556
participative management can be the main support of sustainable development on
this site. The expansion of the a Wildlife Management Unit is an alternative project
for the sustainable use of C. acutus present in the Palo Verde Estuary that can be
replicated in other Mexican coastal systems. Additionally, in itself it represents an
opportunity to reconcile human activities with the environment.
Keywords Environmental policy • Regulatory instruments • Sustainable management • Estuary
18.1 Introduction
The coast zone (CZ) is a set of complex ecosystems highly productive, biodiverse
and vulnerable, conformed by a mosaic of micro ecosystems in continuous interaction that form the great system along time and space (Azuz-Adeath 2008). The
coastal water bodies constitute a part of that mosaic of ecosystems, which are recognize by the ecosystem services that they provide (support, regulation, supply and
cultural services) (MEA 2005), and for their fragility and sensitivity to the high
anthropogenic pressures (Coelho et al. 2007; Alves et al. 2013; Jennerjahn and
Mitchell 2013) that threat their integral functionality with ecological, economics
and social costs (Bricker et al. 2003; Cotovicz-Junior et al. 2013).
The decision making related to natural resources require functional information
to learn the actual situation of a particular ecosystem of interest, which not always
is neither transmitted nor correctly understood. This is a problem that the potential
users of the resources have to deal with (Lundberg 2013), and it is sharpened due to
disengage between public administration periods (Azuz-Adeath and Rivera-Arriaga
2004; Santos-Martín et al. 2015).
In this sense, environmental evaluation and planning to achieve conservation
constitute objects of interest and increases the necessity of the integral coastal management supported by legal and planning instruments with the purpose of protecting, mitigating and controlling the accelerated expansion in the CZ (Milanés-Batista
2012; Costa et al. 2013). Nevertheless, to link all these factors in a consensual manner (institutional, social, economic and ecological) is not an easy task (EspinozaTenorio et al. 2014).
Regarding Mexican case, among environmental policy instruments that are used
for managing and planning of the coastal-marine zone are the ecological zoning, the
protected areas (PA) and the Wildlife Management Units (WMU or UMA Spanish
acronym) among other, which emanate from constitutional and legal provisions in
the General Law of Ecological Equilibrium and Environmental Protection
(LGEEPA, for its acronym in Spanish) (Zárate-Lomelí 2004; CONABIO 2009). Its
rationale stems from the concern of different social sectors to the environmental
crisis being experienced by mankind, and it has led to the search for new alternatives that promote the protection, preservation and proper use of natural resources,
O. Cervantes et al.
participative management can be the main support of sustainable development on
this site. The expansion of the a Wildlife Management Unit is an alternative project
for the sustainable use of C. acutus present in the Palo Verde Estuary that can be
replicated in other Mexican coastal systems. Additionally, in itself it represents an
opportunity to reconcile human activities with the environment.
Keywords Environmental policy • Regulatory instruments • Sustainable management • Estuary
18.1 Introduction
The coast zone (CZ) is a set of complex ecosystems highly productive, biodiverse
and vulnerable, conformed by a mosaic of micro ecosystems in continuous interaction that form the great system along time and space (Azuz-Adeath 2008). The
coastal water bodies constitute a part of that mosaic of ecosystems, which are recognize by the ecosystem services that they provide (support, regulation, supply and
cultural services) (MEA 2005), and for their fragility and sensitivity to the high
anthropogenic pressures (Coelho et al. 2007; Alves et al. 2013; Jennerjahn and
Mitchell 2013) that threat their integral functionality with ecological, economics
and social costs (Bricker et al. 2003; Cotovicz-Junior et al. 2013).
The decision making related to natural resources require functional information
to learn the actual situation of a particular ecosystem of interest, which not always
is neither transmitted nor correctly understood. This is a problem that the potential
users of the resources have to deal with (Lundberg 2013), and it is sharpened due to
disengage between public administration periods (Azuz-Adeath and Rivera-Arriaga
2004; Santos-Martín et al. 2015).
In this sense, environmental evaluation and planning to achieve conservation
constitute objects of interest and increases the necessity of the integral coastal management supported by legal and planning instruments with the purpose of protecting, mitigating and controlling the accelerated expansion in the CZ (Milanés-Batista
2012; Costa et al. 2013). Nevertheless, to link all these factors in a consensual manner (institutional, social, economic and ecological) is not an easy task (EspinozaTenorio et al. 2014).
Regarding Mexican case, among environmental policy instruments that are used
for managing and planning of the coastal-marine zone are the ecological zoning, the
protected areas (PA) and the Wildlife Management Units (WMU or UMA Spanish
acronym) among other, which emanate from constitutional and legal provisions in
the General Law of Ecological Equilibrium and Environmental Protection
(LGEEPA, for its acronym in Spanish) (Zárate-Lomelí 2004; CONABIO 2009). Its
rationale stems from the concern of different social sectors to the environmental
crisis being experienced by mankind, and it has led to the search for new alternatives that promote the protection, preservation and proper use of natural resources,
O. Cervantes et al.