Enhancing effective community-led conservation planning that provides social benefits, in Pacific Island communities.

The objective of the three complementary tools developed through a collaboration of the Micronesia Challenge and the Coral Triangle Initiative are to support community facilitators in communicating complex scientific concepts through participatory planning approaches that address ecological and social needs.  The three tools focus on 1) climate change vulnerability assessment and adaptation planning, 2) effective design of locally managed area to support biodiversity conservation, sustainable fisheries, and climate change adaptation, and 3) management for coastal change.   They each include awareness raising materials that utilize local and historical knowledge to better understand complex concepts such as climate change impacts, ecological needs for abundant fisheries populations, and reasons for coastal change (i.e. erosion and flooding).   Through a series of activities participants develop local stories or profiles to identify how natural and human-made threats over time have impacted, or will impact, local resources and the people that depend on them.   The tools were designed based on the most up-to-date science and regional expertise but presented through the lens of community interest.  This approach helped to fill a significant gap in science-based planning by approaching scientific principles from a community perspective. This is helping to foster a greater understanding of complex issues by creating a dialogue in which participants discuss scientific concepts through their own experience, observations, and traditional ecological knowledge.  With a greater understanding of how science relates to local scenarios, participants can develop local early actions that can reduce threats to coastal/marine resources, conservation natural resources and ecosystems, and improve social benefits.