Abstract

Caribbean coral reef governance includes an increasing range of actors related to reef use, research, management, and decision-making.The relationships between actors and the networks that these relationships form are a possible source of constraint or facilitation in terms of reef management.;Social network analysis (SNA) can be used as a tool to quantify the relationships and interactions between actors and understand the roles of these actors within a network.The Future of Reefs in a Changing Environment (FORCE) project investigates ecosystem health, livelihoods of reef-dependent communities, governance structures, and their relationship to the successful management of Caribbean reefs.Social science research is being conducted as part of the FORCE project in fifteen communities across five Caribbean countries.Interviews with representatives from multiple governance levels including local and national government, NGO’s, community organizations, and individual resource users provide quantitative and qualitative information about the relationships between the various actors involved in reef governance.Preliminary results of the social networks of coral reef governance in the community of West End, Roatan in Honduras are presented.Results will be used to explore SNA as a tool for understanding governance and management of Caribbean coral reefs and to provide recommendations to improve coral reef governance through the better understanding of these networks.