author: Petrus (Peter) J. Mous - COREMAP II - 2007
These technical guidelines are based on lessons learned in establishing and
managing community-managed reserves (Daerah Perlindungan Laut or DPL)
within the context of the Coral Reef Rehabilitation and Management Program
(COREMAP) in Eastern Indonesia. The target audience for these
guidelines are agencies and individuals involved in facilitating the estab-
lishment of DPLs in the seven COREMAP districts: Sikka (Nusa Tenggara
Timur), Pangkep (Sulawesi Selatan), Selayar (Sulawesi Selatan), Buton
(Sulawesi Tenggara), Wakatobi (Sulawesi Tenggara), Raja Ampat (Papua
Barat), and Biak (Papua).
The function of DPLs is to sustain reef fisheries. DPLs are established
and managed at the desa-level, the lowest administrative unit in Indonesia
that can issue formal regulations (Peraturan Desa or PERDES). Because
the reef area under the control of desa is generally small, with median values
varying between 46 and 377 ha in COREMAP districts, DPLs are generally
much smaller than the optimum size recommended for fishery management
(1000 ha). It follows that DPLs can only serve fishery management needs
for small and sedentary fish. Therefore, in addition to DPLs, authorities at
district, province, and national level must establish medium-sized (1,000 ha)
and large (> 10,000 ha) no-take areas to sustain fisheries for mid-sized and
large commercial species.
In order to sustain reef fisheries for small and sedentary reef fish, DPLs
must fulfill the following design criteria:
• The average size of DPLs per district must amount to at least 100 ha,
and the minimum size must be at least 10 ha.
• DPLs must include reefs, sea grass beds, and/or mangroves.
• DPLs must be established at places that have productive fisheries, or
at places that have been depleted. They should not be established at
places that are unproductive because of natural factors.
• DPLs must extend from the coastline to 100 m beyond the foot of the
reef slope (see text for exceptions relating to very wide reef flats).
• In contrast to earlier practice, DPLs must have only one management
designation—zoning into “Zona Inti” and “Zona Penyangga” proved to
be too costly compared to the small gains in management flexibility.
• DPLs must be closed to any type of fishing. Visitation and passing
through must be allowed because these non-extractive uses do not interfere
with the main management objective of DPLs.
These guidelines recommend the following participatory process towards
proper siting of DPLs:
Step 1. Select a desa. The local Program Management Unit must first
select desa for participation in the DPL program, prioritizing fishing
communities that control a relatively large area of reef.
Step 2. Identify obvious choices. If the desa community has a strong
preference for a certain area, the facilitator should just ascertain whether
this place meets basic design criteria before continuing to Step 8. Otherwise,
continue to Step 2.
Step 3. Define the area-of-interest. Delineate the area at sea where the
community has some measure of control and ownership. Continue to
Step 3.
Step 4. Break up the area-of-interest into planning units. Each planning
unit must approximately fulfill aforementioned design criteria for
DPLs. Continue to Step 4.
Step 5. Use ecological criteria to score and rank planning units. See
text for a more details on scoring and ranking. Continue to Step 5.
Step 6. Consider socio-economic and management criteria. Facilitators
and community members must consider pros and cons in respect to
socio-economic and management criteria for the highest ranking planning
units. Select one or more planning units and continue to Step 6.
Step 7. Delineate the DPL. Refine the boundaries of the selected planning
unit(s) to delineate the DPL. Continue to Step 7.
Step 8. Collect DPL metrics. Estimate the total surface area of the DPL,
the percentage of the DPL that has reefs, and get a coordinate of a position
in the middle of the DPL. Continue to Step 8.
Step 9. Field check. The facilitator must invite an expert from the local
Program Management Unit to conduct a field check on snorkel to ascertain
that (1) the DPL is larger than 10 ha, (2) the DPL contains
reefs, sea grass beds, and/or mangroves, (3) the position coordinate of
the DPL is correct.
Step 10. Formalize the DPL through a village regulation (PERDES).
Examples of PERDES are available from the COREMAP National Coordination
Unit.
Finally, this document contains guidelines towards cost-efficient marking
of DPLs, based on a central marker instead of ineffective and costly boundary markers
please contact the author or COREMAP II for complete guideline
