Ecosystem services in mangroves: potential for food security in coastal communitie

Abstract

The research aimed to link the concepts of ecological integrity and ecosystem services in mangroves, in search of food security and greater resilience to climate change. It was carried out in two coastal areas in the southwest of the province of Pinar del Río, Cuba; namely, Protected Area of Managed Resources Punta Cortés and Coloma-Las Canas (one in a state of deterioration). A methodological proposal was developed that relates the concepts of ecological integrity, ecosystem services and food security in coastal areas with the presence of mangroves, for which indicators are taken into account to assess the ecosystems in question and compare results through the application of surveys and interviews with residents, as empirical methods of support.  In the case of Punta Cortés, according to the indicator range, a score of 28 was obtained, which places the area as high integrity, but not in the case of La Coloma-Las Canas, whose score was 11, remaining, according to the methodology, in the low integrity range. The results of the surveys carried out among the residents coincide with the previous ones, concluding that the La Coloma-Las Canas sector does not have the necessary food security for the local development of its residents due to the deterioration of its mangroves, which threatens the scarce possibility of resilience to climatic changes, especially hurricanes and tropical storms, as well as sea level rise.