The canal of jambeli is a critical wintering area for 19 shorebird species, including five focal species of the pacific americas shorebird conservation strategy, and is a whsrn site of international…

The canal of jambeli is a critical wintering area for 19 shorebird species, including five focal species of the pacific americas shorebird conservation strategy, and is a whsrn site of international importance. In 1999, ecuador developed a legal framework to secure the conservation of mangrove forest and granted concessions to do sustainably fisheries to ancestral communities. Specific objectives are to: 1) strengthen the administrative capacities of beneficiaries to support implementation of a sustainable community tourism model; 2) provide technical assistance to municipalities to develop integrated coastal management plans to conserve 111,197 acres of mangroves; and 3) determine changes in mangrove forest cover over the last 15 years in concession areas. Activities include 1) developing and delivering capacity-building workshops, 2) testing a sustainable ecotourism model, 3) holding workshops to develop integrated coastal management plans, and 4) mapping changes in mangrove cover and micro-topographic variables. Direct beneficiaries are 500 families from concessionaries and two municipalities. Conservation of mangroves provides ecosystem services that will benefit the well-being of local human communities and U.S. Citizens through carbon storage.