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Ocean & Coastal Management 49 (2006) 789–791

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Editorial

Balancing development and conservation needs inthe Western Indian Ocean region

The papers in this special issue reflect the kinds of cross-cutting societal issues thatprofessionals and practitioners in coastal and marine management deal with today in thenations of the Western Indian Ocean region. All the papers highlight the challenges tobalancing development and conservation in the region, but also offer insights and successstories for the way forward. Key themes are the interaction between coastal and marineconservation and development, combating poverty, empowering coastal communities, andpromoting public health.

Four of the papers address issues of development and conservation. Following theWorld Summit on Sustainable Development, this is also the focal point of international aidand development assistance in recent years. In every policy sphere affecting internationaldevelopment, there is a belief that success in sustainable development needs to be definedby the simultaneous objectives of poverty alleviation and conservation. At the 2002 WorldSummit on Sustainable Development, governments around the globe declared thateradicating poverty is the greatest global challenge facing the world today, and anindispensable requirement for sustainable development. The Declaration explicitly statesthat sustainable development is built on three interdependent and mutually reinforcingpillars: economic development, social development, and environmental protection, whichneed to occur at local, national, regional, and global levels [1].

This special issue highlights the fact that development must be people centered to besustainable and include the human dimensions of development such as participation indecision making, access to diverse livelihoods, vulnerability and food security, communityempowerment, and social equity. Poverty is a multidimensional phenomenon and the non-monetary dimensions of deprivation are as important as the monetary measures, includingphysical, natural, human, and socio-political capital assets [2].

Sustainable livelihoods are commonly promoted as a practice able to meet bothconservation and development goals. Sustainable livelihood projects aim to provide aliving for the resource users while ensuring that the natural resource base is maintained forthe use by future generations [2]. The concept is built on four normative principles:

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People-centered: responding to people rather than resources or services. � Participatory and responsive: processes to listen and respond to the poor. � Sustainable: in all four dimensions—economic, institutional, environmental, and social. � Empowering: increased voice and well-being for the poor [3].

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The papers in this issue remind us that Africa’s economic and development futurecannot be separated from the management of its natural resources. In a continent where

70% of the people earn their living from natural resources, the key questions boil down towho has access to those resources and how they are managed. This has importantimplications for tourism development, fisheries, and protected area management. Wherepeople depend on the environment and struggle to survive, it is necessary to maintain abalance between agriculture, fish exploitation and natural resources. This calls for policiesthat can adequately ensure the sustainable management of natural resources. It also callsfor measures that will reduce people’s direct dependence on natural resources.The first paper explores the linkages between the dimensions of poverty, HIV/AIDS and

coastal biodiversity in rural coastal villages in Tanzania. Torell et al. present the results ofa threats assessment conducted to explore the impacts of HIV/AIDS on coastalbiodiversity—explaining how poverty, gender imbalances, and migration escalate thesituation. The empirical research showed that when HIV infects members of a household,it reduces the amount of labor available to support that household—including the labor togrow, catch or otherwise secure food. This in turn makes these households more vulnerableto acute food insecurity. HIV/AIDS-affected households increase stresses on theresources—depending more on wild foods, wildlife, medicinal plants, timber and fuelwood in their search for ways to diversify their sources of food and income. The studyfound that women are most vulnerable because, not only are they more likely to becomeHIV infected, they also carry the burden of caring for sick family members. Therefore, theauthors conclude that women should be a primary target group for efforts to relieve theburdens that AIDS precipitate, including sustainable livelihood programs and energy-saving technologies.The second paper reviews the importance of small-scale fisheries in the Western Indian

Ocean region to combating poverty. Walmsley et al. conclude that the sector has notalways been adequately addressed in poverty reduction strategy plans. Possible reasons forthe limited recognition of the fisheries in poverty reduction strategies are given. Theyinclude the complexity of small-scale marine fisheries, poor fisheries data, difficulty inlinking national policies to local-level interventions, and lack of voice in the developmentof national poverty reduction strategies. Given the importance of marine fisheries tocoastal regions, it is argued that improved fisheries management and budgetary supportwould make an important contribution to the livelihoods of poor coastal communities.In the third paper, Tobey and Torell summarize findings from a large field study in

Tanzania and Zanzibar on the linkages between marine conservation through protectedarea management and coastal poverty. The study is based on the idea that sustainabledevelopment and poverty reduction cannot be achieved without healthy, well-managedand productive marine and coastal ecosystems. One of the conclusions of the study is thatMPAs are more effective when there is a significant and long-term involvement of thecommunities in protected area planning and management, and where there are tangiblebenefits to livelihoods and community development. The paper finds that combiningconservation with investments in sustainable livelihoods can compensate for a decline ofthe marine fishery and prevent a downward spiral of food security, income, andvulnerability of rural coastal households.Rakotoson and Tanner show how customary law in Madagascar, known as ‘‘Dina’’, can

reinforce modern law and be helpful in achieving goals of decentralized governance ofmarine and coastal resources. Dina promotes democratic participation and as such

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strengthens community-based ICM and empowers poor and vulnerable people to have avoice in decision making. The authors note that in some cases Dina is not working well inprotecting local fishing rights, but that improved recognition of Dina and deliberateintegration of the legal and traditional social codes can improve community-based naturalresources management and enforcement of resource rules.

Finally, the paper by Obura on the impacts of the Indian Ocean tsunami in EasternAfrica highlights issues of social-ecological resilience to coastal disasters. Although modestcompared to the Eastern Asia region, the tsunami was sufficient to cause significantphysical damage on low-lying coastal areas including flooding and damage to physicalinfrastructure such as seawalls, beachfronts, and roads. The tsunami caused fatalities in allEastern Africa countries and where underwater damage assessments were conducted,damage was recorded to underwater habitats such as coral reefs and seagrass beds. Thelack of warning systems, tsunami awareness, and disaster preparedness in coastal areaswere primary reasons for vulnerability.

References

[1] United Nations, Report of the world summit on sustainable development, Johannesburg, South Africa, 26

August–4 September 2002. New York: United Nations.

[2] Toner A. Exploring sustainable livelihoods approaches in relation to two interventions in Tanzania. Journal of

International Development 2003;15(6):771–81.

[3] Carney D. Sustainable livelihoods approaches: progress and possibilities for change. London: Department for

International Development; 2002. p. 67.

Julius FrancisWestern Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA),

P.O. Box 3298, Zanzibar, Tanzania

James Tobey, Elin TorellURI Coastal Resources Center, 220 South Ferry Road, Narragansett, RI 02882, USA

E-mail address: elin@crc.uri.edu (E. Torell).