The FISH 2018 Annual Report > Improved natural resource management

Lite-touch approach to resource management shows promise
In Solomon Islands, where coastal resource decline and environmental degradation are increasingly putting livelihoods and food security at risk, community-based resource management (CBRM) is the main strategy for managing coastal fisheries.
It is estimated that hundreds of communities have already implemented some sort of CBRM with the support of government ministries, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and research agencies. However, the different approaches employed by these partners are often intensive and long- term. Consequently, engagement with communities is slow, expensive and unlikely to reach the approximately4,000 coastal communities in the geographically dispersed island state.
The lite-touch approach has been suggested as a more efficient and cost-effective way to establish and spread CBRM. The approach is similar to other models but requires less intense or frequent engagements with communities, with the potential to promote local ownership of (rather than project dependency on) the process and outcomes.
In Mararo, a remote community in East ‘Are’are, Malaita Province, we tested the effectiveness of the lite-touch approach in supporting the implementation of CBRM and acting as a ‘core’ community to encourage others to follow suit. One of the main strategies employed in Solomon Islands to spread CBRM has been ‘look and learn’ trips, where representatives from communities that are not currently implementing CBRM visit a community that is successfully doing so.
Follow-up research was conducted in the 14 villages in East ‘Are’are that had received awareness presentations from representatives from Mararo. The use of Mararo’s informal networks was effective for spreading CBRM information and helped to overcome challenges of geographic isolation and high costs of logistics. As a result, two additional villages have since initiated CBRM.
The case of Mararo suggests that the lite-touch approach can be successful in promoting the implementation and spread of CBRM at lower cost. Mararo was effective as a core site in terms of raising awareness and sharing experiences and knowledge with surrounding communities as well as motivating them to take management action themselves.