Community-Based Marine Protected Area Management and Coral Reef Fish Population Recovery

Abstract

The paper examines the effectiveness of community-based management measures to help improve the recovery of coral reef fish populations in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Overfishing, pollution, and climate change are rising and threatening coral reefs, and hence, an MPA is necessary to conserve biodiversity. But the success of these secured zones is not only dependent on their designation but also on the involvement of the community in the running of these zones. This study considers the importance of the management of the coral reefs by the local communities, and also their effect on the fish biodiversity and population recovery. Data were collected using an ecological survey and a participatory method of monitoring on various coral reefs within community-based MPAs on the coast of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India. The data on fish population (such as the species diversity, biomass, and density) were measured at a number of time points and compared between protected and unprotected sites. The recovery trends and the correlation between community engagement and conservation outcomes were evaluated by means of statistical analysis involving ANOVA and regression analyses. The findings reveal that there has been a considerable recovery in fish in the community-managed MPAs, where the average fish abundance and biomass were found to be 47 % and 55 % higher in the protected regions than in the unprotected ones (p < 0.05). Moreover, the research shows that the active involvement in the community and enhancement of adherence to the management regulations have a strong positive relationship, which may indicate that local stewardship is the key to the success of resource conservation. These results emphasize the usefulness of the community-based administration as an approach to the conservation of coral reefs. The study highlights the significance of incorporating local knowledge, sustainable activities, and community-based enforcement in the larger policy frameworks of MPAs so that long-term sustainability of the ecology and increased fish population recovery can be achieved.