theglobaljournal.net: Latest articles of Dinah Berch

Living: A Community Pledge for Conservation in Loreto Bay, Mexico

2012-07-25T16:18:39Z

Waves lapped the glittering sand while children giggled as they splashed in the surf. The warmth of freshly made tortillas wafted through the salty air as fresh fish crackled on the grill. It was the perfect setting for a community meeting.

On the morning of April 18, fishers and authorities gathered on the beach in Loreto Bay to discuss sustainable fishing and fortify an influential alliance. The recently-formed Federation of Fishing and Tourism Societies of Loreto declared and signed a conservation agreement to successfully manage fishing interests and preserve natural resources. The declaration promises to uphold the sustainable management of the ornamental fish trade as well as recreational and commercial fishing in Loreto Bay. The fishers hope their unprecedented collaboration will help get approval for a zoning plan they created. The new plan calls for nearly a 1000 percent increase in no-take zones in the bay.

Five years ago, many of Loreto Bay’s fishing cooperatives operated illegally, overfished their waters and fought among themselves. Something significant has changed.

Community Members celebrate sustainable fishing in Loreto Bay.

Rare Conservation Fellows distributed 3,000 bumper stickers with messages about marine reserve benefits, organized 26 mural painting events, took 200 Loretanos into the park for the first time. Community knowledge about marine reserves increased by 75 percent. The fellows showed Loretanos how to more responsibly manage their fisheries while still maintaining a viable income. Four years later, can fishers make a living wage?

Before any of the assembled fishers at the meeting could respond to the question, a woman in the crowd jumped to her feet with an infant on her hip. She excitedly explained that Rare’s influence (she and her child proudly wore the campaign t-shirts) has helped them tremendously. She said the campaign gave the community access to training, opportunities and resources to protect their livelihoods. “Absolutely!” she said. “Fishing is a viable future.”

“I think what’s going on in Loreto is a potential model for the rest of the world,” says Amanda Leland, Vice President for Oceans at Environmental Defense Fund.

Loreto Bay community member.

“Change in fisheries is slow,” says Cynthia Brown Mayoral, Rare’s Latin America marine program director. “The conservation agreement is the culmination of four years of work and it shows the sustainability of Rare’s methods.” After Rare’s initial campaign, fishers and community members wanted to continue the efforts and raised the funds on their own to extend the program for another two years. The collaboration has paid off. The value of the fishers’ catch has increased. They now sell 20 clams for $150 pesos, whereas they used to earn just $20 pesos.

After the official signing, everyone grabbed a tortilla, savored the freshness of local fish and danced. That’s living!

(Opinions voiced in this section do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Global Journal.)

Remembering Melania Dirain: A Courageous and Caring Conservation Hero

2012-07-23T12:17:08Z

On the night of Tuesday, February 7, Rare alumna Melania Dirain received a call at home and hurriedly returned to her office at the Philippines Department of Environment Natural Resources (DENR). As she spoke to a messenger in her office, a man walked in and fatally shot her. She was 47. The motives of the man charged in her murder remain unclear, but the Cagayan police director believes he was hired by an illegal logging syndicate. Her three orphaned sons (her husband died of a heart attack seven years ago), who are in college and high school, now live with Dirain’s sister Antonette Balanay who remains in shock and prays for justice.

Melania Dirain explores the Penablanca Protected Landscape in the Philippines

“I knew someday this might happen,” says Rully Prayoga, a colleague of Dirain’s from when they partnered with Rare in 2004. She had been threatened during her Pride campaign, which combated illegal logging. “I really admire her strength and spirit to persistently work with that challenging situation.”

Prayoga and the other members of her Rare class called her “Mama Lani” because of her nurturing nature. She would cook for them and resolve quarrels. She always brought a quiet, reassuring confidence to all of her endeavors.

After the completion of Rare’s program, she continued using the social marketing tools Rare taught her. She brought the Rufous hornbill mascot to classrooms where her maternal instincts won over children. Her gentle demeanor turned intense when she spoke about corruption and talked to the community about forest conservation’s benefits. She spoke with an unwavering integrity and resolve that captured the farmers’ trust. She approached conservation with humanity, always trying to find solutions for the people. In her final report for Rare Dirain wrote, “They are poor people and they should be understood … The residents are becoming aware of their moral and social obligation to report any incident of destructive activities.”

