10%

Ecuador and Peru join efforts to promote sustainable ocean management

GEF-UNDP/FAO CFI LAC Project

By IW:LEARN

June 7^th, 2020

The Global Coastal Fisheries Initiative (CFI), a partnership of six organizations (FAO, UNDP, WWF, UNEP, World Bank and Conservation International), has been developed and funded within the framework of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to safeguard the oceans and marine environment. The Programme promotes a shift towards an integrated, inclusive and sustainable approach to fisheries management and development. The CFI is implementing three regional projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

In Latin America, the project has been working to connect the key actors for a participatory governance in the fisheries sector in Ecuador and Perú.

The project in Ecuador aims to improve de governance of the fisheries of mahi - mahi, tuna pole-and-line, black shell, crab and titi shrimp, and in Peru of shell and crab. On the other hand, the project has as objective to strengthen the capacities of the management of small-scale fisheries to the governments of Tumbes and Piura. At the same time is also being carried out in a transversal manner, activities to improve the marine spatial planning in the two countries. So far there are important milestones in the project, which have contributed to the sustainable management of the oceans.

Artisanal fisherwoman of Ecuador. Photo credit: Bruno Cámara Rojo/UNDP Perú.

The project partners in Ecuador have been working in the strengthening of the governance of the ancestral tuna pole and line fishery. Augusto López, president of the Manta Tuna Pole and Line Cooperative, is aware of the need to promote sustainability in the tuna sector in Ecuador.

He says:

"My grandfather was a pole and line fisherman, my father was it too, now I am also dedicated to this activity and I hope that in the future my son can continue with this legacy. And that is why I know how important it is to have sustainable tuna fishing,"

Augusto López, President of the Manta Tuna Pole and Line Cooperative. Photo credit. Sebastián Espín Meneses CFI/PNUD

Also, in this country recently was launched the Virtual Monitoring and Traceability Pilot of mahi – mahi fishery. José Conforme, president of the fishing cooperative "20 de Septiembre", who is part of this pilot, assures that with this pilot the sustainability of the fishery is going to improve.

Conforme says:

"Thanks to the training we have had, we know how to carry out fishing that considers environmental aspects and the care of other species. Then, thanks to this initiative we can market a product with a fair price and added value, in which we guarantee it has been fished in a sustainable way"

José Conforme, president of the fishing cooperative "20 de Septiembre". Photo credit. Bruno Cámara Rojo PNUD Perú

The project also has activities that are implemented in Ecuador and Peru articulately, in order to support the improvement of sustainable management of shell and crab fisheries. In both countries, participatory monitoring and community management of mangrove areas are promoted. In Peru, the project has a grant agreement with the Consorcio los Manglares del Noroeste, which integrate several associations that carry out extractive activities in Tumbes. This agreement aims to strengthen the productive and management capacities of these associations.

Hilda León has been a shell collector in Tumbes for more than 20 years. Right now, leads Puerto Perú Association. She and her colleagues have been affected by the economic crisis that Covid19 brings at a collateral effect. Hilda assures that to face these difficulties, the strengthening of associations and cooperativism is essential:

"My associates have many ideas now on how to reorganize the association, because we want to achieve better things for us, such as keeping up to date on fishing licences and taking more sustainable measures in the mangrove”.

Hilda León, shell collector of Tumbes. Photo credit: Teresina Menzala CFI/PNUD

The project is carrying out an innovative activity that seeks the repopulation of the mangrove shells, in order to diminished the environmental impact that right now is having this ecosystem. A team of researchers in Peru and Ecuador are creating laboratory shell seeds. This activity is being worked with extractor associations in both countries, once these seeds have been generated in the laboratories, a training process is carried out in order to share the knowledge that allow them to transport and conditioning of these seeds into the mangroves. This activity also seeks to improve the productive capacities of this associations.

The project also has an important component of Marine Spatial Planning. In Ecuador, through a series of workshops and together with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), multisectorial stakeholder roundtables were formed to implement an integrated management of key areas for Ecuador such as the Gulf of Guayaquil. In Peru, the Integrated Management Plan for the Coastal Marine Zone (PMIZMC) has been worked on in participatory governance processes, which have served as a model for updating the PMIZMC in Paita and Talara, expanding the project's scope of intervention.

The PMIZMC will be included in the Regional Ordinance, so the approval of this legal instrument would generate the first region in the country with a Regional System of integrated management of coastal marine area led from the Regional and local governments, and built from a participatory governance approach.

Aldo Aguirre of SERNANP Piura, highlights "An articulated work allows us to generate initiatives and projects focused on the direct use of hydrobiological resources, but also an indirect use of its resources such as landscape and tourism”, explains.

Aldo Aguirre, SERNANP Piura. Photo credit. Ministry of Environment of Peru

One of the direct contributions the project has made to the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans is the evaluation of the Ocean Health Index. This is a management tool that has been applied in more than 220 countries and territories. It evaluates 10 targets on environmental, economic, and social aspects to comprehensively and quantitatively diagnose the health status of the ocean.

In Ecuador the evaluation has been successfully finished, in the provinces of Santa Elena and Manabí. With the results obtained from this evaluation, a series of recommendations will be made to achieve an improvement in social, environmental and economic management, so that public and private stakeholders that make use of the oceans in these coastal areas of Ecuador can consider them from their different activities.

The evaluation in Peru has begun for the Sechura Bay in Piura. This process will be accompanied by a strong component of training and capacity building of public actors, so that this evaluation can be carried out in a constant and sustainable manner not only in Piura, but also at the national level.

Ocean Health Index targets from Santa Elena Province in Ecuador. Photo credit: Gustavo Crespo Conservation International Ecuador.

Finally, so that all these efforts can be scaled up, replicated and improved, several meetings have been held to exchange experiences between Ecuador and Peru. These meetings, take into consideration that many times they face similar challenges, and methodological structures can be built together in order to generate sustainable management of marine ecosystems.

The activities in Peru are implemented by the Ministry of Environment (MINAM), the Ministry of Production and the Regional Governments of Tumbes and Piura (GORE Tumbes, GORE Piura).

In Ecuador are implemented by the Ministry of Production, Foreign Trade, Investment and Fisheries (MPCIP) and the Sub-Secretariat of Coastal Marine Management (SGMC), through its implementing partners WWF and Conservation International (CI) Ecuador.

The project has technical cooperation from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as an implementing agency of the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

Fisherwomen, fishermen, authorities, and different stakeholders for Ecuador and Peru, during the first binational experiences exchange of the CFI project. Photo credit. Sebastián Espín Meneses CFI/PNUD

For more information on the CFI LAC Project please contact the Coordinator, Miguel Maldonado (miguel.maldonado@undp.org) and UNDP Officer Jorge Álvarez (jorge.alvarez@undp.org). In addition, please access the project on the FAO website and the dedicated project page on iwlearn.net.