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Belize National Lionfish Management Strategy 2019-2023

March 1, 2019

Across the Caribbean, the invasion of red lionfish (Pterois volitans) poses a pervasive threat to marine ecosystems and coastal fishing communities. First recorded in Belize in 2008, lionfish have become well established across the country's entire marine environment. Uncontrolled, invasive lionfish populations disrupt marine food webs, negatively impacting coral reef health and fisheries productivity, thereby undermining the resilience of coral reefs and reef-associated systems to global change.This document describes how to design and implement an integrated approach to lionfish management – incorporating environmental, social and economic wellbeing goals – and provides specific recommendations for the adaptive management of lionfish in Belize.

Funding for Small-scale Fisheries A Landscape Overview

October 31, 2016

This report examines support for small-scale fishery projects, and provides an overview of Rare's Fish Forever initiative.Key findings include:Funding from Foundations-Between 2007 to 2015, we identified $91 million in grants directed towards small-scale fishing (SSF) projects. An additional $136 million in grants was directed towards projects that may be relevant for small-scale fisheries, but it is not clear from the grant description –most of these grants are for marine protected areas. In sum, this is ~$10-$23 million per year in grants to projects that are potentially relevant for SSF.-Approximately 0.5% of all foundation grantmaking goes to marine conservation, and  we estimate that between 5-12% of that is directed to SSF relevant projects.Funding from DFI's-Based on a review of the funding of seven major DFIs (World Bank, GEF, IADB, ADB, KfW, AfDB, and CAF) from 2000-2016, we identified $1.825 billion of investment in SSF related projects. An additional $4.351 billion was invested in projects that may be relevant for small-scale fisheries (e.g., coastal zone management). In sum this amounts to  ~$107-$363 million per year of funding from these DFIs for projects that are potentially relevant for SSF.-SSF related projects made up less than 0.5%on average of the DFI's portfolios.

Case Study: Collective Impact of Managed Access Program Puts Belize Fisheries on Path to Recovery

June 6, 2016

According to the Belize Fisheries Department, the wild-capture fishery sector contributes significantly to the country's economy. It brought in approximately $29 million in 2012. But the open-access system that characterizes fishing in Belize has allowed uncontrolled numbers of fishers with readily obtained licenses to harvest more fish than the oceans can replenish. This has resulted in a threat of overfishing, declining stocks, and fewer economic benefits for fishers over the long term. Transitioning to a sustainable system would require transformative new policies, along with the support and participation of fishers, industry stakeholders, and their communities.

Coral Reef Alliance: 2015 Annual Report

May 1, 2016

Over the past year, we have accomplished a great deal in our efforts to save coral reefs and we are excited to share these successes in our 2015 Annual Report. We also want to share our vision for the future of coral reefs and how this inspires our ongoing work. Many of the benefits from our reefs depend on living corals. Corals are the architects of the reef, and build the structures that provide nurseries and shelter for millions of sea animals. They provide people with livelihoods from fisheries and tourism, storm protection and sources for new medicines. These benefits are at risk as coral reefs decline around the world, but together, we can save them. Corals are struggling due to local pressures and global climate change; however, we have identified a solution that will help corals build reefs and maintain the needed benefits for people and wildlife. The answer is in the corals themselves. Corals are incredibly diverse, with many species and varieties spread across the reefs. Corals haveadapted for hundreds of millions of years, and if allowed, will continue to do so. For example, some corals can live in warmer water; others can thrive in polluted oceans. Special corals like these, and their offspring, may be best suited for the reefs of the future. Our aim is to ensure that enough of these corals survive on enough healthy coral reefs so they can repopulate other nearby reef sites. In this way, corals—and everything that depends on them—will have an opportunity to adapt to a changing environment.

