Post-disaster recovery trajectories and community-based management: A case of community-based marine protected areas and their recovery from an earthquake in Bohol, Philippines

Abstract: In a time when natural disasters are increasing, and much of the population that are impacted are from the most vulnerable populations, it has become increasingly important to understand how these populations recover. Vulnerable communities often rely on their natural resources as a source of livelihood, and use forms of community-based management (CBM) to govern resource use. When a disaster does strike, it has the capacity to shock all parts of the community, including natural resources and management tactics. Using a case of seven community-based marine protected areas (CB-MPA) that were impacted by an earthquake in Bohol, Philippines, this study found that CB-MPA systems with robust management capacities are better equipped for recovery in the event of a shock. This study found that level of damage was not a related to CBM recovery rate, but rather what was damaged, and that even communities with weak management capacities can recover from an earthquake if they receive extra support. In the event of a disaster on a community with a CBM area, policy makers should focus their attention on if infrastructure critical to the CBM system functioning was damaged, focus their efforts on communities with weaker management capacities, and should consider incorporating economic incentives into their CBM system in the event of a shock.