MPA Protection Mission - Isla de la Plata, Machalilla National Park, Ecuador

Global Conservation was on mission this month to Ecuador’s largest coastal national park - Machalilla National Park – to evaluate how to best assist in protecting its crown jewel – Isla de la Plata – from illegal fishing in the continent’s most important ‘No Take’ MPA, habitat for Pacific marine biodiversity and a critical migration area for the Oceanic Manta.

With ProtectedSeas' marine radar expert, Brendan Tougher, Global Conservation was hosted by WildAid’s Director of Ecuador, Manuel Bravo and senior advisor Marcel Bigue, and met with marine protected area managers and marine rangers in Machalilla National Park and Isla de la Plata, often called the ‘poor man’s Galapagos’.

Isla de la Plata is a stunning marine protected area twelve miles off the coast of Machalilla National Park which recently implemented one of Ecuador’s first ‘No Take’ areas banning all industrial and artisanal fishing within two miles of the island in order to allow regeneration of the previous rich biodiversity which had been fished and hunted with limited enforcement until 2016.

Isla de la Plata s a breeding ground for humpback whales and critical migration area for Oceanic Mantas, as well as shark, three types of rays and formerly abundant and diverse marine life. Isla de la Plata is threatened by over fishing by local fisherman and illegal fishing by industrial and semi-industrial fishing fleets who previously harvested in the island’s waters without enforcement.

Established in 1979, Machalilla National Park rests along the Pacific coast near Puerto Lopéz. It incorporates beaches, marine corridors and protected areas, Isla de la Plata and Salango islands, and fog forest, dry forest and other small islands. Isla de la Plata was named for a legendary hoard of silver left by Sir Francis Drake.

Machalilla National Park in 2016 implemented a 2-mile radius ‘No Take’ zone for Isla de la Plata to protect against all fishing, and with the assistance of WildAid, purchased a dedicated patrol boat and signed a historic agreement with the Ecuadorian Navy to provide joint patrols against illegal fishing, since Ecuadorian park rangers cannot board vessels on their own and carry no firearms.

WildAid funded and deployed an AIS-based command and control system with a long-range camera to provide critical surveillance against illegal fishing.  Now, with the technical assistance of Protected Seas and funding from Global Conservation, together we are planning to support deployment of the Marine Monitor (M2) system on the back side of the island to provide 24/7 radar surveillance enabling real-time response from the rangers with marine support to stop and board illegal fishing vessels in the ‘No Take’ zone, especially at night.

If this MPA Protection system works well for Isla de la Plata, we hope to extend Marine Monitor to other marine reserves in the southern coast of Ecuador from Manta to Punto Elena, as well as other countries in the Americas.

More than 90% of Coastal MPAs in developing countries lack the necessary resources, training, and enforcement capacity to successfully protect marine species.

WildAid has been working in coastal Ecuador to improve law enforcement and systems for marine protected areas for the past six years, including a focus on Isla de la Plata and Machallla National Park and Isla de Plata.

WildAid has achieved key milestones in Ecuador:

- Developed Marine Enforcement Strategy

- Training for all coastal marine wardens and managers

- New Command Center at Machalilla National Park

- Patrol Operations Support – boats, fuel, maintenance

- Deployed AIS and Surveillance Camera and system

- Supported Ecuador’s first coastal Wildlife Rescue Center

WildAid funded two patrol boats and the implementation of regular patrols and training for its park rangers at Isla de la Plata. To increase park rangers’ ability to spot illegal activities, WildAid installed real-time surveillance equipment - a long-range HD camera and AIS software, as the new command center in Machalilla National Park.

WildAid has undertaken a comprehensive marine protection plan for each site, regular patrols, training for rangers and community outreach. In Machalilla, they installed surveillance equipment and worked with small-scale fishers to encourage sustainable fishing practices. In Pacoche, they have helped park rangers patrol their beaches to protect Olive Ridley sea turtle nests and supported Ecuador’s first turtle and marine wildlife rehabilitation center.

According to WildAid, Marine Protection Systems consists of the following elements:

Surveillance and Enforcement: Sites need surveillance systems (such as cameras and radar) patrol resources (such as boats) to find and apprehend poachers. We tailor each system design, based on local needs.

Training and Mentorship: Staff must understand the system, their responsibilities within it, and how to operate and maintain tools. We provide training, mentorship, and professional development.