Collaboration for Small-Scale Fisheries Reform. Lessons in Collective Impact for Systemic Change

February 23, 2016

As a worldwide collaboration of NGOs, businesses, funders, and governments, 50in10 aimed to help its partners take promising tools and approaches in small-scale fisheries restoration to the next level by testing, strengthening, and replicating them. In January 2016, 50in10 brought together three dozen 50in10 network members and stakeholders in Belize City to learn from one another, explore financing models, innovate new approaches, and discuss how network members could continue to replicate successes. The framework of the 50in10 Theory of Change—a collective impact approach in which community empowerment, policy reform, credible science, and market demand work together—as well as collaborative learning guided the convening. Participants prioritized sustainable financing, community engagement, scientific data, and enforcement and compliance as key areas in which innovation is needed to overcome obstacles to reform, and developed ideas for how to address these challenges.

2015 Report Card for the Mesoamerican Reef

May 9, 2015

In 2013 and 2014, HRI and partners systematically measured the health of 248 reef sites across 1,000 km of the four countries. This 2015 Report Card represents the first year that HRI has calculated and presented more detailed maps of coral reef condition on a variety of spatial scales -- from regional to local. Regional scale data provide insight on larger scale reef health patterns that can help identify transboundary issues, while subregional and local data help detect finer-scale patterns of reef condition. The country-focused maps provide individual indicator scores at the site level. These new data maps provide guidance for partners on where to focus conservation actions at the most appropriate, effective management scale.The overall 2015 Reef Health Index score is 'fair', with encouraging improvements at both the regional level and of individual indicators. Corals -- the architects of the reef -- have improved since 2006, increasing from 10%-16% cover. Fleshy macroalgae, the main competitors with corals for open reef space, have increased. Key herbivorous fish continue to increase in numbers and are needed to reduce this macroalgae. Commercial fish have also increased in biomass, which is an encouraging sign, although large groupers are rare and mainly found in fully protected zones of MPAs.

Turneffe Atoll Marine Reserve Control and Vigilance System Design

December 31, 2013

The main objective of this assessment is to design a cost effective control and vigilance system for the newly created Turneffe Atoll Marine Reserve (TAMR). The specific objectives are: 1. Develop a practical control and vigilance system for the TAMR based on interviews of local enforcement actors, analysis of existing co-management strategies, and a comprehensive site visit of the Turneffe Atoll. 2. Prioritize a series of recommendations to optimize patrol costs as well as increase detection efficacy using Electronic Monitoring Systems (EMS). The final recommendations will include the surveillance system design including potential electronic systems, patrol vessels, human resource requirements, energy supply needs, and overall cost estimate: Capital Expenses (CAPEX) and Operating Expenses (OPEX) for a five-year investment plan.WildAid focuses on the law enforcement chain, that encompasses the activities of detection, interdiction, prosecution, and the fining of lawbreakers. An effective law enforcement system should dissuade potential lawbreakers from committing illegal activities as the consequences/risks associated with apprehension outweigh economic gain. The law enforcement chain requires that each link function effectively and complementarily. Also critical, yet not part of the enforcement chain, is the vital role that outreach and stakeholder education plays in MPA acceptance and compliance. For the purpose of this project, the primary focus will be on the surveillance, interdiction, and systematic training components. It is worth noting that Belize possesses a very unique regulatory framework that: 1) empowers Fishery officials with arrest authority and the right to bear firearms; 2) allows the Fisheries Department to delegate arrest authority to partner organizations including NGOs for the enforcement of MPAs; and 3) the Fisheries Department can directly litigate in a Belizean court of law. This is advantageous as the overall enforcement process from detection to sentencing is streamlined and enforcement officials are empowered with sufficient authority to apply the law.

Oak Foundation Belize: Annual Summary Report 2012

June 3, 2013

In 2006 Oak Foundation developed a ten-year strategic plan that guides its grant-making in Belize and the wider Mesoamerica region. The purpose of this report is to provide a detailed description of regional grantmaking in 2012 and inform on the progress of active grants from previous years.The report is divided into four sections: 1) Introduction, 2) Mesoamerican Reef Eco-region Programme grants 2012; 3) active grants from previous years; and 4) a glossary of abbreviations.The Oak Belize Foundation is a part of a wider group of charitable and philanthropic organisations established in various countries worldwide. The resources of Oak Foundation originated from an interest in the Duty Free Shoppers business that Alan Parker helped to build. Since its establishment over a decade ago the Foundation has made over 2,700 grants to not-for-profit organisations across the globe.The office in Belize is not a grant-making organisation. Its staff provide technical support and expert advice that informs the grant-making of Oak Foundation in the Mesoamerican Reef region. Other philanthropic organisations which partner with Oak Foundation administer the grants described in this report. Oak Foundation's Mesoamerican Reef Eco-region Programme Goal is to develop an ecologically representative network of marine reserves that maintain the health of the barrier reef ecosystem and its wildlife, and that support the food security and sustainable economic development of local coastal communities.

