Integrated conservation and development projects (ICDPs) were originally defined as linking biodiversity conservation in protected areas with local socioeconomic development (Wells & Brandon Reference Wells and Brandon1992); they have become management and conservation approaches linking biodiversity conservation with the socioeconomic development interests of different stakeholders at local, regional and national levels (Franks & Blomley Reference Franks, Blomley, McShane and Wells2004). ICDPs rely upon integrated management techniques that bring together stakeholders from different sectors in the creation and implementation of management plans with the long-term objective of managing the natural resources in a rational and sustainable manner (Cicin-Sain & Knecht, Reference Cicin-Sain and Knecht1988). The involvement of major stakeholders, including local community members, is a key element in assessing the success of ICDPs (Brown & Wyckoff-Baird, Reference Brown and Wyckoff-Baird1992). Here we demonstrate adaptive improvements that have been successfully implemented in two ICDPs in the Moulouya Estuary of north-east Morocco (35°07'N 2°20'W). The work is based on nine years of continual experience in ICDP implementation, the results from key informant interviews and an internal evaluation.
The Moulouya Estuary is home to many threatened and endemic plant, animal, reptile and bird species (MedWetCoast 1999). The river and Estuary have undergone major anthropogenic alterations including construction of dams regulating the freshwater flow to the Estuary (Snoussi Reference Snoussi2004), increased use of fertilizers, pesticides and irrigation in agricultural production, and human population growth (Bouabdli et al. Reference Bouabdli, Saidi, M'Rabit, Escarre and LeBlanc2005). Sand extraction and a large coastal tourist complex have latterly become the most significant ecological pressures (F. Castell, unpublished report 2007).
The conservation significance of the Moulouya Estuary and these threats resulted in its inclusion in the MedWetCoast (MWC) project, a seven-year ICDP aimed at conserving the biodiversity of global and regional importance in six countries in the Mediterranean basin. Priority actions included the development of innovative legal frameworks and intersectoral management structures, capacity building and promotion of regional exchanges through an informal network. A three-year ICDP short- and medium-term priority environmental action programme (SMAPIII) to build upon MWC launched an integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) planning process using consensus methodologies and sustainable development activities along 15 km of coast, including the Moulouya Estuary.
SMAPIII Moulouya created a space for dialogue and planning through working groups and a local steering committee of the stakeholders including local communities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), private businesses and administration. The outcome of these working groups was formalized in a Contrat de l'Espace Littoral (Contract for the Littoral Zone) signed by all the stakeholders. Alternative income generating activities are promoted and the project provides training and technical assistance to monitor changes in the coastal zone, using social, economic and environmental indicators.
Adaptive improvements
Despite the differences between the MWC and SMAPIII in geographic scope, objectives and financial support, SMAPIII has attempted to incorporate the recommendations and lessons learned from MWC into the project dimension, organization, monitoring and evaluation, and information transfer components.
Project dimensions
MWC and SMAPIII Moulouya are both ICDPs, yet the development aspects of MWC were not included in the original MWC project objectives. The initial objective of MWC was to conserve wetland and coastal biodiversity, socioeconomic issues were only incorporated two years into the programme with the implementation of socioeconomic diagnostics and income-generating activities. Although these activities were an annex to the conservation objective, they have provided key information for SMAPIII. SMAPIII Moulouya has the overall objective of supporting local ICZM efforts and local development.
Project organization
Both projects have been coordinated with national, regional and local authorities, however MWC staff were primarily centralized in the capital Rabat as a means to reinforce national staff support and impact on national policies. In the second half of MWC, local staff were nevertheless present on site through a sub-contract with the NGO in charge of conservation actions on site. SMAPIII staff were recruited locally within the project site. In order to overcome hindrances and conflicts between the national and regional levels experienced during MWC, SMAPIII preferred to decentralize the financial and administrative activities. However, the local authorities refused this decentralization, maintaining the important responsibility for project implementation in Rabat.
Despite the principal stakeholders not being involved in the project design, they have been very active in the multi-disciplinary steering committee and local thematic working groups, the latter creating a setting for identifying, negotiating and implementing trade-offs between the various interests and claims as recommended by Faith and Walker (Reference Faith and Walker1996).
Project monitoring and evaluation
One of the principal recommendations of MWC was the need to develop biophysical indicators to monitor project impact; the completion of activities was monitored, but no conclusions could be drawn about the outcome for biodiversity conservation (Padilla & Lafontaine Reference Padilla and Lafontaine2003). The SMAPIII project therefore designed an integrated monitoring scheme with interdisciplinary biophysical indicators. Monitoring of these indicators involves existing agencies and local governments in the data collection, translating available information into usable formats, and providing concrete data on the evolution of the pressures and impacts within the wetlands (I. Fabre, unpublished report 2007), and serves as a baseline to measure the trends in socioeconomic development and biodiversity.
Information transfer
MWC prioritized regional Mediterranean information transfer including training, exchanges, workshops, newsletters and awareness campaigns (MedWetCoast 1999). Significant human, logistical and financial resources were dedicated to this objective alone. This continues in SMAPIII, but the majority of the initiatives are developed by local staff in coordination with other NGOs and actors. This localized approach aims to inform target audiences about site specific messages. It is more pragmatic and easier to coordinate, but it could also be limiting in exchanging experience and developments about larger issues in and around the Mediterranean such as climate change and tourist growth.
Conclusions
Successful ICDPs require constant adaptive management to improve the activities involved and increase positive impact. The changes made across the MWC and SMAPIII projects have helped overcome some of the difficulties; however further changes could be envisaged, such as stronger involvement of stakeholders in the project design and decentralization of financial and administrative activities to avoid delays. Ongoing participatory and adaptive changes are needed to best meet the specific situation involved.
