A few months back bookfish wanted to start some dialog on community based work but I just didn't have much time to add to my comments. I'm still working 16-18 hrs a day but after this next proposal is completed my time will be mainly spent on working in the village of Alofau and my evenings will again be free. (unless one on the preproposals I submitted is chosen for submitting of a full proposal.)
I started this post as a reply to another post but seeing it was off topic I have posted it as a new topic, It started off as a reply to Steve on his commets and I have left it as such.
Steve,
The only paperwork I have them do now is done on waterproof paper while recording transit line data or timed fish counts. Still the data is only as good as the collectors and their abilities to identify fish and corals. Again education is the answer.
Here's an example how government and science can hinder a solution, and possibly why bottom up approaches have such a hard time getting started.
I wrote one community based monitoring proposal while I worked for the government here, it was accepted and I started implementing it, after 5 months I was actually ahead of schedule and starting to teach students and community members monitoring techniques. Then at month 6 the project was yanked from me and given to another person. It sits today nearly 2 years later uncompleted by those left in charge, why? Because empowering the community to do the work means those that get fat governmental checks are no longer needed to do it. In that grant the funds for 50 sets of snorkeling gear was approved for those communities participating in the project to this day not 1 set has been passed out and quite a few have just vanished. BTW not one community has received a report from any monitoring of their coral reefs that I know of and I’m still in good contact with all of those communities that were involved in the project. Fortunately for the communities, this lack of help to make a community based project truly community based, is about to change.
Well needless to say that was the main reason I left the Gov't job here, but I didn't give up on the goals of the project, today I have 19 students learning about coral reef and fish monitoring and Identification skills, in a few weeks thanks to Center for Tropical and Subtropical Aquaculture (CTSA) I'll have enough snorkeling gear for almost all of them to be in the water at once. This same group of students has now formed a youth conservation club and is doing underwater and beach clean ups of trash and debris in their villages whenever I can obtain loaner equipment for them to use (it sure will be nice having our own equipment!).
Currently CORL and the American Samoa Resource Conservation and Development org (ASRC&D) are working together on a proposal that will provide the funds to expand the Youth Conservation groups to 9 or more villages and provide them with all the tools and swimming skills needed (in addition to community based ecosystem management and eco-beneficial resource development which are the primary objectives of the proposal). I think there’s a very good chance the project will be funded this year.
In a few weeks when we start expanding the Alofau coral farm (funded by CTSA as a CORL / American Samoa Community College project) the YC students will be helping with the work, many have shown great interest in the project and have volunteered their time come summer vacation. We will also be making an educational snorkeling trail around the lagoon area; this will be mainly an YC project (with CORL sponsoring it). More progress has been made in the village of Alofau which has now started community clean ups and is trying to reduce pollution sources, one piggery has been moved away from the steam so far, but a lot remains to be done.
Alofau is an example I hope to let more people know about in the future, It will be one of the upcoming projects listed on our web site and I plan on putting a short film together in the future on the results of this community’s actions to save their reefs and near-shore resources. I think it just may become a case study that other villages can look at and copy in the near future if things keep progressing forward on the current track.
Alofau’s start to take care of it’s own resources, the coral farm, the students YC club, a dozen or so educational videos, and the Malota CORL office may not be much to show for the three years of being here, but it is a good example of how much can be done on a limited budget and with people dedicated to a cause.
Ok it’s getting late this post is getting too long and I’m rambling on……..
It’s time to get back to working on the proposal…..
More on Alofau and empowering a community later……
Again Lofa’ From Am. Samoa!
Mike
I started this post as a reply to another post but seeing it was off topic I have posted it as a new topic, It started off as a reply to Steve on his commets and I have left it as such.
Steve,
The only paperwork I have them do now is done on waterproof paper while recording transit line data or timed fish counts. Still the data is only as good as the collectors and their abilities to identify fish and corals. Again education is the answer.
Here's an example how government and science can hinder a solution, and possibly why bottom up approaches have such a hard time getting started.
I wrote one community based monitoring proposal while I worked for the government here, it was accepted and I started implementing it, after 5 months I was actually ahead of schedule and starting to teach students and community members monitoring techniques. Then at month 6 the project was yanked from me and given to another person. It sits today nearly 2 years later uncompleted by those left in charge, why? Because empowering the community to do the work means those that get fat governmental checks are no longer needed to do it. In that grant the funds for 50 sets of snorkeling gear was approved for those communities participating in the project to this day not 1 set has been passed out and quite a few have just vanished. BTW not one community has received a report from any monitoring of their coral reefs that I know of and I’m still in good contact with all of those communities that were involved in the project. Fortunately for the communities, this lack of help to make a community based project truly community based, is about to change.
Well needless to say that was the main reason I left the Gov't job here, but I didn't give up on the goals of the project, today I have 19 students learning about coral reef and fish monitoring and Identification skills, in a few weeks thanks to Center for Tropical and Subtropical Aquaculture (CTSA) I'll have enough snorkeling gear for almost all of them to be in the water at once. This same group of students has now formed a youth conservation club and is doing underwater and beach clean ups of trash and debris in their villages whenever I can obtain loaner equipment for them to use (it sure will be nice having our own equipment!).
Currently CORL and the American Samoa Resource Conservation and Development org (ASRC&D) are working together on a proposal that will provide the funds to expand the Youth Conservation groups to 9 or more villages and provide them with all the tools and swimming skills needed (in addition to community based ecosystem management and eco-beneficial resource development which are the primary objectives of the proposal). I think there’s a very good chance the project will be funded this year.
In a few weeks when we start expanding the Alofau coral farm (funded by CTSA as a CORL / American Samoa Community College project) the YC students will be helping with the work, many have shown great interest in the project and have volunteered their time come summer vacation. We will also be making an educational snorkeling trail around the lagoon area; this will be mainly an YC project (with CORL sponsoring it). More progress has been made in the village of Alofau which has now started community clean ups and is trying to reduce pollution sources, one piggery has been moved away from the steam so far, but a lot remains to be done.
Alofau is an example I hope to let more people know about in the future, It will be one of the upcoming projects listed on our web site and I plan on putting a short film together in the future on the results of this community’s actions to save their reefs and near-shore resources. I think it just may become a case study that other villages can look at and copy in the near future if things keep progressing forward on the current track.
Alofau’s start to take care of it’s own resources, the coral farm, the students YC club, a dozen or so educational videos, and the Malota CORL office may not be much to show for the three years of being here, but it is a good example of how much can be done on a limited budget and with people dedicated to a cause.
Ok it’s getting late this post is getting too long and I’m rambling on……..
It’s time to get back to working on the proposal…..
More on Alofau and empowering a community later……
Again Lofa’ From Am. Samoa!
Mike
