• Logged in as Unregistered User
  • Sign in

Social-Ecological Systems Meta-Analysis Database: Case

Raja Ampat (National Act No. 32 2004)

SummaryThe Raja Ampat MPA is a network of 7 MPAs (Dampier Strait, Ayau-Asia, Kawe/Wayag-Sayang, Southeast Misool, Mayalibit Bay, Kofiau & Boo Isles, and Raja Ampat (South West Waigeo)). It was first declared in 2007 (although was not a large MPA by our definition at this stage: 8352km2), the boundaries were then extended in 2009 (now >10,000km2). It was set up under Ministry of Fisheries in Indonesia’s era of decentralisation. The Raja Ampat MPA management authority is designated as a ‘public services board’ (meaning they can: a) can hire non-civil servants, b) pay non-civil servant salaries, c) directly manage their revenue, d) can accept external donor funding), setting them apart from typical Indonesian government agencies. MPAs were set up through a bottom up process and as collaboration from the outset, with the main aim to support local food security and traditional rights. Coral reef surveys (2001-2) revealed that the coral reefs are the most diverse globally, with 553 species of reef-building coral recorded, more than 75% of the world's total number of coral species. Currently there are 1,506 coral reef fish species recorded. The high biodiversity is linked to the high diversity in terms of habitat, which range from shallow reef habitats (fringing, barrier, patch, atoll reefs) to deep channels.
Statuspublic
TeamIndonesia MPA team
Start Date2014-12-11
Coding Complete?No
SectorMarine protected areas
ProjectSESMAD
Data Source(s)Secondary data
CountryIndonesia
External BiophysicalKofiau and Boo MPA experienced unusual weather patterns (~2013) which levelled a number of the reefs Land-based activities are becoming a major threat in the area causing run-off and sedimentation. Including: mining exploration and exploitation; road-building; illegal logging. Land-based threats are likely to be of growing concern in the future of this case.
External SocialContention over two MPAs and whose authority they are: Raja Ampat Marine Wildlife Sanctuary (SW Waigeo island) is considered a National-level MPA, and Kawe is currently in flux (dispute between Ministry of Fisheries and local communities – looks as though it will become partnered with Raja Ampat MPA Authority by the end of this year (2015), management has remained under CI during this time. Kofiau and Boo MPA saw a temporary increase in bomb fishing (~2013) - bomb fishers were jailed. Ongoing conflict between Indonesian government and West Papuans; transmigration from other provinces - wider picture, but not a direct influence on the MPA.
Snapshots2009-current (coded from when the MPA boundaries were extended and the Network fulfilled our size requirement)
Timeline1999- Legislation decentralized, with responsibilities for the management of coastal and marine resources devolved to local governments. 2000- Creation of the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries who oversee the MPA. 2001- Conservation International and The Nature Conservancy conduct primary studies on the biodiversity in the Raja Ampat region. 2004- Papua Diving Company formed an agreement with local villagers limiting pelagic fishing to nearby villages. 2005- Misool Eco-Resort created first no-take zone. 2007- Raja Ampat Marine Protected Area established, Tourism entrance fee created. 2009 - MPA boundaries extended. 2010- Ban all activity in the area regarding sharks, dugong, turtle, and manta rays. 2012- Establish certain areas as no-take zones.
Modeling IssuesThere is also commercial fishing in the area (majority skipjack tuna - boats owned by outsiders and crewed by a mix of Papuan and Indonesian), but this was not coded as an actor Pearl Farming is the second main economic sector in Raja Ampat (after artisanal fishing)
Surveys
Theories

