An Overview Of Our Solution
Monk Seals and MPAs, Opening the Door for Ecotourism
Who is this solution impacting?
Ecosystem
Oceanos/Costa
Community Type
Rural
Additional Information
- Population Impacted:
- Continent: Europa
Problem
Describe the problem
For over 20 years, the non-profit NGO, the Hellenic Society for the Study and Protection of the Monk Seal (MOm), has been working throughout Greece to protect the largest remaining population of Mediterranean monk seals. One of the organization's greatest accomplishments to that aim has been the establishment of the National Marine Park of Alonnisos, Northern Sporades, one of Europe's largest marine protected areas and Greece's first marine park, covering nearly 2.300 kilometers. Though MOm's main hope was to promote and manage a marine sanctuary for the seals, the park has proved a win-win situation for local stakeholders, providing jobs, helping to maintain declining fish stocks, limiting competition to small-scale local fishermen, and encouraging an ecotourism movement in Alonnisos.
Biodiversity Impact
Coastal fisheries are a main staple in the local economy in Alonnisos. In the past, destructive or illegal methods such as dynamite fishing, unregulated spearfishing, and bottom-trawling were as rampant in the area as in other parts of Greece. Mom’s activities to study the area’s monk seals, along with education campaigns targeted to the local population, showed another way forward. Regulations on fishing activities help to protect the area from destructive or illegal practices and shelter the park from overfishing. Local small-scale fishermen face reduced competition from professional trawling fleets as the strict regulations discourage such vessels from entering the park’s boundaries. MOm’s continued presence in the park also offers a rapport between scientific researchers and fishermen. From 2005-2009, MOm worked with fishermen in numerous seal and dolphin “hot spots†such as the park in order to monitor and quantify target fish species and damage to fishing nets and compare them to monk seal target species. The results of this research project were included in an Action Plan for the mitigation of the negative consequences of monk seal and coastal fisheries, the first comprehensive strategy ever compiled to address conflicts between seals and the fishing industry. This document offered inventive solutions to help fishermen such as insurance against gear damages, tax breaks to fishermen working in monk seal protected areas. The revenue offered by ecotourism in the park, however, is also encouraging families to embrace other forms of income generation.
Solution
The National Marine Park of Alonnisos Northern Sporades is home to many rare plant and animal species, some of which are endemic to only one island in the park, though the monk seal is its most notable. A 3-mile exclusion zone has been established around the island of Piperi, a primary breeding and pupping location for the seals. Monk seals are a particularly reclusive species; therefore, the existence of a ƒ??human-freeƒ? zone ensures that the seals will always have a safe and quiet retreat. It also provides an advantage to MOm biologists: unlike other species of seals, monk seals tend to live largely solitary lives in remote and isolated partially submerged marine caves, making research extraordinarily difficult for just a handful of scientists scouring Greeceƒ??s approximately 6,000 islands. Having one ƒ??sure-fireƒ? location is an invaluable asset for research purposes. The park is actively guarded to ensure that all vessels in the area are aware of and in compliance with the existing environmental law. Alonnisos is also home to Greeceƒ??s only rehabilitation center for the Mediterranean monk seal. To date, approximately 20 seals have been reared in the center and re-released into the park where they will have the best odds of survival. The park also serves as a focal point for MOmƒ??s educational efforts. For close to 20 years, MOm has operated information centers in the area. These centers seek to educate the public about the monk seals and the local ecosystem, while instilling an attitude of conservation and stewardship in visitors and locals alike. // The National Marine Park of Alonnisos Northern Sporades covers an area of nearly 2.300 square km. It is divided into an ƒ??Aƒ? and a ƒ??Bƒ? Zone. The ƒ??Bƒ? Zone encompasses approximately 678 square kilometres and includes the inhabited islands of the park, Alonnisos and the sparsely populated adjacent island of Peristera. This zone has a lower level of restrictive measures, allowing for greater human activity such as SCUBA diving and spearfishing (in specified locations). The ƒ??Aƒ? Zone (1,587 km?ý) includes five uninhabited islands as well as numerous islets. Restrictions in the ƒ??Aƒ? Zone encompass both commercial and recreational fishing as well as the activities of tourist vessels. Local in-shore fishery is permitted throughout the whole of the park (excluding the core area), while trawling boats must maintain a distance of 2.5 nautical miles from all islands. The ƒ??Aƒ? Zone also contains the core zone of the park, Piperi Island. Piperi is a key breeding ground for the Mediterranean monk seal and thus an exclusion zone of 3 nautical miles has been established for all vessels with the exception of park guarding vessels and scientists (who have obtained express permission from the Greek government). In the ƒ??Aƒ? Zone, island landings are restricted solely to the only working monastery in the park, located on the island of Kyra Panagia. Zoning in the park allows tourists and locals to enjoy traditional water sports and land use in one area, but then requires visitors to the ƒ??Aƒ? Zone to respect the fragile ecosystem by following regulations regarding fishing and island use.
