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As a result of
a study requested by the Ecuadorian Ministry of
Environment, the coastline
and waters between the villages of Galera
and San Francisco in the region of Esmeraldas in
Ecuador were identified as very important zones
of biodiversity and in great need of
conservation and must be protected.
The marine reserve
extends 18 km into the sea along approx. 37km of
coastline with an area of about 54,000 hectares.
The boundaries are the estuary of the river
Muisne in the south and the geological feature
of the Estero Zapallito in the north.
The Situation Of The People Living Within The
Reserve Boundaries!!!
An estimated
4,400 people live in the area, of which 3,000
live directly on the coast. The communities gain
their small income through agriculture, cattle
ranching and fishing. The area is rich
ecologically and biologically,however the people
are very, very poor.
They lack any decent levels of drinking
water, electricity, education, health and
sanitation.
Poverty and government neglect have led
to overexploitation of natural resources just to
provide families with an income to survive. They
understand the need to implement conservation
measures that will help their natural resources
recover, but lack of economic alternatives have
prevented any these practices from being
implemented.
This
is where we endeavour to help!!!!
Here Are Some Of Our Snaps
From Our Visit To The Reserve - Enjoy!
The organisations behind the
reserve want to achieve the following scenario:
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The Nazca
Institute
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NAZCA is a local Ecuadorian Non-Government
Organisation.
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NAZCA's role is the study of
the coastal and marine ecosystems in
the Tropical Equatorial Pacific and
promote biodiversity conservation as
a worldwide value.
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NAZCA aims to create and constantly
feed a baseline of information on
the marine biodiversity of Ecuador,
propose and implement the tools for
its adequate characterization, in
order to maintain and conserve it.
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NAZCA stands for management
efforts that develop strategies for
a successful combination of human
well-being and and conservation
objectives.
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NAZCA's team has been employed in
the Galera-San Francisco area since
1999 building up knowledge about the
biodiversity of the region and
gaining the trust of local
communities to promote an greatly
improved management of the area.
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NAZCA'sThe management system for the
area is designed to be
multidisciplinary, inter-institutional
and highly participatory.
Dirk
Riebensahm of NAZCA
writes,
on the
Lighthouse Foundation's Website - a
sponsor of NAZCA:
"This is
the first time in the country’s history
that the proposal of a protected area
has been done entirely with the local
community’s support and using tools that
would empower them to become the
management entity of the area. Thus the
management team of the proposed
protected area is being established with
members of the local community,
including fishermen, but also involving
local and national authorities that will
provide technical advice for the
management of the reserve. During the
establishment of the inter-institutional
committee, NAZCA provided technical
support to the community and is
implementing a conservation agreement
that will contribute to set the basis of
the management plan for the Marine
Reserve. Technical support includes
building capacity in the community, such
as knowledge of marine ecology and
governance. "
Click for
Dirk Riebensahm's article
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The
Marine reserve "Galera -
San-Francisco" is not to
be managed by the
central government of
Ecuador, but by the
representatives of the
local people, non-government
organisations, local
community councils, the
Environment Ministry,
and the navy.
Further information to
the importance of this
reserve
by
Cara Goodman
I
Hope This Has Given You
A Concise Insight Into
The Galera-San Francisco
Nature Reserve If You
Want To Know More And
Would Like To Support It
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