Modeling Coastal and Marine Environmental Risks in Belize: the Marine Integrated Decision Analysis System (MIDAS)

Abstract

The livelihood of coastal communities is directly linked to the health of intertidal and marine ecosystems. Coastal zones and marine areas are rapidly changing and highly vulnerable to impacts from climate change, accelerating human development, and over-fishing. Quality of life and the benefits of coastal development can be greatly enhanced, and costs minimized, by projecting and comparing alternative policy outcomes before management decisions are made. This article describes the Marine Integrated Decision Analysis System (MIDAS), an interactive decision support tool designed to assist the users and managers of Belize's system of marine management areas (MMAs) in understanding the interactions among various ecological, socioeconomic, and governance conditions in a spatially explicit manner. MIDAS can simulate and visualize the likely effects of alternative management strategies and therefore provides an important tool for evaluating potential scenarios. We developed two MIDAS modules to address specific threats in Belize -spatial risk resulting from mangrove deforestation in coastal areas and the potential effect of an oil spill off the coast of Belize. Workshops conducted in Belize indicate that diverse user groups such as fishers, tourism operators, and public environmental agencies can successfully utilize MIDAS to understand MMA outcomes, and environmental risks.

A survey of governance approaches to ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction: Current gaps and future directions

“…However, for the purposes of this survey, we looked IIM is currently applied through a coordinated network across the Pacific Ocean [56], where it is promoting ecosystem-based efforts to simultaneously address climate change, disaster risk reduction, and ecosystem conservation [78]. The MIDAS approach, on the other hand, offers an interface to model potential scenarios in dealing with certain threats, such as the analysis of oil spills on coastlines and the spatial risks caused by mangrove degradation in Belize's Marine Management Area (MMA) [57]. These scenarios are designed based on an interactive platform that simulates problems perceived by the users and managers of the Belize's MMA, including fishers, tourism operators, state environmental agencies, and the general public [57].…”

“…The MIDAS approach, on the other hand, offers an interface to model potential scenarios in dealing with certain threats, such as the analysis of oil spills on coastlines and the spatial risks caused by mangrove degradation in Belize's Marine Management Area (MMA) [57]. These scenarios are designed based on an interactive platform that simulates problems perceived by the users and managers of the Belize's MMA, including fishers, tourism operators, state environmental agencies, and the general public [57].…”

An Experimental Evaluation of a Satellite Data Decision Support System for Flood Mitigation Efforts in Indonesia

“…Satellite data has key benefits for decision makers including broad spatial coverage, a consistent temporal record, and free availability -all of which have the potential to improve understanding of environmental and socioeconomic trends and address data scarcity issues. DSS incorporating satellite data have been employed in situations related to Pekalongan, including understanding mangrove loss and degradation (Goldberg et al, 2018), mangrove health, ecosystem services, and related policy (Reid & Wood, 2020), and ecological, socioeconomic, and governance factors for marine management areas (Gopal et al, 2015). However, despite the availability and capability of satellite data for flood management decision-making, failures of DSS developers to properly consider end-users' needs and objectives (Díez & McIntosh, 2009;Edwards et al, 2010;McIntosh et al, 2008) are connected to DSS disuse by end-users.…”