The! number! of! reported! Marine! Managed! Areas! (MMAs)! driven! by! local! communities! has!
strongly!increased!in!the!Pacific!region!in!the!last!10!years!and!has!been!estimated!at!more!than!
500!in!2007.!They!are!now!presented!as!one!of!the!main!fishery!and!coastal!management!tool!
adapted! to! the! context! of! many! Pacific! countries! where! intervention! of! the! official! agency! is!
minimum! and! where! the! participation! of! community! is! still! important.! Some! development!
banks!and!other!bilateral!agencies!have!supported!several!communityKbased!MMAs!with!MPAs!
in!the!Pacific!and!now!request!a!bottom!line!analysis!of!their!impacts!on!local!economic!growth,!
poverty!reduction!and!on!world!biodiversity!as!a!public!good.!!!
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An! appraisal! of! investment! in! communityKbased! MPAs! through! a! costKbenefit! analysis! (CBA)!
and! Return! on! Investment! (RoI)! has! been! conducted! in! 5! selected! villages! in! Vanuatu.! Main!
impacts! of! MPAs! on! the! principal! ecosystem! services! (fishery,! tourism,! social! capital,! coastal!
protection! service! and! bequest! value)! have! been! assessed! from! 12Kmonths! onKsite! direct!
observations.!As!far!as!possible!impacts!have!been!compared!to!villages!without!MPA!(control!
sites).!Specificities!of!community!and!subsistence!economy!were!taken!in!account.!
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The!annual!operational!costs!of!the!MPAs!vary!from!900!€!to!4!000!€!per!MPA!with!an!average!
setup!cost!of!4500€.!All!of!them!have!presented!an!effective!level!of!enforcement.!!
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The!Returns!on!Investment!(RoI)!are!generally!attractive!with!a!mean!value!of!1.8!after!5!years!
(std=0.9)!and!a!potential!of!5.4!(std=2.5)!after!25!years.!The!MPAs!have!produced!an!average!
annual!gross!profit!of!around!9000€!(std=3!000)!which!represent!7%!of!the!total!village!Gross!
Domestic!Income!(GDI)!and!confirm!their!role!as!a!development!tool.!!
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Impacts!on!rural!tourism!and!fishery!were!the!main!source!of!benefits!(56%!and!25%!of!the!
MPA!total!annual!benefits!respectively)!and!both!sectors!represent!key!sources!of!cash!incomes!
and!proteins!for!the!villages.!!Pascal,'2010'–Cost/Benefit'analysis'of'Community/based'marine'protected'areas,'Vanuatu'–'Summary'report!' Page'7'of'31'
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Observed!benefits!on!fishery!sector!were!revealed!through!an!increase!in!productivity!for!the!
principal! gears! and! for! both! subsistence! and! commercial! fishery.! Benefits! on! tourism! are!
present!for!the!niche!of!rural!tourism!where!the!MPAs!have!an!important!role!in!the!choice!of!
the!site!from!visitors.!Other!impacts!have!been!estimated!to!represent!20%!of!the!total!annual!
benefits!of!the!MPAs.!!
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Nonetheless,! the! level! of! capital! investment! per! MPA! (equivalent! to! a! mean! annual! of! 14!
000€.kmK2!of!protected!area)!must!be!analyzed!carefully.!Not!all!the!investments!in!MPAs!have!
been!recuperated!after!the!first!5!years!reflecting!a!differential!between!the!potential!of!fishery!
and!tourism!business!for!some!of!the!villages!and!the!investment!amount.!!
Furthermore,! in! a! context! of! increasing! fishing! effort! and! rapid! introduction! of! market!
economy,!questions!may!arise!on!the!resilience!of!community!based!governance!and!the!role!of!
MPA!as!the!main!tool!to!maintain!sustainable!catches.!!!!
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