Hostname: page-component-7dd5485656-zklqj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-30T02:23:04.007Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Law, custom and community-based natural resource management in Kubulau District (Fiji)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2010

PEPE CLARKE  and
STACY D. JUPITER
PEPE CLARKE
Affiliation:
Wildlife Conservation Society, 11 Ma'afu Street, Suva, Fiji Islands
STACY D. JUPITER*
Affiliation:
Wildlife Conservation Society, 11 Ma'afu Street, Suva, Fiji Islands
*
*Correspondence: Dr Stacy Jupiter Tel: +679 331 5174 Fax: +679 331 0178 Mob: +679 994 6272 e-mail: sjupiter@wcs.org
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

National laws and institutions interact with local governance systems to encourage CBNRM in some cases while creating conflict in others. A case study of Kubulau District (Bua Province, Fiji) illustrates the challenges and successes of implementing traditional community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) within a pluralist legal and institutional context. In 2005, the communities of Kubulau established a network of protected areas, including 17 traditional closures (tabu), three no-take district marine reserves, a legally–declared forest reserve and a proposed forest reserve, managed under an integrated ‘ridge-to-reef’ plan. Marine and terrestrial areas in Kubulau illustrate synergies and discord between national laws and community management rules, and provide examples of management success and conflict. Key components influencing diverse management outcomes in Kubulau include (1) the legal status of customary resource tenure, (2) incorporation of local knowledge, traditions and priorities, (3) clearly articulated relationships between local decision-making processes and government regulation, and (4) perceived equity in distribution of management benefits. Legal and institutional reforms are proposed to improve management of natural resources in Fiji.

