Participative management and local institutional strengthening: The successful case of mangrove social-ecological systems in Ecuador

In 1999, the government of Ecuador established a conservation strategy for ancestral and traditional communities settled in mangrove areas to promote the conservation and management of this productive ecosystem, also giving users an opportunity to improve their quality of life. Local fishing associations can request mangrove areas for protection and utilization under a "Sustainable Use and Mangrove Custody Agreement. "This legal instrument guarantees beneficiaries exclusive access to fishing resources in these areas. The beneficiaries are committed to custody mangrove areas, keep the legal status up to date, submit semi-annual reports to the environmental authority, implement a management plan, and observe the legal provisions of the Agreement. Up to October 2018, 79 areas were given in custody of which 53 are operative (67%). The total surface under custody amounts to 6836.3 km2, which is approximately 44% of the mangrove area in the country. The initiative has demonstrated to be a useful management alternative for rural areas usually lacking governmental control. In most cases, the performance of fishers associations has been good and concrete benefits have been achieved. This mechanism has also helped to stop mangrove degradation, and in some cases its surface area has increased. In cases of poor performance, more assistance by governmental authorities is recommended. In this chapter, we describe and discuss this participative management scheme.