Complementary conservation strategy led by civil society organizations that seek to maintain biodiversity and ecosystem services with special emphasis on species connectivity (conservation target).

There is an important level of community involvement in the definition and management of sustainable development proposals due to the level of economic impact that this has on the lives of families.

However, it is important to strengthen this axis in order to guarantee the conservation of the protected area.

Participatory governance is a dynamic process under constant review and consolidation.

Currently, there are significant positive results in terms of consultation and the definition of management strategies. The aim is to strengthen the participation ofstakeholders in active and consensual decision-making.

The funds for managing the conservation area are guaranteed because the municipality annually allocates resources for current expenses (personnel and operations) and investment expenses (programs), in addition to contributions from cooperation and environmental compensation funds.

If this trend continues, the area's management has sufficient funds to be able to sustain itself economically over time.

The Decentralized Autonomous Government - GAD - of Limón Indanza has generated a series of legal and regulatory instruments to strengthen and sustain the management of the conservation area. Therefore, this management is organically linked to the Territorial Development and Management Plan(PDOT), has its own management plan, and is part of the organic structure of the municipality. It also has an ordinance that establishes the regulations for its management and operation.

The promotion of productive activities has been developed through

• Assemblies with the communities to reduce pressure on the forest and páramo.
• The promotion of investments as an opportunity to improve the livelihoods of the community and also as an example for neighboring communities to follow in terms of changing attitudes towards the conservation of the forest and páramo.
• Improvement of the main traditional crops such as wheat, corn and potatoes through technical assistance, technified irrigation and improved seeds.
• Improvement of the dairy products production chain through the technification of the cheese, yogurt and blancmange production process, improved pastures and technified irrigation.
• Promote aquaculture by raising trout, taking advantage of the availability of good quality water and the demand for protein in the local diet, including markets in nearby cities.
• Promotion of alternative crops, such as fruit (avocado, apple, peach, orange) and technical assistance.

This is a key element for the success of the ACA in terms of good use of the area's natural resources. Active participation has allowed for a clear perspective of the responsibilities and duties of the communities with respect to conservation, thus achieving recognition of an environmental conservation area by the provincial municipality, making good use of local resources and benefiting the greatest number of families in the area.

There has also been an interest in the organization and active participation of the communities in the management of the ACA.

A transcendental element is education as a practice of freedom for the conservation of nature. Through horizontal workshops, we encourage students in megadiverse rural sites to strengthen their vision of the world in order to transform it, and thus reincorporate nature as an intrinsic element of societies, based on ethics and respect for all beings with which they coexist.

Educators become part of the learners' society and together we seek the process of decolonization of the reductionist thinking that considers nature as a thing, an object of the market, something that can be destroyed.

We transform this erroneous vision of nature with an educational model that seeks to reincorporate an ontological and ethical value to nature.

From the periphery, education incorporates the knowledge of the other.

Communication and raising awareness are the pillars of environmental protection.

Laws are an important factor for environmental protection, but it is the will of the public that will make the difference. It is important to raise awareness of the richness of our territories, but also of their fragility. We need to realize that it is through our daily actions that we can make a difference. For example, if a consumer creates a demand, the fisherman responds to this demand.

To share and raise awareness, an exhibition will soon be set up on each island of the French West Indies. The objective will be to present the diversity and the fragility of the shark and ray populations that frequent the shallow waters and to present good practices.

To protect, we need knowledge.

• What shark and ray species are present in the shallow waters of the French West Indies?
• When are these species present?
• Are they present on all the islands?
• What are the potential local threats to their populations?
• Are they in contact with human activities?

With so many questions in need of an answers, we came up with two main methods to collect the necesarry knowledge:

• Scientific monitoring based on aerial surveys. The shallow waters of the French West Indies were explored with a drone. This method makes it possible to identify the species present and count the number of individuals which frequent the shallow waters.
• Aquisition and valorisation of sea user's knowledge. Who is best placed to know the sea? The local users! Fishermen, divers, swimmers use the sea every day. Participatory science was used to record sightings of sharks and rays. The collected data made it possible to produce distribution maps for each species and to collect information about shark and ray interactions with human activities.