Cross-node Socioeconomic and Governance Assessments of MMAs

April 14, 2011

This report is concerned with the socioeconomic and governance dimension of Marine Managed Areas (MMAs), targeting key issues that still impede the design and implementation of MMAs. It looks into the objectives of the MMAs and which types of MMAs were effective at meeting their objectives. It evaluates how socio-economic (e.g., demographics) and governance (e.g. institutional frameworks and processes) characteristics impact on management effectiveness of MMAs (e.g. are wealthy communities correlated with more or less successful MMAs?). In general, this study assesses the social, economic and governance conditions of MMAs in North America (Central America)-Belize; South America (Northeastern)-Brazil; Oceania-Fiji; South America (Northwestern)-Ecuador; and North America (Central America)-Panama; in terms of their impact on factors such as economic development, quality of life, livelihoods, environmental awareness, stakeholder participation, and policy enforcement. The results will substantially contribute to the design and implementation of other socio-economic studies as well as to the employment of more effective MMA management practices in five countries and globally.

Baseline Review of the Status and Management of the Caribbean Spiny Lobster Fisheries in the Caricom Region

January 1, 2011

This report provides a review of the status and management of the Caribbean Spiny Lobster Fisheries in the CARICOM region. It provides a general overview of the habitat requirements and threats to survival of this lobster, along with the distribution and population in each country with Caribbean Spiny Lobster Fisheries. Each country's domestic use, international trade, and conservation and management measures are also reviewed.

Global Management Effectiveness Study: Integrated Social and Ecological Report for Non-node and Node Sites

April 1, 2010

The purpose of this study is to provide a critical assessment of the implementation, impact, and performance of Marine Managed Area (MMA) projects to serve as a basis for improved planning and implementation of new MMA projects worldwide. The specific objectives of the study are (1) to determine the socioeconomic, governance and ecological effects of MMAs; (2) to determine the critical factors influencing MMA effects, as well as the impact of the timing of those factors on the effects of the MMA; and (3) to provide tools for predicting MMA effects based on ecological, socioeconomic and governance variable.

Fishery Co-management: A Practical Handbook

January 1, 2006

For many years, Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC) has maintained an active portfolio of projects examining co-management and community-based management in fisheries and other resource systems. Since the publication of Managing Small-scale Fisheries (Berkes et al., 2001), there has been an increasing demand for guidance on what IDRC has learned about co-management, particularly across different geographical settings, socio-economic conditions, and histories of operation; and how it could apply to other types of fishing, link to other livelihoods, relate to other dynamic processes (such as the migration of fishermen), and respond to the seasonal nature of fish resources. This book attempts to respond to this demand by compiling recent experience from as wide a cross section of research as possible. During the development of this book, both IDRC and the authors wrestled with the concept of co-management. Given the evolving nature of this science, for example, what does co-management cover and how widely is the concept accepted? Importantly, there has been increasing acceptance of the idea that co-management is not an end point but rather a process -- a process of adaptive learning. Recognizing the diversity of both local contexts (ecological and social) and factors depleting the fishery (such as overfishing and habitat destruction), however, would it even be possible to put together a book of lessons learned? As you will soon discover, IDRC and the authors felt that it was neither possible nor desirable to produce a blueprint for fishery co-management. Rather, we agreed that it would be more useful to document the co-management process, as undertaken by both IDRC partners and others, and to put this experience into a form that could be shared with anyone interested in learning more about co-management and what others have learned. This shared and adaptive approach to learning is what this book is all about. In the pages that follow, you will find a complete picture of the co-management process: strengths, weaknesses, methods, activities, checklists and so on.