A “community” marine protected area, ecological and/or social characteristics and benefits

Since their creation, MPAs have established themselves as tools for biodiversity conservation and fisheries management, as well as for the socio-economic development of local communities. In this respect, they are fully supported by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which, by rehabilitating the rights of indigenous “communities” to access natural resources and their local knowledge, encourages the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from biodiversity conservation. In the field, this is reflected, on the one hand, by the emergence of modes of governance presented as “participatory”, through which local communities would be key players in the elaboration and implementation of MPA management rules and mechanisms. On the other hand, the establishment of MPAs has aroused a great deal of interest in access to the advantages and benefits derived from conservation, which are intended to compensate for the ban on fishing in classified waters and the exploitation of shellfish resources, particularly by women. These measures, seen as a deprivation of the rights of “local communities”, were to be altered by a socio-economic enhancement of these protected areas.

 

Although MPAs have in some respects contributed to better conservation of marine and coastal ecosystems, the objectives of “shared” governance and access to resources are far from being achieved. This paper aims to show that, twenty years after the first MPAs in Senegal, the effective participation of local communities and access to the ecological and economic benefits of conservation are still problematic. I will first explore the ecological and/or social characteristics and benefits of MPAs. Secondly, I will analyze access to these benefits: Who? Who? Through what channels and mechanisms? How is this access legitimized in the field?