Dirain pioneered the use of cell phones to anonymously report illegal activity - a technique now used in many Pride campaigns. She also helped expand Rare’s Philippines program by speaking candidly about how working through her fears and challenges were rewarded with noticeable changes in her community and organization. During a recruitment workshop for the current class of Rare Conservation Fellows in the Philippines, she spoke with such passion that she moved the prospective trainees to tears. “I admire her courage to persevere,” says Rare Conservation Fellow Ruby Mendones who attended the workshop. “I also admire her tenderness. Hers is a life taken from those who dared to make change work. Thank you Miss Lani. What an inspiration you impressed upon me. I will keep you in my heart.”

(Opinions voiced in this section do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Global Journal.)

Q&A with Eddy Santoso: Planting Pride in Borneo

2012-07-19T09:28:29Z

Indonesia is the largest producer of palm oil in the world and it is the country’s largest agricultural export. Demand stems from its use as a low-cost cooking oil as well as its burgeoning role as a biofuel source. Palm plantations have quickly decimated Borneo’s forests, home to a staggering diversity of species including the endangered orangutan. In 1998, palm oil production picked up around Lamandau Wildlife Reserve, home to about a thousand wild and rehabilitated orangutans.

The nonprofit Yayorin, run by Rare alumni Eddy Santoso, has developed an alternative to deforestation. Santoso and his colleagues educate and train rural communities in agroforestry while promoting the intrinsic value of a pristine forest. In 2008, Rare partnered with Yayorin and Santoso to run a marketing campaign to inspire pride in the natural wonders around Lamandau. Rare recently caught up with Santoso.

You were in the first class of Rare Conservation Fellows to receive a master’s degree. Has that helped you?

It has helped me give professional recommendations for Yayorin staff. The Rare leadership program has really helped build the capacity of the staff. They all now know about making effective media and targeted messages. Our slogan is, “People need the forest. The forest needs orangutans.”

What is the biggest impact you have noticed from the Pride campaign?

It is very important. The Pride activities can change behavior very fast and effectively. I targeted 12 villages with my first campaign. In a second and third campaign (funded and executed by Yayorin), I now reach another 16 villages. In the first campaign, 77 percent of farmers stopped using slash and burn agriculture; with the second campaign it increased to 96 percent. I am proud to have helped reduce forest fires in my country.

Have you seen evidence of behavior change?

Yes. The campaign was about getting people to adopt sustainable agriculture. 58 percent of farmers have now adopted agroforestry. They grow mixed gardens with rubber, banana and papaya trees. Since the campaign, there has been a significant reduction in illegal logging and slashand- burn agriculture in the area.

How do you compete with the large palm oil producers in the area?

We have coordinated with two of the local palm oil companies. Our deal is that 500 meters from the border of Lamandau Wildlife Reserve is off limits for palm oil plantation. The community manages the forest in that 500-meter zone. People feel they have a choice for their livelihoods. Now they question when the palm oil companies want to open up swampland because they know that it provides water, protects wildlife and regulates temperature.

(Opinions voiced in this section do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Global Journal.)

Ask. Don’t Tell.

2012-07-18T16:12:24Z

Building trust with communities to protect their fisheries.

Kamaka village has dollar signs in its eyes. Its reputation of being financially opportunistic is well known throughout neighboring communities of Triton Bay, Indonesia. One of Kamaka’s town leaders relentlessly collects fees for any access to village waters. Rare Conservation Fellow Wida Sulistyaningrum recently spoke to him and was pleased to learn that he has been rejecting offers of payment. “The leader said ‘no’ to boats because we had declared it a no-take zone and we do not use nets anymore,” says Sulistyaningrum. “It is a good thing for the campaign.”

Two years ago, Sulistyaningrum and nine other conservationists in Indonesia and Timor-Leste partnered with Rare to learn social marketing tools and systems to lead change in their communities. In early May, the ten fellows celebrated the completion of Rare’s two-year training and implementation program. All ten Pride campaigns built a sense of ownership around fishery management. Though each fellow confronted different hurdles and achieved a range of successes, they all managed to inspire fishing-dependent villages to take pride in their marine resources. Combined, the fellows facilitated the declaration, implementation or design of 32 no-take zones covering a total of 65,000 hectares (or about twice the size of Rhode Island). At the end of May, 13 new fellows from Indonesia and Malaysia joined the next class to further improve prospects for coastal fisheries in the Coral Triangle.

