Communities and Reefs

This book is about human-coral reef interaction. The aim of my research is to combine scientific work on reef ecosystems with economic and community concerns to help solve environmental, economic and social problems by achieving a more informed foundation for human use of the reef and surrounding marine resources. The book contains the description and testing of a methodology for resilience planning with a particular focus in Beloi, a coastal village located in Ataúro Island, Timor-Leste (East-Timor). The central outcome of the study is the integration of concepts from across an array of ecological, social and economic areas. The methodology encouraged locals to better conceptualise their situation and consider other sources of foodstuff, income and industry, such as tourism, and exploit, market and store their fish catch more efficiently. System dynamics modelling and scenario planning were used to test policies based on fishing and tourism growth. The major contribution of the work is the articulation of a methodology to facilitate community-science interaction, in particular the connection of social-ecological dimensions that pertain to coral reef resilience.