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Integrated conservation and development projects (ICDPs) were originally defined as linking biodiversity conservation in protected areas with local socioeconomic development (Wells & Brandon Reference Wells and Brandon1992); they have become management and conservation approaches linking biodiversity conservation with the socioeconomic development interests of different stakeholders at local, regional and national levels (Franks & Blomley Reference Franks, Blomley, McShane and Wells2004). ICDPs rely upon integrated management techniques that bring together stakeholders from different sectors in the creation and implementation of management plans with the long-term objective of managing the natural resources in a rational and sustainable manner (Cicin-Sain & Knecht, Reference Cicin-Sain and Knecht1988). The involvement of major stakeholders, including local community members, is a key element in assessing the success of ICDPs (Brown & Wyckoff-Baird, Reference Brown and Wyckoff-Baird1992). Here we demonstrate adaptive improvements that have been successfully implemented in two ICDPs in the Moulouya Estuary of north-east Morocco (35°07'N 2°20'W). The work is based on nine years of continual experience in ICDP implementation, the results from key informant interviews and an internal evaluation.
The Moulouya Estuary is home to many threatened and endemic plant, animal, reptile and bird species (MedWetCoast 1999). The river and Estuary have undergone major anthropogenic alterations including construction of dams regulating the freshwater flow to the Estuary (Snoussi Reference Snoussi2004), increased use of fertilizers, pesticides and irrigation in agricultural production, and human population growth (Bouabdli et al. Reference Bouabdli, Saidi, M'Rabit, Escarre and LeBlanc2005). Sand extraction and a large coastal tourist complex have latterly become the most significant ecological pressures (F. Castell, unpublished report 2007).
The conservation significance of the Moulouya Estuary and these threats resulted in its inclusion in the MedWetCoast (MWC) project, a seven-year ICDP aimed at conserving the biodiversity of global and regional importance in six countries in the Mediterranean basin. Priority actions included the development of innovative legal frameworks and intersectoral management structures, capacity building and promotion of regional exchanges through an informal network. A three-year ICDP short- and medium-term priority environmental action programme (SMAPIII) to build upon MWC launched an integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) planning process using consensus methodologies and sustainable development activities along 15 km of coast, including the Moulouya Estuary.
SMAPIII Moulouya created a space for dialogue and planning through working groups and a local steering committee of the stakeholders including local communities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), private businesses and administration. The outcome of these working groups was formalized in a Contrat de l'Espace Littoral (Contract for the Littoral Zone) signed by all the stakeholders. Alternative income generating activities are promoted and the project provides training and technical assistance to monitor changes in the coastal zone, using social, economic and environmental indicators.
Adaptive improvements
Despite the differences between the MWC and SMAPIII in geographic scope, objectives and financial support, SMAPIII has attempted to incorporate the recommendations and lessons learned from MWC into the project dimension, organization, monitoring and evaluation, and information transfer components.
Project dimensions
MWC and SMAPIII Moulouya are both ICDPs, yet the development aspects of MWC were not included in the original MWC project objectives. The initial objective of MWC was to conserve wetland and coastal biodiversity, socioeconomic issues were only incorporated two years into the programme with the implementation of socioeconomic diagnostics and income-generating activities. Although these activities were an annex to the conservation objective, they have provided key information for SMAPIII. SMAPIII Moulouya has the overall objective of supporting local ICZM efforts and local development.
Project organization
Both projects have been coordinated with national, regional and local authorities, however MWC staff were primarily centralized in the capital Rabat as a means to reinforce national staff support and impact on national policies. In the second half of MWC, local staff were nevertheless present on site through a sub-contract with the NGO in charge of conservation actions on site. SMAPIII staff were recruited locally within the project site. In order to overcome hindrances and conflicts between the national and regional levels experienced during MWC, SMAPIII preferred to decentralize the financial and administrative activities. However, the local authorities refused this decentralization, maintaining the important responsibility for project implementation in Rabat.
Despite the principal stakeholders not being involved in the project design, they have been very active in the multi-disciplinary steering committee and local thematic working groups, the latter creating a setting for identifying, negotiating and implementing trade-offs between the various interests and claims as recommended by Faith and Walker (Reference Faith and Walker1996).
Project monitoring and evaluation
One of the principal recommendations of MWC was the need to develop biophysical indicators to monitor project impact; the completion of activities was monitored, but no conclusions could be drawn about the outcome for biodiversity conservation (Padilla & Lafontaine Reference Padilla and Lafontaine2003). The SMAPIII project therefore designed an integrated monitoring scheme with interdisciplinary biophysical indicators. Monitoring of these indicators involves existing agencies and local governments in the data collection, translating available information into usable formats, and providing concrete data on the evolution of the pressures and impacts within the wetlands (I. Fabre, unpublished report 2007), and serves as a baseline to measure the trends in socioeconomic development and biodiversity.
Information transfer
MWC prioritized regional Mediterranean information transfer including training, exchanges, workshops, newsletters and awareness campaigns (MedWetCoast 1999). Significant human, logistical and financial resources were dedicated to this objective alone. This continues in SMAPIII, but the majority of the initiatives are developed by local staff in coordination with other NGOs and actors. This localized approach aims to inform target audiences about site specific messages. It is more pragmatic and easier to coordinate, but it could also be limiting in exchanging experience and developments about larger issues in and around the Mediterranean such as climate change and tourist growth.
Conclusions
Successful ICDPs require constant adaptive management to improve the activities involved and increase positive impact. The changes made across the MWC and SMAPIII projects have helped overcome some of the difficulties; however further changes could be envisaged, such as stronger involvement of stakeholders in the project design and decentralization of financial and administrative activities to avoid delays. Ongoing participatory and adaptive changes are needed to best meet the specific situation involved.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Sylvie Goyet for providing key inputs concerning the project's history.