Biological Conservation

ABSTRACT  Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are globally underfunded. We present a five-step framework that can help practitioners prioritize actions that may improve financial sustainability, which was applied to six MPAs in Colombia, Bonaire, and Belize. Limited funds were found to directly undermine effectiveness towards conservation goals for five sites, with these impacts particularly significant for four. Annual budgets required increases from 6 % to 141 % to meet financial needs. Two sites had significant underlying weaknesses in their financial strategies that could lead to direct impacts if not addressed, with an additional three sites having more minor, but still observable, weaknesses in this manner. Staff salaries were the largest expense for all MPAs examined and also most frequently in need of additional funds. Opportunities to potentially eliminate these funding gaps were identified for all six MPAs through reallocating existing resources (n =2), improving in-place mechanisms (n = 6), or implementing one or more alternative mechanisms (n =6). Among several findings, some MPAs had the potential to increase tourism-based income by several million dollars per year, which would well exceed local financial requirements and could have substantial financial benefits on a network-wide scale. Some MPAs, including those with lower budgets, effectively leveraged partnerships and inter-institutional coordination to expand management capacity. Among alternative mechanisms that could be implemented, opportunities to leverage private-sector investments were especially common. Other MPAs around the world could likewise improve financial sustainability through analysis, evaluation, and execution of the full suite of options described herein.   

The importance of seagrass beds and mangroves as a juvenile habitat as opposed to other shallow water habitat types is investigated using a single sampling method on four islands in the western Indian Ocean for Cheilinus undulatus, and on one island in the southern Caribbean Sea (Aruba) for Scarus guacamaia. Both species occur on the Red list of threatened species. Juveniles of Cheilinus undulatus were predominantly found on seagrass beds while adults were limited to the coral reef. The presence of seagrass beds resulted in significantly higher densities of the species on coral reefs in front of these habitats, indicating the importance of seagrass beds as a juvenile habitat. For Scarus guacamaia, juveniles were exclusively observed in mangroves while adults only occurred on the coral reef. Adult S. guacamaia occurred on all coral reefs along the sheltered coast of the island containing mangroves, but no relationship with distance to mangroves was observed. This could indicate the importance of mangroves for the occurrence of adults of this species on the scale of an entire island.

Feral goats (Capra hircus) are implicated in habitat destruction, and alteration of species composition on sensitive insular ecosystems. In the absence of population control, goats have become the ecologically dominant species on many islands with the results that numerous endemic plant species have been extirpated, or are threatened by excessive grazing. It is demonstrated that removal of goats can lead to rapid recovery of suppressed vegetation. The problems associated with excessive numbers of feral goats have rarely been studied or formally recognised. Extensive and intensive research is critically needed if affected island ecosystem are to be preserved or restored.

The bat population of the island of Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles, was surveyed in 1992 and 1993. The 1993 survey concentrated mostly on caves, which were found to host most of the bats. Glossophaga longirostris elongata was the most abundant species with fewer than 2000 individuals encountered. However, this species may also be found in small groups in buildings and caves that were not censused. More critical is the status of the other six species found on the island: Leptonycteris curasoae (800–1000), Mormoops megalophylla intermedia (570–650), Natalus tumidirostris (50–60), and three species for which the number of individuals is unknown and probably low: Myotis nesopolus, Pteronotus davyi and Noctilio leporinus. Three caves contain all of the above species, except N. leporinus, and should be actively protected. Two species expected to be present on Curaçao, Artibeus jamaicensis and Molossus pygmaeus, were not found. The apparent decrease in bat numbers this century is likely a result of uncontrolled cave disturbance and removal of resources through development. I propose that all species be considered endangered on the island of Curaçao, except for Glossophaga longirostris, which is threatened.