Title
Where do national and local conservation actions meet? Simulating the expansion of ad hoc and systematic approaches to conservation into the future in Fiji
Author(s)
Mills, M.;Adams, V.M.;Pressey, R.L.;Ban, N.C.;Jupiter, S.D.
Published
2012
Publisher
Conservation Letters
Abstract
The marginal benefits of systematic over ad hoc selection of protected areas
are rarely measured, even though this information is crucial to investing limited
conservation resources effectively. We developed a method to predict the
marginal benefits of systematic over ad hoc approaches to conservation over
time. We tested it in Fiji, where ambitious national conservation goals for inshore
marine waters rely on community support to implement the required
management. We used Maxent to develop a suitability layer for different forms
of marine resource management based on predictors derived from interviews
with key informants. This suitability layer, together with data on established
marine protected areas (MPAs) and the softwareMarxan with Zones, informed
simulations of the expansion of ad hoc and systematic conservation. With
the same constraints on the additional extent of MPAs, the ad hoc approach
achieved quantitative conservation objectives for half the ecosystems in our
analysis, although all objectives were achieved or nearly achieved with the
systematic approach. By defining the likely upper and lower bounds of plausible
futures given different decisions about conservation investments, this work
was designed to guide conservation strategies and actions in Fiji. This work
is currently influencing the development of policies in Fiji to promote more
strategic use of limited conservation resources.
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