Keywords

community-based managementcustomFijilawnatural resourcesprotected areas

Information

Type
THEMATIC SECTION: Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM): designing the next generation (Part 1)
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 37 , Issue 1: Thematic section. Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM): designing the next generation (Part 1) , March 2010 , pp. 98 - 106
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Aswani, S. (2005) Customary sea tenure in Oceania as a case of rights-based fishery management: does it work? Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries 15: 285–307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aswani, S., Albert, S., Sabetian, A. & Furusawa, T. (2007) Customary management as precautionary and adaptive principles for protecting coral reefs in Oceania. Coral Reefs 26: 1009–1021.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cakacaka, A., Jupiter, S.D., Egli, D.P. & Moy, W. (2010) Status of fin fisheries in a Fijian traditional fishing ground, Kubulau District, Vanua Levu. Wildlife Conservation Society-Fiji Technical Report no. 06/10, Suva, Fiji.Google Scholar
Care, J.C. & Zorn, J.G. (2001) Legislating pluralism: statutory developments in Melanesian customary law. Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law 46: 49–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clarke, P. & Gillespie, T. (2008) Legal mechanisms for the establishment and management of terrestrial protected areas in Fiji. IUCN Regional Office for Oceania, Suva, Fiji.Google Scholar
Cinner, J.E. & McClanahan, T.R. (2006) Socioeconomic factors that lead to overfishing in small-scale coral reef fisheries of Papua New Guinea. Environmental Conservation 33: 73–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cinner, J.E., Marnane, M.J. & McClanahan, T.R. (2005) Conservation and community benefits from traditional coral reef management at Ahus Island, Papua New Guinea. Conservation Biology 19: 1714–1723.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cinner, J.E., Sutton, S.G. & Bond, T.G. (2007) Socioeconomic thresholds that affect use of customary fisheries management tools. Conservation Biology 21: 1603–1611.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Drew, J. (2005) Use of traditional ecological knowledge in marine conservation. Conservation Biology 19: 1286–1293.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, N. (2006) Natural resources and the environment in Fiji: a review of existing and proposed legislation. IWP-Pacific Technical Report (International Waters Project) no. 21. Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, Apia, Samoa.Google Scholar
Govan, H., Tawake, A., Tabunakawai, K., Jenkins, A., Lasgorceix, A., Schwarz, A.-M., Aalbersberg, B., Manele, B., Vieux, C., Notere, D., Afzal, D., Techera, E., Rasalato, E.T., Sykes, H., Walton, H., Tafea, H., Korovulavula, I., Comley, J., Kinch, J., Feehely, J., Petit, J., Heaps, L., Anderson, P., Cohen, P., Ifopo, P., Vave, R., Hills, R., Tawakelevu, S., Alefaio, S., Meo, S., Troniak, S., Malimali, S., Kukuian, S., George, S., Tauaefa, T. & Obed, T. (2009) Status and potential of locally-managed marine areas in the South Pacific: meeting nature conservation and sustainable livelihood targets through wide-spread implementation of LMMAs. SPREP/WWF/WorldFish-Reefbase/CRISP, Suva, Fiji.Google Scholar
Hoffman, T.C. (2002) The reimplementation of the Ra'ui: coral reef management in Rarotonga, Cook Islands. Coastal Management 30: 401–418.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johannes, R.E. (1978) Traditional marine conservation methods in Oceania and their demise. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 9: 349–364.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johannes, R.E. (2002) The renaissance of community-based marine resource management in Oceania. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 33: 317–340.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kellert, S.R., Mehta, J.N., Ebbin, S.A. & Lichtenfeld, L.L. (2000) Community natural resource management: promise, rhetoric, and reality. Society and Natural Resources 13: 705–715.Google Scholar
Klein, C.J., Steinback, C., Scholz, A.J. & Possingham, H.P. (2008) Effectiveness of marine reserve networks in representing biodiversity and minimizing impact to fishermen: a comparison of two approaches used in California. Conservation Letters 1: 44–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lam, M. (1998) Consideration of customary marine tenure system in the establishment of marine protected areas in the South Pacific. Ocean and Coastal Management 39: 97–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lane, M.B. (2008) Strategic coastal governance issues in Fiji: the challenges of integration. Marine Policy 32: 856–866.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindsay, J. (1998) Creating legal space for community-based management: principles and dilemmas. Rome, Italy: FAO. [www document] URL http://www.recoftc.org/site/fileadmin/docs/publications/Seminar_Proceeding/DecentralizationandDevolution/Section_1/Lindsay.pdfGoogle Scholar
Lynch, O. (1998) Law, pluralism and the promotion of sustainable community-based forest management, Unasylva 194: [www document]. URL http://www.fao.org/docrep/W8827E/w8827e09.htmGoogle Scholar
Lynch, O. & Alcorn, J. (1994) Tenurial rights and community-based conservation. In: Natural Connections: Perspectives in Community-based Conservation, ed. Western, D. & Wright, R.M., pp. 373–392. Washington, DC, USA: Island Press.Google Scholar
Mauro, F. & Hardison, P.D. (2000) Traditional knowledge of indigenous and local communities: international debate and policy initiatives. Ecological Applications 10: 1263–1269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McClanahan, T.R., Marnane, M.J., Cinner, J.E. & Kiene, W.E. (2006) A comparison of marine protected areas and alternate approaches to coral reef management. Current Biology 16: 1408–1413.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Minter, A. (2008) Compliance and enforcement for coastal fisheries management in Fiji, IUCN Regional Office for Oceania, Suva, Fiji.Google Scholar
Munro, D.M. (1996) A case study of traditional marine management systems in Pukapuka Atoll, Cook Islands. FAO Field Report (RAS/92/T05) 96/2, Rome, Italy.Google Scholar
NZLC (2006) Converging currents: custom and human rights in the Pacific. Study Paper 17. New Zealand Law Commission, Wellington, New Zealand.Google Scholar
Prasad, B.C. & Tisdell, C. (2006) Institutions, Economic Performance and Sustainable Development: A Case Study of the Fiji Islands. New York, USA: Nova Science Publishers.Google Scholar
Reti, I. (1993) The role of custom in environmental management and law in the Pacific. Strengthening environmental legislation in the Pacific Region Workshop Proceedings, ed. Boer, B., pp. 18–23. Apia, Samoa: South Pacific Regional Environment Program.Google Scholar
Scaglion, R. (1999) Law. In: The Pacific Islands: Environment and Society, ed. Rapaport, M.. Honolulu, Hawaii, USA: Bess Press.Google Scholar
Scaglion, R. (2003) Legal pluralism in Pacific island societies. In: Globalization and Cultural Change in the Pacific Islands, ed. Lockwood, V., pp. 86–101. Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA: Pearson Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Techera, E. (2010) Legal pluralism, customary law and environmental management: the role of international law for the South Pacific. Macquarie University Law School Legal Studies Working Paper No. 2010–01 [www document]. URL http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1545527CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tiraa, A. (2006) Ra'ui in the Cook Islands: today's context in Rarotonga. SPC Traditional Marine Resource Management and Knowledge Information Bulletin 19: 11–15.Google Scholar
Veitayaki, J. (1997) Traditional marine resource management practices used in the Pacific Islands: an agenda for change. Ocean and Coastal Management 37: 123–136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Veitayaki, J. (2000) Fisheries resource-use culture in Fiji and its implications. In: Culture and Sustainable Development in the Pacific, ed. Hooper, A., pp. 116–130. Canberra, Australia: Asia Pacific Press.Google Scholar
Warner, M. (2000) Conflict management in community-based natural resource projects: experiences from Fiji and Papua New Guinea. London, UK: Overseas Development Institute [www document]. URL http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/details.asp?id=2026&title=conflict-management-community-based-natural-resource-projects-experiences-fiji-papua-guineaGoogle Scholar
WCS (2009) Ecosystem-based management plan: Kubulau District, Vanua Levu, Fiji. Wildlife Conservation Society, Suva, Fiji.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Clarke supplementary material

Appendix 1

Download Clarke supplementary material(File)
File 57.9 KB