Fisheries Management/Marine Protected Areas

Community-based co-management

Puerto Morelos is a town situated in the middle of the rapidly developing Riviera Maya, in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. It has still managed to maintain its original “fishing village” charm which is in stark contrast to its booming northern and southern neighbours of Cancun and Playa del Carmen, respectively (Figure 1). The Puerto Morelos reef Marine Protected Area (MPA) is located on the northeastern Yucatan Peninsula. It includes a diverse coral community that maintains dynamic growth and provides resilience to natural impacts and disasters such as hurricanes. This MPA is among the first in Mexico to be created through a community-based approach with local stakeholders taking responsibility for the management of the program.

The initial impetus for developing a MPA in Puerto Morelos came from the perceived threat from the overflow from another MPA, off Cancun. That park receives well over 1 million tourists per year even though there are restrictions placed on the number of visitors that the park can receive on a given day. Because of these limits, tourism operators would transport visitors to adjacent reefs closer to Puerto Morelos. Thus, these reefs became saturated with visitors and tourism operators, significantly increasing the load on the reefs in a lawless manner with little regard for conservation. This alarmed the fishermen, environmental groups, and service operators located in Puerto Morelos for both environmental and economic reasons.

Community participation was developed from community interests and was enhanced through collaboration with NGOs and scientific information [Principle 3, Participation]. The cooperation across these stakeholder groups was contributed to the community awareness of, 1) economic dependence on the marine resource, 2) the treats of coastal development to the reef system and the community, 3) the importance of MPAs in preserving quality of life among the town and community, and 4) the need for local community support in addressing insufficiencies of government agencies. The presence of the MPA has also helped the local community to stop the development of projects that threaten the people and the reef, such as a regional refuse site, a fuel deposit for aviation craft, an industrial port, a municipal jail, and a tourist park that would destroy the mangrove regions.

It is important to reiterate that a major strength in the development of a MPA in Puerto Morelos was the initial motivation that came from the communities and local residents [Principle 10, Action]. They were crucial in developing a management plan for the MPA. Furthermore, without the initiative and participation of the community the MPA would not likely to exist. Accordingly, community participation in the management of the MPA is promoted and enabled in several chapters of the Management Program (Annual Operating Programs) that is reviewed by the Advisory Council and administered by the Comision Nacional de Areas Naturales Protegidas). The role of academic institutes and NGOs were also crucial for the success of the MPA. Many were proud of their achievements and referred to it as “our park” indicating a sense of ownership [Principle 5, Joint Ownership]. 

Since 2004, several projects have been funded by the Programa de Desarrollo Sustentable (PRODERS, Sustainable development Program) that are designed to promote sustainable development for the communities living in close proximity to the MPA. All of the projects to date have been successful and include, 1) the construction of an orientation building for operators to advise and orientate tourists on their snorkelling trips to the reef, 2) a workshop for tourism operators on low-impact tourism, 3) a workshop to design an environmental interpretation program, 4) environmental and cultural programs, 5) a cleaning and restoration program after hurricane Wilma (2005), 6) the rehabilitation of the fishing cooperative building, and 7) the development of a visitors centre. 

While stakeholder participation in the co-management of the MPA was observed as positive, their involvement has declined since 2002 because, 1) MPA user fees collected by the government were not returned to the management program, 2) the concerns, opinions and recommendations by stakeholders were not always considered during Advisory Council meetings, and 3) management decisions were often based on centralized, regional, or generalist guidelines rather than those specifically targeting the needs of the MPA management.  Thus, for collaborative co-management projects to succeed, managers need to foster working relationships that are respectful and understanding of stakeholder’s greater needs and interests in each given sector [Principle 2, Respect, understanding and trust].  Furthermore, it should be recognised that working with the local people may involve compromise and sometimes objectives may be altered or changed in the process. In this context, it is necessary that governmental policies and legislation are modified in order to support co-management effort. Moreover, the community should be recognised for their efforts and given the appropriate feedback regarding the outcomes arising from their efforts. 

It is important to note that MPAs may fail due to larger socioeconomic and political factors and the powerful actors and their divergent objectives, rather than local community participation. Thus without the full cooperation of the community stakeholders it would be unlikely that these “divergent” objectives can be properly identified and addressed [Principle 8, Empowerment]. Furthermore, it was realised that the governmental means to protect the marine resource were insufficient without the cooperation across community stakeholders, including fishermen, NGOs, tourist operators, other businesses, and government agencies. In effect, the Puerto Morelos experience suggests that to achieve community support in the management of the MPA, that all community sectors are open to local participation so that the community experiences a sense of ownership of the program [Principle 8, Empowerment].

Accordingly, this case study identified several predictors of success in the MPA of Puerto Morelos and include, 1) that the population managing the MPA has a small size, 2) there is a high level of community participation and engagement in the decision-making [Principle 3, Participation], and 3) scientific advisors are present in the area to aid in the processes of management.

Finally, this case study shows how community based participation processes that are initiated by the civil society can overcome governmental constraints. Moreover, with the support of local NGOs, universities, and the federal government, community initiative and participation in the creation of a MPA now exists in Puerto Morelos where none existed before.