The resilience indicator assessment helped the communities to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of their SEPLS and identify priority actions for their communities. Besides establishing a baseline to quantify the progress of the resilience conditions, the resilience evaluation with local communities and organizations provided an opportunity to recognize historical, social and political situations in the area; share strengths and weaknesses of their SEPLS among community members and other stakeholders; and develop a priority work plan so that participant organizations can incorporate these actions into their management regimes and implement the associated projects. At the same time, the indicators assessment provided an opportunity for community members and other stakeholders to learn more about SEPLS and the communities’ perceptions of the SEPLS. The indicators assessment also helped to recognize the needs of local communities, encourage them to develop co-management plans together and to strengthen the relationship between project organizers and community members, building trust.

The comprehensive landscape approach undertaken at the mouth of the Chone and Portoviejo rivers, including the dry tropical forest of the Bálsamo Mountain Range, makes conservation of the critical mangrove ecosystem possible. At the same time, it allows for the sustainable use of the mangrove ecosystem as an important source for the livelihoods of local communities. This is possible due to collaboration among a wide range of stakeholders, including community-based organizations (CBOs) such as youth associations, community members, governmental entities, private reserve owners and FIDES. Cooperation between different CBOs in the Portoviejo River Estuary is facilitated through the Intercommunal Committee, which provides support to the execution of the different productive activities. In the case of the Chone River Estuary, the link to the landscape between different CBOs is mainly made through tourism. While tourism associations work together to provide tourism services, other productive activities are coordinated by FIDES through the participation of local community promoters. Private reserve owners coordinate their activities through the Balsamo Network of Private Forest Reserves.

Communal organizations promote sustainable activities devoted to restoration and conservation of the mangrove ecosystems through the reforestation of mangroves and dry forest species, reintroduction of species such as blue crab and black ark, organic agriculture, development of alternative livelihoods including community tourism, and artisanal production of higher value salt products. They also plant fruit trees in order to provide food for the capuchin monkey, a critically endangered species in the area.

Different area-based conservation approaches were taken to protect the ecosystem and people’s livelihoods for each of the three distinct sites. As the Chone River Estuary is located within a government-protected area, it is managed according to its official status; however, public servants were sensitized to collaborate with the activities of mangrove restoration and native species reintroduction promoted by the communities settled around the estuary. For the Portoviejo River Estuary, declared as a communitarian protected area with communal management, the figure of the inter-communitarian committee is of great importance in the process of its official recognition, as it reflects the compromise and organization of the four communities in the management of the area before the Ministry of Environment. As the Bálsamo Mountain Range belongs to a private conservation initiative, it becomes more complex to influence the management plan of the owners.

Strengthening local governance is one of the key factors for the success of conservation in the area, considering the significant roles that youth groups are playing in the creation of ecological paths and the management of protected areas. Their work is focused on the improvement of local management capacities, which are paving the way for their territories to become protected areas that are recognized by SNAP. Also, the recognition of the territory as a TICCA contributes to the improvement of local governance.

The activities in Manabí contribute to the conservation of biodiversity because ecotourism, as a business that brings about livelihood improvement, must be based on an intact ecosystem. The local community realized the potential of ecotourism having understood the value that biodiversity brings to them. The area is primarily used for fisheries, but, through the realization of the potential of ecotourism, contributes to the conservation of biodiversity. This fits the definition of Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures, or OECM, which was defined after the SBSTTA 22 of the CBD as: “a geographically defined area other than a Protected Area, which is governed and managed in ways that achieve positive and sustained long-term outcomes for the in situ conservation of biodiversity, with associated ecosystem functions and services and, where applicable, cultural, spiritual, socioeconomic, and other locally relevant values.”

From the findings of this case, the indicators of identifying OECMs in SEPLS include the presence of sustained business activities that are based on the elements of biodiversity and the presence of shared understanding among community members about the value of biodiversity.