ABSTRACT
Biodiversity is a local commons that produces ecosystem services for human well-being. This chapter explores that the conserving biodiversity in marine and coastal environments is obviously necessary and important. The community level in conservation is important precisely because it is the interface of ecosystems and rural livelihoods -ecosystem services and human well-being. The chapter discusses some innovative approaches in various parts of the world, showing a diversity of conservation models, from the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, which includes large no-take zones, to locally managed marine areas designed to restore fishery values. The chapter talks about community-based conservation, which 'includes natural resources or biodiversity protection by, for, and with the local community', according to the original definition by Western and Wright. Peter Jones compellingly concludes that a diversity of incentives, from economic to social, is as essential as the diversity of the ecosystems Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are designed to protect.
