Project Background
The Galapagos Marine Reserve of the archipelago is broken up into different use zones. Some regions allow fishing and others allow only marine tourism, such as diving, snorkeling, and live-aboard boat tours. By understanding the spatial distribution of revenues generated by human uses of the marine reserve, we can shed light on how various stakeholders are affected by current and future zoning schemes.
Within each marine zone are biological features that determine the ecosystem services provided to visitors and residents of the archipelago. Therefore, new zoning that takes into account revenues generated from fishing and marine tourism as well as biological parameters, such as species richness, could allow for improved ecological management and economic benefits.
Within each marine zone are biological features that determine the ecosystem services provided to visitors and residents of the archipelago. Therefore, new zoning that takes into account revenues generated from fishing and marine tourism as well as biological parameters, such as species richness, could allow for improved ecological management and economic benefits.
Project Timeline
Our project is divided into two time periods:
July - September 2015
Support the participatory process of rezoning the Galapagos Marine Reserve by highlighting the importance of marine-based tourism to the local economy. Over the course of the summer (2015), our team will travel to Galapagos to gather data and map the distribution of revenues generated in the current marine reserve zones. Our short term deliverable will incorporate biological parameters into a map that shows where current and potential tourism revenues exist and what is generating by fishing operations.
October 2015 - June 2016
Determine post-zoning economic effects and explore alternative tourism and fishing management plans to satisfy all stakeholders in the system. Expanding no-take zones in order to increase tourism revenues ultimately detracts from the fishing sector. In order for ecological resilience and effective management to occur, redistribution of benefits among the sectors and the various islands must be evaluated.
July - September 2015
Support the participatory process of rezoning the Galapagos Marine Reserve by highlighting the importance of marine-based tourism to the local economy. Over the course of the summer (2015), our team will travel to Galapagos to gather data and map the distribution of revenues generated in the current marine reserve zones. Our short term deliverable will incorporate biological parameters into a map that shows where current and potential tourism revenues exist and what is generating by fishing operations.
October 2015 - June 2016
Determine post-zoning economic effects and explore alternative tourism and fishing management plans to satisfy all stakeholders in the system. Expanding no-take zones in order to increase tourism revenues ultimately detracts from the fishing sector. In order for ecological resilience and effective management to occur, redistribution of benefits among the sectors and the various islands must be evaluated.
Project Objectives
To accomplish the project’s overarching goal of determining the economic benefits of expanded no-take zones, we have proposed the following objectives:
The layers of current and potential revenues will be incorporated to SeaSketch, which is a marine spatial planning tool being used to design the new zoning plan of the GMR.
- Create a spatial layer of current revenue from marine-based tourism (i.e., diving and snorkeling) and fisheries (i.e., lobster, sea cucumber and fin fish)
- Create a spatial layer of potential revenue from fishing and marine-based tourism
- Analyze future changes in net revenues and their spatial distribution under alternative zoning and management plans
The layers of current and potential revenues will be incorporated to SeaSketch, which is a marine spatial planning tool being used to design the new zoning plan of the GMR.