Landscape management - Ecological Applications: Toward a Sustainable World - page 295

for reintroduction of turtles and seals; Figure 10.15b), recreational activity value
(RAV - aggregating values for all recreational activities; Figure 10.15c), as well as
commercial resource value (aggregating traditional fi shing sites plus other suitable
areas) and ease of access value (aggregating marine access routes and harbors).
The fi nal stage was to produce a zoning plan that provides, as far as possible, for
the sustainable desires of all interest groups. Villa's team tried to avoid complex
zoning that would make management and enforcement diffi cult. They also paid
careful attention to the views of the various groups to minimize any remaining
confl icts. The fi nal plan (Figure 10.15d) has: a single no-entry, no-take zone (refl ect-
ing biological importance and relative remoteness), four entry, no-take zones to
protect specifi c values such as endangered species (refl ecting biological value but
with easy access); two general reserve zones (to protect sensitive benthic assem-
blages, such as seagrass meadows that suffer little from permitted activities; Table
10.3); and one partial reserve zone as a buffer for adjacent reserve zones (in an area
where traditional fi shing practices are compatible with conservation). The plan also
includes three channels that provide maximum boat access where ecological distur-
bance will be minimal.

10.7.2 A marine
zoning plan for New
Zealand - gifts, gains
and china shops

An analogous approach has been taken to develop a management plan for the exten-
sive Fiordland region (Section 4 in Box 1.2) in the southwest of New Zealand
(Teirney, 2003). This was an entirely bottom-up effort by the local community (with
no top-down direction by government agencies), which took 8 years from fi rst meet-
ings to the publication of a comprehensive plan. The diverse groups worked face-
to-face from the beginning. The Guardians of Fiordland's Fisheries and Marine
Environment comprise Maori, recreational and commercial fi shers, tourism opera-
tors, marine scientists and environmentalists. While challenging to manage (a
skilled facilitator was involved), this approach provides a model for minimizing
confl ict, stimulating reciprocal learning, and formulating objectives for sustainable
ecosystem use that have proved diffi cult to achieve by top-down means.
A signifi cant feature of the proposal was the concept of gifts and gains by the
various groups. Thus the plan called for new fi shing behavior: a reduction in bag
limits for recreational fi shers, the withdrawal of commercial fi shers from the inner
fi ords, and a voluntary suspension of certain customary fi shing rights by Maori. In
addition, a number of marine reserves and protected areas were identifi ed to protect
representative ecosystems and china shops - areas with outstanding but vulnerable
natural values. These gains in sustainability and conservation were balanced by the
gift from environmentalists to refrain from pursuing their original goal of a much
more extensive marine reserve program. As a result, the plan does not represent
either extreme of the resource-use spectrum - preserve everything or exploit as a
free for all. Instead a sustainable middle ground was identifi ed, with the Maori
concept of kaitiakitanga or guardianship at its root. The New Zealand government
agreed to implement the plan in its entirety and has passed the new legislation
necessary.

10.7.3 Managing an
agricultural landscape
- a multidisciplinary
endeavor

Agricultural landscapes can harbor a wealth of biodiversity. But when farm produc-
tion becomes too intensive and widespread, both biodiversity and ecosystem ser-
vices suffer. Biodiversity is reduced because of the loss of species-rich habitat
remnants and the impact of high levels of pesticides. At the same time there is an