Chao Pescao: A Study of Conservation and Resource-Dependence Across Cuba

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are now implemented all over the world as a tool to conserve biodiversity and help in the recovery of degraded marine ecosystems. The general consensus is that MPAs are a productive and necessary... [ view full abstract ]

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are now implemented all over the world as a tool to conserve biodiversity and help in the recovery of degraded marine ecosystems. The general consensus is that MPAs are a productive and necessary piece of our world’s collective marine conservation strategies. A wealth of literature demonstrates that there are several key attributes that significantly increase MPA effectiveness. While some of these are parameters that require foresight in planning stages like size and duration of protection, the issue of actually enforcing an MPA is a critical component to achieving conservation in practice.

MPA enforcement is often one of the most difficult aspects of implementation, as areas in need of protection are often the same areas fishers and local communities depend on for food and livelihoods. Actively enforcing park boundaries and regulations with patrols is costly, time-consuming, and a near impossible task for large MPAs. A far more effective approach to park enforcement and MPA compliance is one of collaboration between fishers and the implementing agencies. This involves educating all stakeholder groups in the planning process, thus empowering communities with both the knowledge of an MPA’s benefits, and the development of sustainable livelihoods that align with MPA goals. Despite ample supporting evidence that community involvement and compliance can significantly increase an MPA’s effectiveness and success, in practice this is still an uphill battle due to a common, inherent suspicion of authorities that “impose” these regulations on stakeholders.

To understand MPA implementation in practice we traveled to Cuba, an island nation with an impressive network of MPAs that exhibits the entire spectrum of success from healthy reefs with abundant fish populations to “paper parks,” where the impacts of extractive activity were evident. Through a series of interviews with marine biologists, conservation managers, and resource-users in several communities across the island, the study gathered insights to support a more collaborative model of MPA implementation. Open discussion and observation revealed a trend of strong environmental awareness in these resource-dependent communities. The main impediment to MPA compliance was financial instability or food insecurity that necessitated continued exploitation. In the short film Chao Pescao, excerpts from these interviews and observations are compiled in a narrative piece that emphasizes the importance of relating to communities on a personal and individualized level, building a relationship of trust and understanding to forward their needs as well as those of their local environment.