(CBMRM) in Solomon Islands
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Lincoln University Digital Thesis Copyright Statement The digital copy of this thesis is protected by the Copyright Act 1994 (New Zealand). This thesis may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the following conditions of use: you will use the copy only for the purposes of research or private study you will recognise the author's right to be identified as the author of the thesis and due acknowledgement will be made to the author where appropriate you will obtain the author's permission before publishing any material from the thesis. Assessing the value of approaches for Community Based Marine Resource Management (CBMRM) in Solomon Islands A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Applied Science at Lincoln University by Janet Naimalefo’o Saeni-Oeta Lincoln University 2017 Abstract of a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Applied Science. Abstract Assessing the value of approaches for Community Based Marine Resource Management (CBMRM) in Solomon Islands by Janet Saeni-Oeta In the field of environmental management, considerable attention has been given to developing tools to harness people and their skills and capacity to effectively govern natural resources. Because of the importance of people’s capacity to influence the natural state of the environment and resources therein, researchers and practitioners have been trying to identify which mechanism could offer sound resource management at various levels. This research primarily investigated cases of successful and unsuccessful Community Based Marine Resource Management (CBMRM), particularly the ‘ways of working’ used by external partners that may influence the social behaviour of people in the community. Hence the approach was to particularly explore the ways in which community empowerment may be effective in the process of marine resource management. This has been achieved through studying three CBMRM communities in the Lau Lagoon, North Malaita, Solomon Islands. The study was centred around the CBMRM programmes focusing on three aspects: social constraints that rural Solomon Islands communities faced; intervention pathways that supported fisheries; and characteristics of places and interventions that appear to influence the probability of successful CBMRM engagements. Keywords: Governance, Community Based Resources Management, Marine resources, Co- management, Collaborative management, Sustainability, Community, Lau Lagoon, Malaita Province, Solomon Islands. ii Acknowledgements I wish to express my heartfelt thanks to all the people who have supported me during the course of this thesis. First of all, my sincere thanks to my supervisors, Dr. Hamish Rennie and Dr. Michael Shone, for guiding me throughout this challenging journey. I really appreciated all the comments, suggestions and the impartation of both your knowledge and expertise towards the completion of this thesis. Special thank you to both of you for understanding my family situations and giving me confidence to discuss freely about my research during our fortnightly and eventually weekly supervisory meetings. I also extend my gratitude to my external advisor, Dr. Anne-Maree Schwarz, of the MSSIF program in the Solomon Islands Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR) for her advice and guidance during the early stages of my research as well as prior to the data collection period. I acknowledge the contribution of associated students at the Department of Environmental Management (Lincoln University) and my former colleagues at WorldFish Solomon Islands who have provided constructive comments and words of encouragement. I also extend my thanks to the Faculty of Environment, Society and Design at Lincoln University for funding a large portion of my research expenditures. Had it not been for their financial support, my research would not be carried out successfully. My sponsor, New Zealand Aid (NZAID), gave me a scholarship and provided funds for my fieldwork. I will always be grateful for you giving me the opportunity to pursue my dream. Also a big thank you to Ms. Sue Bowie from the Lincoln University Scholarships Office, you have been so kind to me since I arrived in 2015. Thank you so much. Many thanks to the community leaders in the three case study communities in Malaita Province for allowing me to carry out my reasearch in your communities. I also thank those community members who have assisted me in one way or the other when I was out in the community to collect data. Above all, I give my greatest appreciation to those research participants who agreed to be interviewed. Without you, this research would not have taken place. Lastly, I am very grateful to my family especially my husband, my mum and dad, my mother in-law, and my two cousins sisters, Rose and Tina, for all their support, in looking after my young children in my country while I was away from them. I am also grateful to my late brother who made me believe in the usefullness of education. Their prayers and faith have been the essence of my strength and inspiration. iii Table of Contents Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................ iv List of Tables .............................................................................................................................. vii List of Figures ............................................................................................................................ viii Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Research aims and questions ....................................................................................................1 1.2 Problems, issues and justification for the study .......................................................................2 1.3 Researcher’s interest ................................................................................................................3 1.4 Structure of thesis .....................................................................................................................3 Chapter 2 Research Theory ...................................................................................................... 5 2.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................5 2.2 Governance ...............................................................................................................................6 2.2.1 Definition ...................................................................................................................... 6 2.2.2 Concept ........................................................................................................................ 6 2.2.3 Forms of governance ................................................................................................... 7 2.3 Regimes in marine resource management ...............................................................................7 2.3.1 State property regime .................................................................................................. 7 2.3.2 Private property regime ............................................................................................... 8 2.3.3 Common property regimes .......................................................................................... 8 2.3.4 Non-property regimes (open access) ........................................................................... 9 2.3.5 Hybrid regimes ............................................................................................................. 9 2.4 Community Based Resource Management (CBMRM) ..............................................................9 2.4.1 Definition ...................................................................................................................... 9 2.4.2 Concept ......................................................................................................................10 2.4.3 Why CBMRM is used and or promoted?....................................................................11 2.4.4 Features of CBMRM ...................................................................................................12 2.4.5 Strengths of CBRM .....................................................................................................12 2.4.6 Weaknesses of CBRM .................................................................................................13 2.5 Co-management governance ................................................................................................. 14 2.5.1 Definition ....................................................................................................................14 2.5.2 Concept ......................................................................................................................15 2.5.3 Why is co-management governance used and or adopted? .....................................16 2.5.4 Features of co-management governance ..................................................................17