Page 33 - DAnna_Badalamenti_alii_2013

and triggered intra- and inter-sectoral conflicts with consequent negative effect on the
efficiency of the initiatives. Local nature conservation policies have been often perceived as a
mix of impositions for many people and of subsidies for a few, and have promoted the pursuit
of personal interests as opposed to the responsibility of bearing efforts for attaining collective
benefits. The re-zonation of the Egadi MPA, still underway, offers an opportunity to test a
bottom-up participative approach. However some stakeholders were disappointed for the
exclusion of sectors of the local economy and of surveillance bodies from the re-zonation
process. Moreover, reading local newspapers it appears that the re-zonation seems a game
played at the political and institutional level and between trade associations of fishers. If these
problems are to be solved, the new scenario should try to balance the contribution from local
stakeholders and from the national and local governments to decision making.
• The bottom-up processes in the new scenario should be coupled to a more effective form of
decentralization. Although some of them have already been launched (e.g., SCIs designation,
LFMP) more decisional and economic power should be transferred to regional and local
institutions as regards nature conservation, fisheries and tourism.
• Another important aspect is the necessity to make the objectives contained in the “Isole
Egadi” management plans and in the LFMP really operational. These plans appear formally
aligned with the high level policies but the underlying concepts and ideas seem to vanish in
the process toward implementation. This is particularly the case for objectives related to
nature conservation and to the enhancement of fishermen welfare.
• Another aspect which affects the governance efficiency in the Egadi is the complexity
inherent in all the different policies in the area. For this reason the existing initiatives must be
considered in the new governance scenario as a vehicle for promoting cooperation and
collaboration between different levels of government (e.g., national, regional, and local) and
different sectoral agencies in developing and implementing a spatial approach to management.
In this new process an important role can be played by NGOs, which could promote
cooperation in fulfilling the priority objective.
• As discussed in the incentive section also scientific knowledge needs to be improved and
regular monitoring programs should be carried out to evaluate the trends regarding the
attainment of management objectives.
• Last but not the least, information to the public and transparency in decision making are
essential pre-requisites for the effectiveness of a new governance scenario. Wide stakeholder
involvement should be promoted at the early stages of any important management decision.
Improvements in information, participation and transparency will realistically promote social
acceptance and identification with the management system, thus facilitating the
implementation of policies.

To meet the requirements of the governance scenario depicted above the governance institutions
should be transversally linked, harmonised and coordinated.
A governance body able to coordinate and integrate all the management initiatives could be
represented by a permanent committee that includes representatives of (i) local institutions (Egadi
MPA, Regional Province of Trapani, CoGePA Trapani), (ii) research, (iii) local NGOs, (iv) local
entrepreneurs, especially those involved in tourism and fisheries. Such a committee composition
would assure an appropriate balance between stakeholders and institutions in relation to the priority
objective. Its main role could be that of analysing and comparing all the initiatives planned in the area
concerning environment, fisheries and tourism. The aim of such governance body would be the
integrated coordination of activities in order to attain an efficient use of economic resources assigned
at the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Moreover, thanks to a thorough
knowledge of marine activities and uses gained from the participation of the different stakeholders, the
committee could adopt appropriate management approaches for promoting interactions and dialogue
between different sectors in order to reduce primary and secondary conflicts in the area. Using the
“power” of the incentives, the knowledge from research and the intermediary role of NGOs the
fundamental issue of intra- and inter-sectoral conflicts could be concretely resolved with benefits for
the governance of the Egadi MPA. However, in order to attain an operational status the committee
should be appropriately funded and its opinion should be implemented by decision makers.

31