Fixing marine governance in Fiji? The new scalar narrative of ecosystem-based management

• Published in: Global environmental change 2013-02, Vol.23 (1), p.206-216
• Main Authors: Sievanen, Leila, Gruby, Rebecca L., Campbell, Lisa M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Community-based management; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; ecology; Ecosystem-based management; Engineering and environment geology. Geothermics; Exact sciences and technology; Fiji; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; governance; issues and policy; Marine and continental quaternary; Marine conservation; Marine protected area; marine resources; Narrative; planning; politics; Politics of scale; Pollution, environment geology; resource management; Sea water ecosystems; Surficial geology; sustainable development; Synecology
• ISSN: 0959-3780; 1872-9495
• DOI: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2012.10.004

► There is a widespread trend to scale up marine management and conservation. ► We examine politics of the transition from management at community scales to large scales in Fiji. ► Management at community and ecoregional scales is supported by distinct scalar narratives. ► New scalar narratives and the policies they support do not displace old narratives but rather they are informed, shaped by, and draw power from what is already in place. ► Scalar narratives can discursively sideline contentious political issues, which can refocus debates away from pro-people versus pro-nature dichotomies. Although there is widespread concern over degrading marine environments, there is debate within the global marine conservation agenda about the nature of the problem and appropriate solutions. At the center of this debate lie questions about the appropriate scale at which to plan and implement marine resource management. In the late 1990s, Fiji became recognized as one of the most successful examples of community-based marine resource management in the world. Recently, there has been a move to manage human–environment interactions at larger “natural” scales. We draw from the political ecology and “politics of scale” literatures, and a critical realist understanding of nature and politics, to explain the emergence of large-scale management and conservation in Fiji. We contribute to a “political ecology of scale” by developing the concept of a scalar narrative to show how social and ecological scales are reworked in the development of an ecosystem-based approach to marine management in Fiji. In doing so, we consider implications of the struggle to define the appropriate scale of marine management, which is closely bound to debates about the role of science and local participation. Our findings suggest that the struggle to define the scale at which marine management should be planned and implemented is inseparable from the struggle over who should define, inform, and conduct the governance process. We aim to clarify marine policy debates as policy actors worldwide move forward to implement ecosystem-based management, increase marine protected area coverage, and pursue sustainable development.