Visualization

Show Render

Hide Render

Attached Components

Actors

Name:
Raja Ampat Artisanal Fishers
details
Past collaboration:
High (3)
Strong cultural history. Strong social capital within the group - e.g. sasi marine management
Costs of exit:
Yes
Dependence on the fishery is variable and many households also farm, but fishing is still an important livelihood
Proportionality (of costs and benefits):
No
Receive more benefits than costs - fishing is central to their culture and society.
Interest heterogeneity:
Low (1)
Primarily subsistence fishing.
Leadership:
["Formal leader"]
VIllages that practice sasi management (traditional management practices) have village leaders, traditional leaders, and religious leaders. They all play a role in controlling use and access to marine resources and are elected by popular vote. There is one village leader (kepala kampung) who serves as the link between the higher local level government officials and central Raja Ampat government (Mcleod, 2009)
Leadership authority:
High (3)
Decisions concerning which marine resources are open for fishing and which are closed are determined by the leaders. They control the use and access to marine resources.
Actor group trust:
High (3)
Personal communication:
More than once a year (5)
Remote communication:
More than once a year (5)
Personal communication likley to be more prominent
Leadership accountability:
High (3)
The village leader is elected by the other community members to oversee all sasi practices, therefore their decisions directly affect everyone in the group and make them accountable (Mcleod, 2009)
Actor group coordination:
Both formal and informal
Informal coordination, such as sasi, and formal coordination through the site-specific management plans. The fishermen abide by traditional management practices (sasi) for certain species and follow a strong leadership system that relies on pressure from community members to conserve as much as possible. (Agostini, 2012; Bawole, 2012).
Name:
Raja Ampat Managers
details
Past collaboration:
Medium (2)
High past collaboration for communities (long-term traditional management), but NGOs arrived in the area in 2001 and the Raja Ampat Regency was inaugurated in 2003 - so overall coded as medium
Costs of exit:
Not Applicable
Proportionality (of costs and benefits):
Not Applicable
Interest heterogeneity:
Medium (2)
Some divergence of interests at the start due to nature of groups: communities (food security); NGOs (conservation/food security), local governement (economic revenue) - but these are now largely convened.
Leadership:
["Formal leader"]
There is a head of the overall MPA network, and each local level MPA has its own head.
Leadership authority:
High (3)
Actor group trust:
High (3)
MPAs were set up as a collaboration from the outset so trust is very high (M.Erdmann pers comm)
Personal communication:
More than once a year (5)
Remote communication:
More than once a year (5)
Leadership accountability:
High (3)
Formally appointed.
Actor group coordination:
Formal
Formal. There is a head of the overall MPA network, and each local level MPA has its own head.
Name:
Raja Ampat Tourism
details
Past collaboration:
Not Applicable
Costs of exit:
Not Applicable
Proportionality (of costs and benefits):
Yes
Receive more benefits than costs - profitably industry.
Interest heterogeneity:
Low (1)
Majority dive tourism
Leadership:
["Formal leader"]
Tourism department of Raja Ampat government
Leadership authority:
Medium (2)
Tourism department of Raja Ampat government - developed formal tourism regulations, but approved by higher governement levels
Actor group trust:
High (3)
Focus is mandated to be local-level ecotourism or homestay. Can ahve outside investment, but must be majority (80%) local staff. Number of liveaboards are capped and there are tax breaks for homestays.
Personal communication:
More than once a year (5)
Remote communication:
More than once a year (5)
Leadership accountability:
High (3)
Tourism department of Raja Ampat government
Actor group coordination:
Formal
There are formal guidelines for tourism in Raja Ampat: including tourism enterance fee and a licensing system that caps the number of liveaboards able to operate, etc.

Governance Systems

Name:
Raja Ampat Governance System
details
Type of formal governance:
System of laws
Focussed on the System of Laws - there is a formal management plan that includes components for each of the MPAs, and a management plan for the whole network, but there is contention over which MPAs are to be finally included in this plan (there are currently two versions - one included Kawe and one without).
End Date:
Current
2015
Begin date:
2009
Coded from 2009 when the MPA boundaries were extended and the Network fulfilled our size requirements
Governance trigger:
slow continuous change
Started with landmark meeting in 2003 – adat laders from across Raja Ampat, including RA government and NGOs came together to discuss current state of marine resources - tomlol declaration – it was recognised there was a decline in resources, with outside fishermen coming in, and local people needing to paddle further to catch fish - wanted to do something about it and wanted to reclaim traditional rights over their reefs.
Governance system description:
The legal basis is National Act No. 31, 2004, "with management plans for each MPA and an over-arching management plan for all MPAs in the network close to completion. The Raja Ampat MPAs were designated by indigenous communities and are collaboratively-managed in a partnership between local communities and the Raja Ampat regency government"=>nil, "with additional support from International NGOs (CI +TNC)"=>nil}
Raja Ampat MPAs come under the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (as apposed to the Ministry of Forestry for Wakatobi and Cendrawasih) - they tend to be less centralistic and have more local government and other stakeholders (Wiadnya et al. 2011). The MPAs are under a co-management structure, building on the strong local management of marine resources that was in place before (sasi laut). Sasi laut incorporates a set of institutional roles with varying degrees of influence wielded by religious and government authorities (Zerner, 1994). There is heavy inolvement from NGOs (TNC/CI) who are operating in Raja Ampat as part of the broader Birdshead Seascape. The MPAs are to some extent funded by COREMAP-CTI (World Bank funded)
Governance scale:
State-based policy
State-based policy - Raja Ampat Regency
Centralization:
Somewhat decentralized (2)
Raja Ampat Regency - officially managed under the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, but management is shared between local communtiies and local governement with support from International NGOs (TNC + CI)
Metric diversity:
High: Many metrics for success (3)
Many metrics from social (perceptions) to ecological (turtles, coral, fish spawning)
MPA primary goal (in practice):
["Biodiversity conservation", "Social goals"]
Main aim of MPAs was to support local food security and traditional rights
MPA motivation:
["Ecological value"]
Raja Ampat is a national and global priority for conservation as it contains the world’s most diverse coral reefs and critical habitats for globally threatened marine species, and is a cetacean migratory corridor.
MPA protection:
["Reducing threats"]
The main aim was to reduce destructive fishing pressure
MPA internal natural boundaries:
Medium (2)
Coded as medium as some of the MPAs are all no take, but others aren't. And from the zoning map it appears not all reefs are included within MPAs, e.g. in Mayalilbit the MPA covers a portion of the reef area, and Dampier Strait some there is no clear boundary at the south-east portion of this MPA.
Distance to markets:
Between 10-100km (2)
Major city is Sarong - considered the 'gateway to Raja Ampat' - West Papua (it has a port and airport) Distance to Sorong from MPA boundaries varies as it is a network - shortest distance is from Dampier Strait MPA and is ~10km
MPA budget:
Missing
PA IUCN strict zones:
20 %
Total of 1982.32km2 no take (core and tourism zones) - percentage calculated from zoning given in Boli et al 2014. for the 5 MPAs presented in the paper (total 9905.76km2, not total area of the MPA network) Could not find zoning details on other MPAs
MPA connectivity:
Yes (3)
This is a network of MPAs with sites distributed across the region. Knowledge of currents was apparently considered when designing MPAs (see Agostini et al. 2012)
PA CAR principles:
Yes (3)
Yes - the ecological prinicples were fully considered, including the use of Marxan, expert mapping and the wide variety of surveys (see Agostini et al 2012).
MPA migratory benefit:
Yes
A turtle nest-guarding team developed by local NGO Papuan Sea Turtle Foundation (YPP) and staffed by local villagers has effectively reduced turtle poaching from an estimated 95 percent mortality of nests and nesting turtles to zero in the Piai Island Rookery, with over 1400 green turtle nests successfully laid and hatched since September 2006. (CI Seascape Factsheet 2008) The entire area is a Shark Sanctuary offering protection to sharks and mantas - there have been some high profile prosecutions.
MPA migratory life history:
 
