CCN Memorandum & Message from M. Guilbeaux (January 14, 2001)

January 14, 2001 email message from Michael D. Guilbeaux
and
Memorandum to Helen Reef Action Committee and the Hatohobei State Government from Mark Ridgley and Scott Atkinson

Hello all,

I hope this message finds everyone well during this new year.

In December, members of CCN were saddened to learn of the passing of Andres Nicholas. Up until his death, Andres served as a Hatohobei State Legislator and as a member of the Helen Reef Action Committee, and contributed much to current thinking CCN and others have regarding how to improve the management of marine resources at Helen Reef and Tobi. CCN wishes to extend our sympathies and condolences to all of his family and friends. His wisdom and wit will certainly be missed by all who he knew.

I would like to take this opportunity early in the new year to pass along information to everyone who may be interested in activities concerning Helen Reef. I have attached and included in text below a memo regarding the upcoming planning session and workshops the Project has planned for the month of February. We hope that during this session we will be able to continue many of the good discussions we have had since September and make initial progress on a planning document for the future of Helen Reef. If anyone has any comments, suggestions, or thoughts they would like to offer concerning this itinerary or the project in general, please feel free to contact me at the numbers and addresses below.

Sincerely,
Michael

Michael D. Guilbeaux
Community Conservation Network
2440 Campus Rd., #561
Honolulu, HI 96822 USA > phone: (808) 383-2031
fax: (808) 384-0470
email: ccn@altavista.net, guilbeaux@altavista.net, guilbeau@hawaii.edu

Memorandum:

To: Helen Reef Action Committee and the Hatohobei State Government
From: Mark Ridgley and Scott Atkinson
Date: January 13, 2001

Dear Members of the Hatohobei Government, Helen Reef Committee, and Community:

In preparation for the upcoming visit of the CCN group, we wanted to share a bit about the goals of our trip and learn from you what the committee and those involved with the project might like to accomplish during the visit relative to the Helen Reef Project.

We and Mike propose to visit and work with the Hatohobei people, committee, and State officials, from February 13 until February 28 (or later). Mike will arrive on or around February 13th to help the committee and others prepare for the upcoming planning sessions and workshops. Mark and Scott plan to arrive around February 19 and stay for the remainder of the month. We know this will be a busy time for the State, with the upcoming legislative sessions; so we will try to maintain appropriately brief planning sessions during this round. We have essentially two goals for this trip for the Helen Reef Project. They are:

1. To continue the initial planning discussion we started with the community about what you would like to see happen at Helen Reef in the future.

2. To share with you CCN's upcoming plans and to discuss ways that the community, state government, and CCN can work together more effectively.

Objective 1: To continue the initial planning discussion we started with the community about what you would like to see happen at Helen Reef in the future.

On September 1, 2000 on board the Atoll Way, the community and CCN started a discussion concerning the future of Helen Reef's and Tobi Island's marine resources. The discussion included:

1. What the community would like to see for the future of marine resources at Helen Reef and Tobi Island, including a discussion of the community's overall goal and objectives for Helen Reef's and Tobi Island's marine resources.

2. What things are preventing the community from achieving these goals.

3. What things the community can do and other partners can do to overcome some of the things that are preventing the community from achieving its goals.

Through this discussion the community came up with some suggestions as to its goals for the future of Helen Reef and Tobi Island. These included:

Goals for the future:
1. Abundance of Resources
2. Healthy Environment
3. Good Management

Similarly, the community came up with some suggestions as to its Problems and Challenges for reaching these goals for Helen Reef and Tobi Island. These included:

Problems/Challenges:
1. Lack of Control / Sovereignty
2. Lack of Enforcement
2. Lack of Training and Education 3. Lack of Funds
4. Community Support/Cooperation

Likewise, the community came up with some suggestions as to the Actions the State could undertake to overcome these Problems and Challenges concerning Helen Reef and Tobi Island. These included:

Actions:
1. Look for funds for activities
2. Increase enforcement capacity/activity 3. Promote community awareness and involvement
4. Develop a long-term management plan
5. Develop partnerships with assisting agencies/organizations

During this upcoming trip, CCN would like to suggest continuing this discussion and going through the process of starting a community management plan for Helen Reef and Tobi Island. We would like to do this by discussing these goals in greater detail (when these goals are broken down into sub-goals and greater detail, they are sometimes referred to as "objectives" in planning language). Breaking down and prioritizing these objectives in greater detail will help us better understand what it is the project should be doing to reach its overall goal, and perhaps how better to do it. We envision having a workshop over a couple of days (maybe about four hours each day) to further discuss the community's desires and objectives for the future of Helen Reef and to see how current and planned activities relate to these goals and objectives.

Mark Ridgley will assist with this aspect of the trip. Specifically, he would ask the community, Helen Reef Action Committee, and government officials involved with the project to

(1) think more about the different objectives and/or concerns listed above and not listed above to distinguish between ones that are ultimate goals or concerns and ones that are means or ways to get to ultimate goals (

2) clearly identify actions that can be taken to help achieve the community's goals; and

(3) identify social, political, economic, and environmental changes to the current situation that might help the success of a management plan for Helen Reef.

So that in mid-February everyone will be in a better position to discuss these topics thoroughly, we would like the community, Helen Reef Action Committee, and government officials to think ahead of time in more depth about these topics to the degree possible within the next month. If members of the Committee could discuss some of these topics ahead of time with individuals of the community directly, the community will be better prepared and informed about the upcoming planning session and workshops.

Objective 2: To share with you CCN's upcoming plans and to discuss ways that the community, state government, and CCN can work together more effectively

CCN would very much like to discuss with the State future options for working together on the management of Helen Reef and Tobi Island. There are many options including significant fundraising opportunities that could both protect Helen Reef and Tobi Island and benefit the Sate and community in-terms of employment and infrastructure. While CCN and the State have discussed many of these informally and have developed funding proposals together in the past, we would like to have a more thorough discussion of options for working together in the near future avoid potential misunderstandings and to work more effectively together. We hope that these discussions will lead to the development of a more focused and participatory approach to fundraising.

Scott Atkinson will lead this discussion.

Please direct any questions or comments concerning this proposed itinerary or agenda to Mike who is coordinating these planning sessions at phone: +01 808-383-2031 or email: guilbeaux@altavista.net. Thank you very much.