The Links Between Resource Dependency and Attitude of Commercial Fishers to Coral Reef Conservation in the Red Sea

Abstract

The imperative to further constrain extractive uses of natural resources will strengthen as resources degrade through over-use or exposure to climate changes. Here, we explore an approach to increase the support for marine conservation among coral reef fishers. We explore the proposition that resource dependency in the Egyptian Red Sea can act as a barrier to conservation. We administered face-to-face surveys to 49% of the fishing industry to: (i) identify the level of compliance to the local marine protected area (MPA), (ii) assess the level of dependency on marine resources in the region and (iii) examine the relationship between resource dependency and conservation attitudes. Only 11.4% of fishers were aware of the MPA. Fishers were mostly limited in their social flexibility and livelihood options. Results suggest that resource dependency is highly and negatively correlated with conservation attitudes suggesting that management efforts need to seriously focus on reducing dependency if conservation goals are to be met.

The status of coral reef ecology research in the Red Sea

“…Accordingly, the majority of the results from our WoK search were conducted in the Egyptian Red Sea (ESM 6). Of the studies conducted in Egyptian waters most investigated the effectiveness of established MPAs (Galal et al 2002;Ashworth et al 2006;Kochzius 2007;Marshall et al 2010;Hannak et al 2011;Samy et al 2011). The concentration of this research on Egyptian reefs meant that of the eight topics reviewed, this topic had the lowest proportion of studies conducted within the Gulf of Aqaba.…”

Developing a conceptual framework for the attitude–intention–behaviour links driving illegal resource extraction in Bardia National Park, Nepal

“…These factors include perception about the park management and other relevant organisations (Allendorf, 2007;Gillingham and Lee, 1999;Lepp and Holland, 2006), inadequate benefits (Gillingham and Lee, 1999;Lepp and Holland, 2006), past experience with protected wildlife such as crop damage and livestock depredation (Campbell-Smith et al, 2010;Yihune et al, 2009), general conservation values (Sodhi et al, 2010), dependency on resource (Marshall et al, 2010), perceived impact of illegal resource extraction (Thapa and Chapman, 2010) and socio-economic factors related to the household and the village an individual belongs to (Anthony, 2007;Ferreira and Freire, 2009;Vodouhê et al, 2010). In the following paragraphs, we will explain how each of these factors has been found to influence attitudes and behaviour, leading to the development of a framework for modelling the likelihood of illegal resource extraction.…”

Percepción comunitaria y procesos de Gestión Integrada de Zonas Costeras en el Pacífico Norte de Costa Rica

“…Sin embargo, la propuesta de algunos habitantes consultados de legalizar la pesca artesanal en AMPs, no precisamente contribuiría a mejorar su situación socioeconómica, en especial si se considera la relación encontrada entre la presencia de áreas de no pesca y el aumento significativo de la productividad pesquera en los alrededores, tras analizar múltiples experiencias locales de conservación (Worm et al, 2006). Marshall et al, (2010), han demostrado que la disposición para apoyar iniciativas de conservación tiende a incrementarse cuando hay múltiples fuentes de ingresos, por lo que introducir alternativas económicas en zonas altamente dependientes de la pesca podría ayudar a diversificar la economía, reducir la dependencia sobre el recurso pesquero y propiciar un ambiente favorable para el desarrollo de proyectos de conservación marina (Rowe, 2011). El turismo podría ser una de esas alternativas, siempre y cuando el modelo a implementar persiga el interés público del país (Honey, Vargas & Durham, 2010).…”

“…Se ha demostrado que utilizar esa información en conjunto con datos de carác-ter biológico permite analizar integralmente una problemática y mejorar la legitimidad de gobernanza de las costas (Castilla, Gelcich & Defeo, 2007;Marshall, Marshall, Abdulla & Rouphael, 2010;Correa, Turbay & Vélez, 2011). Algunos trabajos de percepción ciudadana con respecto al tema medioambiental han sido publicados en los últimos años en el país (Pernudi, Solórzano, Sandoval & Vargas, 2004, 2005Centeno, González & López, 2012), pero pocos se han enfocado en las comunidades costeras (Castellón-Zelaya, 2006;Pereira & Sierra, 2009).…”