nesting and foraging populations of green and hawksbill turtles. A total of 17 species of marine mammals including 9 whale species, 7 dolphin species and dugong have been recorded indicating that Raja Ampat is likely to be an important migratory pathway, feeding and/or breeding ground for these species. TNC Factsheet : The Raja Ampat Islands. 2011
MPA threats to migratory sp:
["Resource competition", "Bycatch"]
MPA migratory threats and redux:
 
Shark sanctuary declared in 2010 - covers 46,000 km2 of waters around the Raja Ampat islands - to protect: dugongs, sharks, turtles and manta rays
Social-ecological fit:
High (3)
Good social fit and covers wide vairety of habitat and areas, including large no take areas
Governance knowledge use:
["Scientific knowledge", "Local/traditional knowledge"]
Heavy involvement of Conservation NGOs who provide much of the science to feed into the management. However, MPAs were originally built upon local-taboo/sasi management and this is still incorporated.
MPA IUCN somewhat strict zones:
%
MPA IUCN sustainable zones :
80 %
The other zones are: Sustainable fisheries and aquaculture zone; Zone cruise line ships; sasi and traditional use zone; Other utilization zone - which make up 80% of the MPAs. Sasi and traditional use zone cover 53% of total area and inlcude periodic closures for certain species. Percentage calculated from zoning given in Boli et al. 2014. for the 5 MPAs presented in the paper (total 9905.76km2, not total area of the MPA network)
MPA threats:
Overfishing/destructive fishing; land-based activities
-Over fishing, destructive fishing -Illegal logging, (Il)legal mining -Oil and Gas exploration, exploitation -Poorly planned development -Transmigration from other provinces (Intro to TelCen+BHS powerpoint)
Governance system spatial extent:
11859
11,859km2 is the total area of the MPA network
Horizontal coordination:
Both formal and informal
The MPAs were built upon traditional marine management "sasi", which is still followed

