This presentation was given at a workshop to select indicators for Fish Conservation Zone assessments on November 7 and 8, 2016, in Vientiane, Lao PDR. It provides examples of aquatic assessment frameworks and indicators that informed the development of FiSHBIO's freshwater protected area guidebook project in Laos. In particular, the project was inspired by How is Your MPA Doing? (Pomeroy et al. 2004), which is an assessment guidebook for Marine Protected Areas developed by the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas, WWF, and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The presentation also provides two case studies of freshwater protected area assessments in Southeast Asia. One was contributed by Ian Baird, who has used local ecological knowledge of fishers to assess FCZs in Champasak Province. Villagers from 53 villages named 51 fish and turtle species that benefited from FCZs. Their knowledge included fish surfacing in deep pools, fish croaking during spawning, fish catch outside the FCZ. A second case study was contributed by Aaron Koning, who is assessing FCZs on the Salween River in northern Thailand. His methods include snorkel surveys to count large fish inside and outside of the FCZ, quadrat surveys to count small fish hiding in rocks. and surveys of invertebrates and algae inside and outside the FCZs. Finally, the presentation discusses a literature review that FISHBIO has conducted to identify potential freshwater indicators for FCZs in Lao PDR.

1. Examples of Aquatic Protected Area
Assessment Frameworks and Indicators
Presented by:
Erin Loury (erinloury@fishbio.com)| Fisheries Biologist
Photo by NOAA-

2. Assessment is Needed to:
• Improve management
effectiveness
• Identify future needs
• Adapt current practices
• Make best use of human
effort and financial
resources
(From Pomeroy et al. 2005)

3. What is Management Effectiveness?
Asking: How well are management actions
achieving the goals and objectives of the
protected area?
(From Pomeroy et al. 2005)

4. Potential Aquatic Protected Area Benefits
Ecosystem Benefits:
•Fish/Aquatic Species
•Biodiversity
•Habitats
Socioeconomic
Benefits:
• Food security
• Livelihoods

5. Management Cycle
• Assessment is a
regular part of
adaptive
management.
• Based on assessment
results, regulations or
management actions
can be adjusted.

6. How to Use Assessment Results
• Communicate to donors, government, FCZ
management teams, NGOs, communities
• Highlight the progress of FCZ management
• Set new priorities for future management actions
• Seek assistance to addressing barriers
• Formulate new goals and objectives
• Address stakeholder interests and concerns
(From Pomeroy et al. 2005)

7. Learning from Marine Models.
• Large effort to monitor and evaluate
marine protected areas
• Indicators of MPA success have been
developed and tested
• How is Your MPA Doing?
Assessment Guidebook (Pomeroy et
al. 2004) developed by IUCN World
Commission on Protected Areas,
WWF, and National Oceanographic
and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA)

8. MPA Guidebook Development Process
1. Developed a set of assessment indicators
2. Developed methods to include in a guidebook
3. Field tested and refined the guidebook of indicators
and methods at 18 sites around the world
4. Published and disseminated a final guidebook
(From Pomeroy et al. 2005)
Photo by NOAA

9. Selecting MPA Indicators and Methods
• Performed a literature review
(130 indicators)
• Workshop of international
experts revised the list
(52 indicators)
• Submitted list for peer review,
and revised again (42 indicators)
• Used peer review to select
methods and provide guidance
on analyzing results
(From Pomeroy et al. 2005)

10. Indicators are Related to
Protected Area Goals
Ecological
Socio-economic
Governance

11. From Goals to Indicators
Goals
Marine resources sustained or
protected
Biological diversity protected
Individual species protected
Habitat protected
Degraded areas restored
(From Pomeroy et al. 2005)
Indicators
Focal species abundance
Focal species population structure
Habitat distribution and complexity
Composition and structure of the
community
Recruitment success within the
community
Food web integrity
Type, level and return on fishing effort
Water quality
Area showing signs of recovery
Area under no or reduced human impact

12. Guidebook Describes 4 Steps for
Assessment
1. Select appropriate indicators
2. Plan and prepare for an
assessment
3. Collect and analyze data for
selected indicators
4. Communicate assessment
results to adapt management
.

13. Field Testing the MPA Guidebook
• Volunteer testing at 18 MPAs around the world
• Eight months to test the guidebook, send feedback
• Mix of conventional, co-managed, and community
based management
(From Pomeroy et al. 2005)

14. Beneficial Outcomes
• Providing motivation to clarify MPA goals and
objectives was one of most practical outcomes for
managers using the guidebook
• The guidebook was adaptable to fit local site
conditions. Each assessment is unique to the
specific MPA.
(From Pomeroy
et al. 2005)

15. Challenges
• Can track individual MPAs over time, but
hard to compare one MPA to another
• Most MPA managers had higher capacity
for ecological studies, lower capacity for
socioeconomic and governance studies
• Site-specific limitations:
• Restricted access to MPA sites
• Reluctance of local populations to
participate
• Need for more funding, time, and
technical capacity
(From Pomeroy et al. 2005)

16. A Useful Tool
“How is Your MPA Doing” guidebook has been used in >200
MPAs around the world to improve MPA management
(From Fox et al. 2014)
Photo by Micronesia Challenge

17. Case Study: Assessing FCZs in
Champasak Province (Ian Baird)
• Used Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK)
of fishers to assess FCZs (1998)
• Interviewed fishers from 53 villages in
Khong District about FCZ regulations,
which fish species benefited from FCZs
• Villagers named 51 fish and turtle
species that benefited from FCZs
• Methods based on LEK included fish
surfacing in deep pools; fish croaking
during spawning; fish catch outside
the FCZ
(From Baird and Flaherty 2005; Baird 2006)

18. Case Study: FCZ Assessment in
Thailand (Aaron Koning)
• FCZs established by Karen villagers along
tributaries of Salween River in northern Thailand
• Rivers run clear in the dry season, possible to
observe fish from the road
• Has seen increases in fish abundance and diversity
1-2 years after establishing FCZ

19. Case Study: FCZ Assessment in
Thailand (Aaron Koning)
• Fish abundance inside and
outside of FCZS
• Snorkel survey to count large fish
• Quadrat surveys to count small
fish hiding in rocks
• Collected benthic
macroinvertebrate samples
inside and outside
• Quantified algae abundance on
rocks inside and outside

20. FCZ Guidebook Project Activities
1. Perform a literature review to
identify indicators
2. Hold workshop of stakeholders
to select indicators
3. Develop draft guidebook,
including peer-review
4. Pilot test the draft guidebook in
the field
5. Revise, finalize, and disseminate
the guidebook

21. FISHBIO Literature Review
• We reviewed ~70 publications of marine and
freshwater protected area assessment
• Most published assessments are from
academics, few from practitioners
• Biological indicators more frequently assessed
than socioeconomic or governance
• Few published assessments of socioeconomic
or governance indicators for freshwater
protected areas
• We have identified 50 indicators and related
methods for this workshop
• By the end of today, we would like to select
~15 indicators

22. A Starting Point
• The FCZ guidebook is intended to be relevant, but not
comprehensive
• Focus is on methods that communities and Civil
Society Organizations can implement
• This is an initial effort that can be modified and
adapted over time

23. Questions?
erinloury@fishbio.com
fishbiolaos@fishbio.com