Factors Influencing Progress in Establishing Community-Based Marine Protected Areas in Indonesia

TLDR

Concerns are mounting over the high failure rates of community‑based small‑scale no‑take marine reserves proliferating across Southeast Asia. The study aimed to identify factors that influence the success of such reserves, focusing on intrinsic community characteristics, project input levels, and change‑agent attributes. An empirical analysis was conducted with 24 villages in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, where marine reserves were in early establishment phases. Progress was found to be driven by village complexity, development level, project input intensity, community organizer characteristics, and homophily between organizers and the community, providing insights for tailoring interventions, scaling projects, and enhancing investment returns.

Abstract

Concerns are being raised about high failure rates of community-based small-scale no-take marine reserves that are proliferating in the Southeast Asian region. Factors hypothesized to influence success include intrinsic community characteristics, project input levels, and change agent characteristics. An empirical analysis of these hypotheses was conducted using a sample of 24 villages in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, where marine reserves were in early phases of establishment. Factors found to influence the rate of progress were village complexity, level of development, project input levels, characteristics of community organizers, and degree of community organizer homophily relative to the community. These findings are important for community-based marine conservation initiatives conducting simultaneous interventions in multiple communities. It provides insights in how project strategies can be adjusted to increase the probability of success, obtain economies of scale, target communities more amenable to community-based interventions and result in a better return on project investments.