“When I started the campaign, I felt nervous because I didn’t have experience or skills in communication,” says Sulistyaningrum. “Rare gave me a lot of tools and skills to approach the community in a fun way.” She and her colleagues at Conservation International had been working for years to gain the trust of the communities on the coast of Triton Bay. In the past, she presented to local stakeholders telling them what their problems were and how to fix them. Those meetings did not go well. Now she asks the community to identify their own issues and involves them in creating and executing the solutions. The community now feels invested in sustaining their livelihoods.

“Rare gave me a lot of tools and skills to approach the community in a fun way.”

Her suggestion to the people of Triton Bay had been to establish one no-take zone, but after a series of meetings and events, the community asked to close off a total of four areas to fishing. “It was a big surprise,” says Sulistyaningrum. “That is the biggest success of my campaign.”

She aimed for a 20 percent reduction of fishers entering the no-take zones. In Kamaka, surveys already show a 33 percent decline. At a recent meeting, community members asked 32 no-take zones Sulistyaningrum about building a patrol post on a central island to guard the no-take zones. She explained that funds were limited. But the community told her they would provide the materials and funds, if she would lend technical support. “I tell them they are the role model for other communities who now also want to set up no-take zones,” says Sulistyaningrum. “The people are really proud of what they have done.”

Sulistyaningrum chokes back tears as she talks about her vision for Triton Bay and its people — with whom she has built a strong bond and trust. “I hope they become a fish kingdom,” says Sulistyaningrum. She wants them to continue living according to local traditions and feed themselves from the sea.

Her hard work, combined with the pioneering spirit of the people of Triton Bay, may already be paying off. Early indications at one site show a five-fold increase in the snapper population. Recently, an elderly fisher approached Sulistyaningrum and excitedly told her, “Ma’am, last week we had lots of fish near the village. That hasn’t happened in a long time.”

No Way, Dodo: The Finless Porpoise Gets a Boost from Pride

2012-07-18T16:10:33Z

In recent months, local residents from Dongting Lake in central China have found 32 finless porpoises, each of them dead. With only a few hundred left, the alarming news worries scientists and conservationists. But Rare Conservation Fellow Wei Baoyu sees a silver lining. A year ago, only elders in the lakeside communities knew about the porpoise – a figment from their past. Sightings of the sole mammal left in the Yangtze River system rarely occur. Deaths do, but went unnoted. Now the communities actually report sightings and deaths. They have rallied to protect the porpoise.

“The finless porpoise has gone from obscurity to a star,” says Baoyu. A billboard featuring the porpoise looms over town. Baoyu involves children and adults with puppet shows, calendars, buttons and dynamic discussion forums. He reminds fishers that the animal they colloquially call the “river pig” is also a revered deity capable of divining storms and leads fishers to bounty. The porpoise’s fate is intrinsically tied to the fishers’ futures. Hundreds of volunteers have mobilized the community with grassroots marketing. Baoyu has also enlisted a journalist’s help. The reporter has written dozens of stories about the porpoise’s plight. Their combined efforts have catalyzed extraordinary change.

“The finless porpoise has gone from obscurity to a star.” ~Rare Conservation Fellow Wei Baoyu

One hundred percent of fishers in the Dongting Lake Finless Porpoise Reserve have stopped electric fishing. The local government put a temporary halt on sand mining until more is known about the porpoises’ cause of death. Injuries from boats, strangulation in nets, starvation and pollution are all suspects. The local water authority banned waste discharge from vessels into the lake. Ten volunteers now patrol the area. And the community is aggressively lobbying government officials to upgrade the porpoise’s protection status so it is on par with the giant panda. After all, there are fewer finless porpoises than pandas left in the wild.

Baoyu attributes a renewed hope for the porpoise to the Pride campaign. He feels confident the small cetacean will not suffer the same fate as its slightly larger cousin, the Yangtze river dolphin (baiji) which was declared extinct in 2006.