Policies and Consequences: We work with lawyers, judges, and governments to strengthen laws and ensure meaningful penalties for illegal activities.

Community Engagement: We train rangers to educate their communities, design awareness campaigns to foster understanding and buy-in, and support community-based management strategies.

Consistent Funding: We develop long-term budgets that streamline operating costs, and create new revenue streams to ensure the protection system has long-term funding.

Source: WildAid.org

This approach stops illegal fishing, enforces regulations, allows wildlife recovery, and encourages positive economic opportunity for communities.

WildAid Marine Protected Areas in the Galapagos have seen measurable improvement in their Marine Protection System and can act as regional leaders, exemplifying successful marine conservation, so that more MPAs can fulfill their conservation potential and allow ocean wildlife to recover and flourish.

Above: Marine Monitor system.

Global Conservation is supporting the use of these tools and new technologies like Marine Radar to bring even more effective MPA protection to Isla de la Plata, Machalilla National Park, Ecuador and other countries.

Above: Example of real-time monitoring of vessel loitering within an MPA against illegal fishing.

Global Conservation looks forward to supporting MPA Protection using the Marine Monitor (M2) system in Isla de la Plata and Machalilla National Park in the coming years, and bringing the best ideas and technology, systems and training to Ecuador and other countries in the Americas as they ramp up marine protection.

Partners in Marine Protection

About WildAid

Over the last 20 years, WildAid’s comprehensive approach to MPA enforcement has been proven to help build successful MPAs. After partnering with WildAid, the Galapagos National Park and Misool Marine Reserve in Indonesia, have seen dramatic improvements in revitalizing coral reefs, shark populations, mantas, nesting sea turtles, whales, and important commercial fisheries. See wildaid.org.

About ProtectedSeas

ProtectedSeas has developed Marine Monitor (M2), a lower cost software solution that works with off-the-self radars to provide 24/7 situational awareness of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).  ProtectedSeas four tenants are Awareness, Enforcement, Policy Change and Sustainability, engaging people about current marine issues and conservation efforts, building tools to help ensure marine regulations are enforced, fighting for policy that supports increased marine conservation and finding solutions that provide long-term environmental protection. See protectedseas.org.

Isla de la Plata and the Oceanic Manta

The giant manta ray (Manta birostris) is a filter-feeding and highly migratory marine species found in tropical and temperate waters worldwide. The large majority of existing information about the species’ diet is based on observational data limited to feeding activities at the sea surface during daylight at well-known aggregation sites.

This new study by Marine Megafauna Foundation’s Katherine Burgess and University of Queensland, focused on Isla de la Plata, Ecuador, which seasonally hosts the largest known aggregation of giant manta rays in the world.

Manta ray muscle and surface zooplankton were examined through stable isotope analysis, and revealed that the species’ dietary intake largely comes from the mesopelagic zone (200 to 1,000 meters below the ocean surface) rather than from surface zooplankton as previously thought.

Mantas are killed for their gills for Chinese medicine, and are sold for $2-5,000 per gill. As well, Mantas are caught illegally and as bi-catch by industrial fishing fleets.

Giant mantas are known to dive to depths of over 1,000 meters making it difficult to study their feeding ecology. To determine the diet of a fish, researchers normally examine its stomach contents. However, this is usually a distressing or lethal procedure and would not be appropriate considering global manta ray populations have been in drastic decline due to anthropogenic threats such as targeted fishing or bycatch, pollution and habitat destruction.

Both species of Manta – the giant manta ray (Manta birostris) and reef manta ray (Manta alfredi) – are listed as ‘vulnerable to extinction’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Illegal fishing of Manta occurs all over the planet, driven by the high prices of its prized gills for Chinese medicine.

To date, manta rays are legally protected on paper in Ecuador, Peru, New Zealand, the USA (Florida, Hawaii and Flower Garden Banks), Guam, Maldives, Yap, Indonesia, the Philippines and Mexico, but few of these countries invest in the necessary law enforcement to ensure their survival.

For Manta diving, Isla de la Plata is an undiscovered jewel of the Pacific. While most people visit the Galapagos Islands when touring in the region, Isla de la Plata boasts some of the most spectacular manta ray diving in the world. With unforgettable up-close encounters with massive mature individuals, this site is one of the hottest new destinations for encounters with these gentle giants from July to August each year.