Socioeconomic Survey

In addition to the volunteer activities outlined in the previous posts, this project calls for the completion of a socioeconomic survey that will gauge the local public's understanding of Marine Protected Areas, fisheries, and other rules and regulations, attitudes and beliefs towards coral reef value, conservation, and management, as well as the level of satisfaction of stakeholders with participation in government measures, local fisher perceptions of catch amounts, and local use patterns of coral reef resources. The survey will also gauge the public's uderstanding of human impacts on coral reef ecosystems. The project calls for the survey to be conducted once at the start of the year and to be repeated a second time at the end of the year.

Marianas RC&D has been working with Steve Leopoldo, the Lead Analyst at Fako & Associates, Inc., a polling firm based out of suburban Chicago, to create and implement the survey. Mr. Leopoldo helped us develop the survey and offered expertise on the proper protocals for conducting a scientific survey.

The pre-survey is being conducted right now.

Mr. Leopoldo has provided his services as an in-kind contribution.

Thanks, Mr. Leopoldo. You get a gold star.