Fish from the Arnavon Island Marine Reserve, Solomon Islands

by The Nature Conservancy

Project Overview

The Arnavon Islands, midway between the islands of Santa Isabel and Choiseul of the Solomon Islands, lie in the midst of an area rich in marine biodiversity. The Arnavon Islands are one of the most important rookeries in the western Pacific for the endangered hawksbill turtle. The area's marine environment also supports commercially valuable species such as beche-de-mer, trochus, black and gold lip pearl oysters, and giant clams.

Three villages -- Kia, Posarae, and Waghena -- form the Greater Arnavon Resource Management Area (GARMA). GARMA fishermen and turtle hunters make regular visits to the Arnavon Islands to harvest their resources. The area's cash economy has traditionally been oriented toward extractive commodities. Extractive activity in the GARMA has been carried out on an "open access" basis according to tenurial rights vested in villages. Collection rates increased dramatically in the 1980s in response to a sharp increase in prices for shellfish and other products. The result has been a series of "boom and bust" cycles for harvesting marine products.

To reverse this decline in invertebrate species, the project team established a representative management committee, hired a squad of six conservation officers (two from each community), established the Arnavon Islands Community Marine Conservation Area (CMCA), obtained legal designation for the area, developed a management plan for the CMCA, and are developing a sustainable deep-water finfish enterprise. By providing viable alternative marine enterprises, partners are hoping to reduce pressure on marine invertebrates. The CMCA marks the first time that a community of the Solomon Islands has created a sanctuary, as well as the country's first cooperatively managed marine conservation area. If successful, it will demonstrate the economic and ecological benefits of a community-based approach to development and resource conservation to other communities of the Solomon Islands and the national government.

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