Replicability
How many years has your solution been applied? 19 years // Have others reproduced your solution elsewhere? Yes // Since the establishment of the National Marine Park of Alonnisos North Sporades in 1992, until the formal designation of an official management body of the park in 2003, MOm was the sole competent institution, responsible for all management and conservation actions implemented in the area. All activities were approved and supported by the relevant national Greek authorities. Regarding the fisheries sector, MOm established close and continuous communication and collaboration with the local artisanal fisheries organization in order to implement joint actions of monitoring illegal fishing activities and of enforcing environmental legislation of the park. In 2003, the Greek government made the decision to turn all nationally protected areas over to the hands of government-funded in-situ park management bodies. The management body is made up of 4 government ministries: environment, marine, agriculture, and development; a representative from the prefecture, a regional representative, the mayor of Alonnisos, a fishermen representative, Mom, and the park’s president, who is appointed by the minister of environment. The management body oversees the park’s activities and meets bimonthly to discuss park matters. A park office is maintained in Alonnisos for day-to-day activities, hosting a staff of park guards, biologists, and volunteers in the summer. The park’s operations are funded by the government and residents have priority for staff positions.
Human Well Being and Livelihood Impact
Alonnisos has a population of approximately 2500 residents and its somewhat remote location limits economic opportunities as employment is largely limited to the needs of the modest resident population. The establishment of the park has helped to make tourism a greater contributor to the local economy by setting the area apart as Greece’s ecological jewel. In 2011 alone, approximately 40,000 tourists visited the island. Many of these visitors are day-trippers visiting from the nearby islands of Skiathos and Skopelos aboard vessels advertising tours of the marine park; likewise in Alonnisos, one of the most popular tourist activities is touring the marine park. Soon, walking and kayak tours, SCUBA diving, and a plethora of organic products developed as a result of tourist demand. MOm’s efforts, such as the establishment of a permanent information center as well as Greece’s only monk seal rehabilitation center in the park, has made Alonnisos synonymous with the monk seal. Well over 10,000 tourists visit MOm's information center each summer to learn about seals and the marine environment, and a nightly "Seal School" offers hands-on conservation lessons to visiting and local children. The seal has become a symbol of Alonnisos, a fact that is evident by the seal t-shirts, toys, and logos that cover the island in the summer months. Better yet, ecotourism in the park has become a self-sustaining cycle: as more tourists demand a clean environment and eco-friendly activities and lodgings, the more locals realize the value of conservation, both intrinsically and economically. // For the wider Greek community, MOm has been working to establish similar parks in other seal “hot spotsâ€. In Karpathos island, a protected area was proposed in 2000 and was established in 2003. MOm has been a participant in the Management Body of the protected area since. In Kimolos island, another national park has been proposed, and the government is in the process of lobbying the proposal to the local inhabitants. Recently, MOm researchers also discovered another significant seal habitat on the uninhabited island of Gyaros. MOm immediately proposed that the area be included in the NATURA 2000 network as one of the most important ecological areas within the European Union and is working with stakeholders of the wider area and the Greek Ministry of Environment to establish a protected area around the island. The greater goal of these numerous protection efforts is to eventually link the areas together into a functional network of MPAs where managers and stakeholders can meet to exchange views and share experiences. Inventoried areas will be linked together into a national network of monk seal conservation areas allowing, for example, researchers to compare monk seal catalogues between areas to understand patterns of seal dispersal/exchange among areas. A national community of monk seal conservation practitioners would greatly contribute, not only to conservation, but also to a greater cooperation between marine communities throughout Greece.