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see the progress we made at https://wikis-mit-edu.ezproxy.canberra.edu.au/confluence/display/12DOT000/11.16.07 to prepare for saturday's meeting
15: Jose Cabal-Ugaz, Team 89: Case Study-Peru
So my uncle in charge of managing protected areas in Peru sent me two case studies which he worked on in the past few years.
Proposal #1: Set aside a series of islands which parallel the coast and their surrounding waters as a marine reserve.
The islands are home to a diverse array of land and water species alike, as well as to guano, among the best fertilizers in the world.
El Niño is a weather phenomenon which brings a warm air current to the Pacific coast every so often, causing disruption in fishing waters. As the waters warm up, marine species migrate toward colder waters, something found along the islands. If they are set up as a protected area, many marine species will be able to seek refuge there and thus the damage will not be as devastating. This will preserve the fish population even in times when the weather phenomenon hits.
Right now, these areas are under state control and tourism is not permitted in the area. The idea behind the plan also involves finding out how to attract tourism to the islands and their surroundings (ecoturism) while causing minimum disruption to the ecosystem. Possible tourist activities: birdwatching, scuba diving, island visits. The latter is currently done in southern Peru, with visits to the Ballestas Islands, a very profitable enterprise because of the large number of people, especially tourists, who want to see the diverse array of animals on and around the islands.
This is the most feasible plan to even begin to protect Peru's waters. Limits on fishing, licenses, permits, etc. will not work there due to the nature of the lower class which tends to ignore or stretch to the limit whatever government tells them to do. Rather, it is better to just close off certain waters to fishing, something that has already been proven effective in the country with the Paracas MPA, established in 1975 to conserve biodiversity in the south-central waters.
Proposal #2: Set aside a portion of northern Peru's waters, bordering the northernmost two provinces as a marine reserve.
Three currents of air converge in northern Peru:
Equatorial Current
Humboldt Current
Anti-Current
These currents affect the migratory patterns of marine species, causing them to converge in the area, which explains the amazing quantity of marine species in the area. Not surprisingly, it is also home to the largest number of small scale fishers in the country.
Not enough research has been done in the area, and it has been proposed that a Marine Research Station be built in the area to conduct studies of the ecosystem.
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These two proposals are feasible because they shut off waters of maximum output. This initially may lead to economic loss, which is why the plans are stalled as of now, but the waters hold the potential for most rapidly increasing the fish population to stable levels.
Wiki page: Click Here
(The case studies are attachments on the wiki but they're in Spanish. Buena Suerte!)
14 Team 89: MPAs and Research
In trying to find ways to gain revenue from the MPA itself. I was looking through some scientific journal web pages and found that there are associations for various fields in science. (sorry if this is common knowledge because it seems like a possible new angle for both education and funding) The example I found was of applied geoscience. Now what I propose is to follow similar guidlines as this association has in place. I took this off their "about the organization" web page:
Founded in 1970, the Association of Applied Geochemists is an international organisation specialising in the field of applied geochemistry whose purpose is to:
- Advance the science of geochemistry as it relates to exploration and the environment
- Further the common interests of exploration geochemists
- Facilitate the acquisition and distribution of scientific knowledge
- Promote exchange of information
- Encourage research and development
- Advance the status of the profession
- Sponsor symposia, seminars and technical meetings
To achieve these goals, the Association of Applied Geochemists:
- published the Journal of Geochemical Exploration from 1972 until 2000, and currently publishesGEOCHEMISTRY: Exploration, Environment, Analysis starting in 2001
- publishes quarterly a newsletter, EXPLORE
- publishes in a digital format a bibliography of geochemically oriented papers, now available to AAG Members on the ASSOCIATION OF APPLIED GEOCHEMISTS web page
- holds biennial International Geochemical Exploration Symposia with associated field trips
- holds regional meetings of specialised interest and co-sponsors meetings with other scientific societies
- organises workshops and short courses
- supports a student paper prize
- supports a distinguished lecture series
Creating an organization that would foster research and gain revenue from journal subscriptions and membership fees (this example has $100.00 dues each year this includes journal subscription) seems like a great way to not only promote education which we feel is essential but also to get started in funding further research or implementation devices such as MPA to try to attain sustainable fisheries.
Ideally the research procured in the MPA would be published in this centralized scientific journal. The money from the subscription and membership fees would go towards maintaining the MPA that the research would come from. This could also be done by taking a scientific journal that already exists expanding it and setting the profits up to go to the MPA.
This is where I found information on the example I think we could model a new organization off of: http://www.appliedgeochemists.org/\\
TEAM 2 PROPOSED SOLUTION: work in progress
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