Creating adaptive capacity as a buffer against risk

CONANP is encouraging the fisherwives to diversify their families’ economic activities into:

- the production and sale of niche mangrove products, such as mangrove flower honey;

- the setting up of ecotourism activities, such as running tours inside the mangroves, bird watching trips.

CONANP is supporting this diversification in the following ways:

  • Providing capacity development to these cooperatives in the area of touristic business development and administration
  • Providing support for finding markets for new products. 

The benefit of CONANP’s approach is to provide the fishing communities with an adaptive capacity buffer in terms of multiple income sources, to reduce economic risks when fisheries are affected by tropical storms or when CONANP is working to solve the problem of river contamination due to upriver communities.The risk reduction approach also increases the link between the fishing communities and the mangrove ecosystems in terms of identity and belonging, by opening up more opportunities for its sustainable use.

- An existing focus point of attraction for tourists, to make sure there is a flow of tourists and that costs in attracting tourism are kept viable;

- committed wives and supportive husbands;

- existing structures of social cohesion, leadership and organization (such as fishing cooperatives) to be able to support new entreprenuerial activities.

It is important, if local people are going to adopt new commercial activities, to be patient and consistent in advice-giving. Fear of a loss of income in the short term, will make people more risk-adverse to adoption. Before any investment in new activities, communities have to have evidence that these new activities are practicable and profitable.

It is vital to ensure local people have the capacity to market and attract customers to new products, whether honey or tourist services.

There is tourist infrastructure already in the reserve which is under-used. This is both an indication of the challenge of moving into ecotourism, and of an opportunity: the new touristic activities could be linked to existing ones for the mutual benefit of both.

It has to be recognised that capacities for managing businesses is likely to be low in marginalised communities. It is essential that training includes continuous support for locals on how to price services, and manage businesses.