Mangrove wetlands conservation project and the shrimp farming industry in Ecuador: Lessons learned

摘要

Mangroves are one of the most important and productive coastal wetlands in the world. Among other ecological services or benefits, this coastal ecosystem offers protection against hurricanes, storms and flooding, natural water treatment systems and sedimentation sinks, as well as eco-tourism and fisheries. In Ecuador, mangroves provide nursery areas and habitats for several species of crustaceans, such as the Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei; Pacific blue shrimp Litopenaeus stylirostris; red crab, Ucides occidenta-lis; fishes, including croakers, Cynoscion spp.; mullets, Mugil spp. (e.g., Mugil cephalus), and snook, Centropomus ni-grescens; shellfishes, including mussels, Mytella strigata and M. speciosa; and mangrove cockles (= ark shells), Anadara spp., such as Anadara tuberculosa, A. similis and A. grandis; reptiles, such as the critically endangered American crocodile, Crocodylus acutus and iguanas, Iguana iguana; birds, including mangrove black hawk, Buteogallus anihmcinus; white ibis, Eudocimus albus; roseate spoonbill, Ajaia ajaja; and several species of herons, including great egrets, Ardea alba; snowy egrets E. thula; little blue herons, E. caerulea; tricolored herons, E. tricolor, green-backed herons, Butorides striatus, as well as black-crowned Nycticorax nycticorax and yellow-crowned Nyctanassa violacea night herons; and, mammals, including crab-eating raccoon, Procyon canc-rivorus, and neotropical otter, Lontra longicaudis. Bottle-nose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) are also common marine mammals residing around the mangrove estuarine waters along the Ecuadorian coast (Gulf of Guayaquil). Several mangrove tree species has been identified in the Ecuadorian coast: red mangroves, Rhizophora mangle and R. harrisonii; black mangrove, Avicennia germinans; white mangrove, La-guncularia racemosa; button or jeli mangrove, Conocarpus erectus; pinuelo mangrove, Pelliciera rhizophorae; and nato mangrove, Mora oleifera, which is only distributed northwest Ecuadorian coast (Esmeraldas province). Even though all the mangroves species are threatened in Ecuador, four of these species (red, white, black and button mangroves) are currently at risk of extinction (Ministerio del Ambiente 2001).