Eight years in Ecuador : the road to integrated coastal management

The PMRC focused on four major coastal management issues -- mangrove destruction, mariculture expansion, disorderly shore use, and environmental sanitation. Its approach to coastal management emphasized: balance between the needs of conservation and development; use of both regulatory and nonregulatory management tools; participation in governance by all stakeholders; and focus on the interactions and interdependencies among different sectors. This compilation of papers documents 8 years (1986-94) of PMRC experience -- successes, failures, underlying motivations and values, and lessons learned. Included are (1) papers on mangrove ecosystems, mariculture development, coastal water quality, environmental sanitation, shoreline management, environmental education, and the Ranger Corps (coastal law enforcement coordination units established by the PMRC); (2) a discussion of the program's use of special area management zones or ZEMs to test its approach to coastal management planning; (3) a description of the program's practical techniques for building a community's capacity to participate in ZEM coastal management planning; and (4) summary proceedings of the 1994 International Symposium on Integrated Coastal Management in Ecuador. Annexes provide additional detail on PRMC's structure, objectives, and legal basis; its strategy to promote shrimp mariculture; a proposed mangrove ecosystem management strategy; and the User Group Agreement on Coastal Resources Management in the Atacames-Sua-Muisne Special Management Area. Includes references.