Publisher :
Place of publication :
Publication year : 2007
Thematic : Marine Protected Areas
Language : English
Note
In many parts of the world, there is increasing interest among scientists, managers, and
communities in merging long-enduring customary practices such as taboos that limit
resource use with contemporary resource management initiatives. Here, we synthesize
the literature on the customary management of coral reefs emerging from diverse disciplines
including anthropology, common property economics, and ecology. First, we review
various customary management strategies and draw parallels with Western fisheries management.
Secondly, we examine customary resource management and conservation. We
argue that, while resource conservation often appears to be an unintended by-product of
other social processes, customary management can, in fact, conserve marine resources.
In the third section, we examine the resilience of customary management institutions to
socioeconomic transformations. We suggest that in conditions of high population and
commercialization of marine resources, property rights may become strengthened but
arrangements that rely on self-restraint become weakened. Finally, we examine the commensurability
of customary management and conservation. We emphasize that practical
and conceptual differences exist between customary management and contemporary conservation
which have often led to failed attempts to hybridize these systems. However,
when these differences are understood and acknowledged there exists a potential to
develop adaptive management systems that are: (1) highly flexible; (2) able to conserve
resources, and; (3) able to meet community goals. In each section, we provide research priorities.
We conclude by developing six key features of successful hybrid management
systems.
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Keywords : Bunomys andrewsi
Encoded by : Pauline Carmel Joy Eje
