Integrated coastal resources management and community participation in a small island setting

The concept of integrated coastal zone management must be rethought to adapt it to the geography and social conditions of small islands. Because of their size, all small islands are in the coastal zone. Defining the whole of the island and its coastal waters as the management area may weaken a programʹs effectiveness. An alternative may be to adapt special area management planning to the socio-spatial organization found on small islands. Social conditions on islands, where people live in relatively small cohesive communities, makes resource user participation in planning and management particularly germane. This paper outlines an argument for small islands to use participation as a central strategy of coastal management based on experience with natural resource management efforts on the island of Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia.