs looked under similar conditions.  Evidence does strongly suggest that the capacity of reefs to adapt to new climatic conditions is much greater when reefs are not stressed by other factors such as pollution, sedimentation, and over-fishing.  Thus, the strategy is to protect as many critical reefs as possible from these stressors and study how they change as our climate shifts, adaptively managing along the way.  Coral reefs have existed in their present form for about 200 million years, so I am hopeful that they will adapt without severe changes- if we can remove the other stressors.

How is your campaign different than others’ solutions to the coral reef problem?

We apply a simple model of mutual co-operation that enables Pacific Island communities to do what they already want to do: protect, manage, and monitor their reefs, in a way that leaves them in control.  What’s novel about our approach is that we have created a way for such communities to strike a direct partnership with other groups of people that are also committed to protection and management, but who are spatially, economically, and culturally distant.  The agreements work because they create a self-reinforcing mechanism that fosters an increasingly beneficial and stable relationship between groups that ordinarily do not have the opportunity to work together and find synergy, and stay together for a long time.  Reef interventions require a long-term, stable, adaptive intervention.  To be specific, our model gives communities an opportunity to capitalize a dedicated sustainable financing fund, over a period of years, as long as their performance under agreements is maintained and verified.  We also invest heavily in local capacity.

What are your solutions and what will it take to make them happen (time, money, etc)?

Our solution is to learn from the first several successful agreements in Palau and Yap as we replicate and scale across the Asia/Pacific Region.  Right now, the settings at our sites are simple: big healthy reefs at coral atolls owned by relatively small communities; few if any terrestrial issues to address.  To grow and progress, we will need to incorporate partnerships to expand how we work; specifically, we need to thematically expand the reach of our model so we can find success in places with larger human populations and terrestrial issues (greater array of human stressors to address under our agreements).  We can then show our venture partners how they can invest successfully under these conditions as well.  These developments are necessary conditions for taking our work to a very large scale and contributing to the reversal of chronic coral reef decline.

What are the largest positive developments of One Reef so far?

We have reached a tipping point of sorts in that we have successfully negotiated agreements for two large coral atolls and have 5 additional sites in the pipeline.  It took a great deal of work to successfully engage these Pacific Island communities, and design a long-term agreement that they would sign and our venture partners would fund.  Bringing these two worlds together to forge a heroic partnership is a huge milestone for us.  Community leadership is taking the single greatest step.  It represents a huge commitment and strong statement from them indicating that we can do this; we can collaborate with people who reside halfway across the globe from us, and maintain an effective collaboration for many years.

What are the biggest obstacles One Reef faces?

The biggest challenges we face include (i) convincing venture partners to allow use of agreement funding to capitalize sustainable finance funds- and thereby relinquish control to communities, (ii) developing local capacity, especially in remote areas, and (iii) designing and implementing agreements that don’t create the perception of dependency or that a community is acting only to receive agreement benefits.  Pacific Islanders we work with value self-sufficiency, independence, and a strong sense of responsibility for the condition of their reefs.  Unfortunately, it is difficult under contemporary conditions for many communities to muster the resources they need to fully protect their resources.  Imagine industrial-scale fishing operations offshore, some of whom are capable and willing to rapidly poach key species.  Not to mention the need to inform adaptive management for climate change with careful monitoring.  Exploitation of marine organisms and other sources of human pressures on reefs have become globalized.  I believe that our conservation efforts must also become globalized if we are to reverse the decline of coral reef ecosystems.

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