Environmental Commons

Name:
Raja Ampat Reef Fish
details
Productivity:
Moderately Productive (2)
Most species would be moderate to highly productive. However, some can be very slow growing taking years to mature and reproduce hence the evaluation here that the resource is moderately productive.
Commons aggregation:
Guild
Multiple reef fish species
Biotic:
Yes
Commons unit size:
Small (2)
On average reef fish are comparatively small
Commons mobility:
Medium (2)
Varies by species. Compared to sessile resources, like coral or trees, and global migratory species or pollutants target fish are considered to be moderately mobile.
Commons spatial extent:
11859
This is the spatial area of the Raja Ampat region that is covered by the marine protected area.
Environmental medium:
Oceanic
Oceanic
Commons heterogeneity:
Moderate (2)
Distributed around all parts of the MPA in varying degrees
Intra annual predictability:
Moderate (2)
Inter annual predictability:
Moderate (2)
Technical substitute:
No
Commons boundaries:
Somewhat unclear boundaries (2)
Some species are habitat-associated species and tend to mirror patterns in habitat cover. However, the resource is mobile horizontally and vertically and often crosses administrative boundaries (e.g., zoning) so is considered to have somewhat unclear boundaries.
Commons renewability:
Renewable (1)
However, some can be very slow growing taking years to mature and reproduce
Commons accessibility:
Very accessible (3)
Reefs are fairly close to shore
Commons indicator:
["Status of species targeted by fisheries"]
Name:
Raja Ampat Coral Cover
details
Productivity:
Very productive (3)
Shallow water corals reefs are among the most productive ecosystems of the world
Commons aggregation:
Guild
Multiple coral species
Biotic:
Yes
Commons unit size:
Large (4)
The reefs as a whole are large (not the coral polyps themselves)
Commons mobility:
Sessile (1)
Commons spatial extent:
11859
Coded as spatial extent of MPA network (not the area of reefs)
Environmental medium:
Oceanic
Oceanic
Commons heterogeneity:
Low (1)
Corals cluster together in reefs, in a patchwork of reef and non-reef areas.
Intra annual predictability:
High (3)
Inter annual predictability:
High (3)
Technical substitute:
No
Commons boundaries:
Clear boundaries (3)
Reefs are clearly recognized
Commons renewability:
Renewable (1)
But takes decades to renew because coral reefs are slow-growing
Commons accessibility:
Very accessible (3)
Some areas of the reef are very accessible and located near villages, other reefs are further away and require a boat to access - access is only prevented for some areas during rough weather.
Commons indicator:
["Ecosystem health and/or biodiversity"]
Name:
Raja Ampat Green Turtle
details
Productivity:
Poorly productive (1)
Slow maturing, high infant mortality.
Commons aggregation:
Population
Population
Biotic:
Yes
Commons unit size:
Medium (3)
Average weight of adult individual 68-190Kg
Commons mobility:
High (3)
Migratory species
Commons spatial extent:
11859
Coded as the extent of the Raja Ampat network, but they are distributed in tropical and sub-tropical waters
Environmental medium:
Oceanic
Oceanic
Commons heterogeneity:
Moderate (2)
Distributed in the sense that they migrate all over the indo-pacific ocean but return to the same nesting beach each year. The nesting locations in the Raja Ampat area are Wayag-Sayang, Ayau-Asia, Kofiau, Boo Isles, and Southeast Misool.
Intra annual predictability:
Moderate (2)
Availability varies according to season, but these patterns can be predicted. Also population sizes don't fluctuate too much in relation environmental factors.
Inter annual predictability:
Moderate (2)
Migratory but likely to return to particular nesting beaches every 3-4 years. Long-living. But vulnerable to rapid declines year on year if threatened by human activity.
Technical substitute:
No
Commons boundaries:
Somewhat unclear boundaries (2)
Can be found in certain islands in the Raja Ampat area and have distinct nesting and foraging areas although they migrate throughout the entire area and are generally found in tropical and subtropical waters. The nesting locations in the Raja Ampat area are Wayag-Sayang, Ayau-Asia, Kofiau, Boo Isles, and Southeast Misool.
Commons renewability:
Renewable (1)
Renewable, although low survival rates and slow maturing
Commons accessibility:
Very accessible (3)
Turtles are easy to catch - intentionally or as bycatch. They are predicable with their nesting season when they and their eggs are easy to harvest
Commons indicator:
["Status of highly migratory species"]

Component Interactions

Governance Interaction

Raja Ampat Interaction Green Turtle

2009-01-01 - ongoing
Coded: 2015-05-20

Commons User:
Raja Ampat Artisanal Fishers (Actor)
Governs:
Raja Ampat Governance System (Governance System)
Other:
Raja Ampat Managers (Actor)
Primary:
Raja Ampat Green Turtle (Environmental Common)

Governance Interaction

Raja Ampat Interaction Reef Fish

2009-01-01 - ongoing
Coded: 2015-05-23

Primary:
Raja Ampat Reef Fish (Environmental Common)
Governs:
Raja Ampat Governance System (Governance System)
Commons User:
Raja Ampat Artisanal Fishers (Actor)
Other:
Raja Ampat Managers (Actor)

Governance Interaction

Raja Ampat Interaction Coral Cover

2009-01-01 - ongoing
Coded: 2015-05-18

Commons User:
Raja Ampat Artisanal Fishers (Actor)
Governs:
Raja Ampat Governance System (Governance System)
Primary:
Raja Ampat Coral Cover (Environmental Common)
Commons User:
Raja Ampat Tourism (Actor)
Governing Organization:
Raja Ampat Managers (Actor)