administered before our project starts to one administered towards the end of our project.
The goal of our program is for coral reef stakeholders to build a greater understanding and appreciation of our coral reefs and the management practices
that are intended to protect them. We're hoping that we see a big change between the pre-project survey and the post-project survey.
In developing the survey, RC&D had help from Steve Leopoldo. Mr. Leopoldo is the Lead Analyst at Fako & Associates, a reputable polling firm in Illinois.
He helped us create, implement, and analyze the survey. Mr. Leopoldo donated his services as an in-kind contribution.
We used random telephone calls to survey 96 Saipan residents. 39% of respondents were born in the Philippines, 30% were born in Saipan, and 31%
were born somewhere else. 45% were men and 55% were women. 40% were between 18-34, 40% were between 35-49, and 20% were between 50-64.
We used the demographic data to uncover any differences between groups based on their sex, age, or ethnicity. We will use this information to determine
which groups to target in the upcoming year.
Overall we discovered that most people on Saipan underestimate the value and diversity of the fish and coral living in the waters surrounding our islands.
Even so, generally speaking the majority of the people support increased coral reef protections, but the weakest support came from people aged 50-64
and from people born in the CNMI. There was no discernible difference between men and women.
When asked about the enforcement of coral reef regulations, almost half the respondents (46%) said they didn't even know what the regulations were.
Also, although there are 5 Marine Protected Areas in Saipan, 59% of respondents could not name a single one. The demographic group with the greatest
need for education on coral reefs are Filipinos. Only 2 of the 40 Filipinos interviewed could identify coral as an animal and Filipinos in general were more
likely to think that people are having a positive effect on coral reefs and that reef health is improving.
Click HERE to download the pre-project survey results
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The Coral Reef Public Awareness in Saipan Project is supported by a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |
