Thesis submitted to obtain the degree of Master of Human Settlements at KU Leuven
Mangrove ecosystems, besides their high values in biodiversity and physical coastguarding, draw nowadays special attention for their extreme carbon absorption capacity. Thus, mangrove conservation is transcendental for millions of coastal inhabitants around the world.
The aim of this research is to describe how Ecuador’s mangrove community conservation strategy and climate change adaption is challenged by socio-ecological and territorial conflicts. The relations among key stakeholders in the Gulf of Guayaquil, explain how the conflicts in the space are played out and introduce information about climate change to understand how urgent is a change of multisectorial behavior in order to work for the sustainable protection of the ecosystem
Fundamental part of this research is the intensive fieldwork made in Ecuador to Cerrito los Morreños, the largest concession in the Gulf of Guayaquil, which operates under a stewardship system that allows communities to exploit and protect state-owned mangrove areas, through a mechanism called “Sustainable Use and Custody Agreements”. However, during the exercise of this ecological stewardship, conflicts raise with other actors that also share the space and that endanger the mangrove and therefore, the livelihoods of the communities. The research explains how these conflicts get amplified under the pressure of climate change and how urgent it is to start designing adaptation and mitigation measures that enhance conservation measures. It finally contributes with three “public policy and landscape architecture proposals” that challenge the way the Gulf is managed. The proposals have been designed with a strong vision towards climate change adapted infrastructure, reforestation of mangrove, conservation and protection of the ecosystem, fight against inequality, and the implementation of self-sustainable projects to improve the quality of life of the population.
Keywords: Gulf of Guayaquil, conflicts of space, climate change, adaptation, sustainability
Read the whole master thesis here: https://wendychavez.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Socio-ecological-Conflicts-and-the-Challenges-of-Climate-Change-Feb-2019.pdf