اندازه گیری سود و زیان آموزش جامعه و امداد رسانی در مناطق حفاظت شده دریایی

Conservation organizations often invest considerable resources in education and outreach activities in and around marine protected areas (MPAs). The expectation is that such efforts will change local knowledge, attitudes and ultimately behavior. This is one of the first studies to assess the efficacy of using education and outreach activities to improve community knowledge and attitudes about an MPA. Random sample surveys in 2005 and 2010 (n=1213) before and after education and outreach activities are compared. Program budgets for the same period give the investment levels. With an investment level averaging US$24 per capita/year, the result was an average increase of 33% in “yes” responses across 15 indicators of knowledge and attitudes towards marine conservation. The increase in knowledge and positive attitudes was associated with a large decrease in “not sure” responses, suggesting that community members with fewer initial preconceptions are the most effective target for education and outreach activities. This study demonstrates that investments in MPA education and outreach can generate increases in local knowledge and positive attitudes, and changing knowledge and attitudes is expected to contribute to the long-term compliance with MPA regulations.

Over the past decade, research on the factors that lead to conservation success has increasingly focused on the social context of conservation [1], [2] and [3]. Within the realm of marine conservation, research suggests that the primary determinants of a marine protected area’s success or failure are social factors rather than its biological or physical characteristics [4], [5], [6] and [7]. Several studies note that broad social support for a marine protected area (MPA) is linked to successful conservation [8], [9], [10] and [11], and without this support, an MPA may lack legitimacy or community ‘buy-in’ leading to a lack of compliance with fishing and access regulations [12]. To build broad-based community support for an MPA, a common approach is to use a participatory design process that convenes and engages stakeholder groups to provide input on the placement and design of the MPA as early in the process as possible [13], [14] and [15]. Another approach, which is more often used by governments, is to establish an MPA and then invite local stakeholder groups to provide inputs on its management [16]. The advantages of a participatory design process include greater ownership of the results by stakeholders, increased compliance with resource regulations, and greater flexibility in resource management [15], but without local knowledge of an MPA’s function and likely impacts, and without positive attitudes towards an MPA, participation is unlikely to be fruitful or sustained [12]. To build knowledge and positive attitudes about marine conservation, one approach is to invest in education and outreach linked to specific conservation strategies, such as MPA design and management. A number of conservation organizations are known to use this approach in marine conservation including the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Conservation International (CI) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC).

Within the study area, local people had a greater knowledge of environmental issues and more positive attitudes towards MPAs and environmental protection after the education and outreach activities than before. The increase in knowledge and positive attitudes was commensurate with a large decrease in “not sure” responses. The implication is that the education and outreach activities primarily impacted people who had not yet formed opinions or were not knowledgeable about conservation. The proportion of respondents with negative perceptions of the MPAs remained largely constant between 2005 and 2010. This result suggests that the target of education and outreach activities should be the people who are uncertain or not knowledgeable about the conservation initiative. The 15 to 24 age group had the largest proportional change in knowledge and attitudes, suggesting that youth in the villages were more receptive to conservation and/or more quickly absorbed information provided by the education and outreach activities than older age groups. This is similar to a study in Malaysia that found youth were more likely to report changes in knowledge or attitudes or both after education activities than older age groups [27]. Youth are an important stakeholder group to target as they may have lower levels of knowledge and understanding regarding sustainable resource use and may be more open to new knowledge [28]. Younger members of local communities are also often considered a wise long-term investment to sustain conservation efforts [29], [30] and [31]. Given the known challenges for successful marine common-pool resource management [32] and [33] and the importance of widespread community support for local conservation initiatives [34], [35] and [36], the high degree of knowledge and positive attitudes in the 13 MPA villages has the potential to strengthen the long-term sustainability of the MPAs and foster greater compliance with MPA regulations. In Cameroon, a study found that improving attitudes toward the project changed behaviors in a positive way towards the project’s forest conservation and improved farming practices [37]. Evidence from Reunion shows that a lack of community acceptance of an MPA can increase the cost of enforcement [38]. When communities support conservation efforts, more time and money can be spent on conservation rather than on non-compliance. A study of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Marine Park found that the average cost per person of community education was one tenth of the cost of detecting an infringement [23].