Overall the five stakeholder groups agreed on the highest importance of two major functions of the coastal landscape. One is the mangroves’ function to provide shelter against cyclones/storm waves, surges and wind. The other relates to fish reproduction and harvesting, where the functioning of the three ecosystem domains are slightly different but inseparably linked. Mangroves have a critical role in fish reproduction through the provision of spawning and nursing grounds, and produce crabs which are mainly harvested by youth for household consumption. The barachois provides a wider variety of marine vertebrates and invertebrates, such as molluscs, crabs, eels and shrimp, which community members harvest mainly for household consumption. This harvesting holds high importance, helping households to cope during periods of unemployment. The lagoon is the main fishing ground for professional artisanal fishers, and thus is the main source of cash income to the community.

The value scores across the five focus groups differed in several aspects of the seascape. Fishers stressed that they are still learning to utilize the barachois wisely, and thus placed a high value on it. They also pointed out the importance of live bait for fishing that they collect in mangroves and the barachois. Skippers appreciated the value of endemic birds and the barachois waterbody as a tourist attraction – an aspect that was entirely absent in the fishers’ group. The women’s and elders’ groups tended to appreciate the beauty of the seascape and animals. The women’s group emphasized the importance of mangroves and the barachois for children to learn swimming, and to enhance environmental awareness. It is important to be inclusive of the views of all stakeholder groups in order to recognize the full value of the coastal ecosystem (Natori et al. 2018).

The understanding of multiple values that the local community associate with the biodiversity in barachois seascape, which differ across different groups in the community, was useful during the first phase of the project. This understanding helped and guided the project team to effectively determine the two main objectives of the project’s design and planning: (1) developing the project strategic plan in a collaborative manner to ensure that the project’s targets and activities fulfil local wants, needs, opinions and vision, and (2) increasing local awareness, participation, support and engagement in the project.

Indeed, understanding the multiple values held by various stakeholder groups guided the project organizers to use messages that appealed more effectively to all community groups and also to better understand the totality of the value of the seascape. For instance, organizers of the project initially assumed that conserving the barachois and developing aquaculture were important only for fishers. However, it turned out that the restoration and conservation of barachois were also important for women, for a clean and safer environment, and even for maintaining the site’s beauty, as well as for a place for learning and recreation for children.

A comprehensive understanding of the multiple values of this SEPLS also allowed project organizers to foresee potential conflicts among community groups that could arise as a result of the project activities. For instance, the household survey highlighted that the local people do not rely on the resources in barachois for their livelihoods. Only a few people were harvesting crabs, collecting bait and fishing, while fishers depended only on lagoon and sea fishing. This implied relatively low socio-economic impact on the local community by restoring and conserving the barachois, which may require limiting access to its resources. On the contrary, the local people might be supportive of restoring and conserving the barachois, considering its recreational uses by the local community, which had been diminished due to deteriorating conditions. Similarly, when designing aquaculture activities in the barachois area, we carefully considered the fact that many fishers use the barachois waters to park their vessels, particularly when they face coastal hazards such as cyclones. This knowledge helped the project team to design aquaculture activities that do not to inhibit the use of the same water for other purposes such as this. Further, to convince the fishers, we issued official letters that stipulated a mutual agreement between the project and the fishers, ensuring fishers’ access to and use of the barachois water. Knowledge gained on multiple values also helped project organizers to deliver messages that effectively gained the positive attitudes and proactive involvement of the fishers in aquaculture development.

We confirmed that fishers have localized, or even personalized, knowledge on resources, including the location of fishing grounds, fish migration patterns, seasonal abundance of economically important species, as well as fish reproduction and feeding behaviours. We, however, were not able to identify knowledge for proactively managing the barachois seascape and for sustainable resource use. We attributed this to the relatively short history of the community. The community was established around 1960 when people from Pointe Canon migrated to the current area after Cyclone Carol ravaged areas throughout Mauritius. Neither institutional arrangements by the government, nor spontaneous initiatives by the local community, have been made since for sustaining the coastal resources. During the project, the five focus-group discussions significantly increased local awareness of the multiplicity of values perceived by different stakeholders. Indeed, by sharing perceptions of value, the voice of each participant increased overall understanding and knowledge of the socio-economic and ecological value of the ecosystem domains and species, and consequently has positively influenced the community’s desire to conserve them to enhance associated benefits. The result was strong local engagement and willingness to act collectively for the restoration and conservation of the marine coastal wetland. This also allowed the establishment of a local cooperative that represents all major community groups, and enhanced their ownership of the enterprise in and the management of the barachois.

Finally, considering local needs and wants in the restoration interventions and the predictable provision of benefits ensured local interest in the success of the intervention and increased recognition given to the management team. A relationship based on trust and mutual support developed between the local people and the project team. The collaboration was consolidated based on the increased support and participation of the local people. Indeed, 96 adults carried out activities on a voluntary basis, a testimony to the value they attach to the site. Moreover, 336 residents participated in community consultations, equivalent to 15% of total residents of the targeted community, and 115 in field work. Moreover, integrating these values into restoration planning provided a sense of ownership in the local community, which ensured the project’s sustainability.

In this context, the planning and design phase of the project led to a strong consensus between the scientists and local people on the multiple values elicited by the community groups. Although a time-consuming phase, significant effort in carrying out the surveys and community consultations was necessary to effectively develop the project strategic plan. The value assessment approaches were considered as critical baselines, which provided information on how people view and value their natural environment, as well as their priorities and preferences for development. Indeed, the starting point of the project was to develop a clear understanding of local needs, priorities, perceptions, knowledge and values. The project strategic plan, designed based on close collaboration between the NGO, the scientists and the local community in a collective decision-making process, is a key output that is likely to guarantee the social acceptability of future restoration and management interventions within the context of sustainability.

This plan now serves as the foundation for the implementation phase and for future dialogue and collaboration between policymakers, scientists, the private sector and the local cooperative. The implementation phase will be undertaken by recognizing and building on what local people value, need and expect. The local cooperative will work with project’s stakeholder groups through the Collaborative Management Barachois Committee, whose members consist of representatives of governmental agencies, NGOs, local associations, the private sector, and the general public, as well as experts and scientists, to implement project activities effectively (see Fig. 7). These representatives will participate in frequent meetings to effectively determine and coordinate project activities in a collaborative manner. Although the local cooperative is expected to be the implementing entity for on-the-ground activities, the committee, the direct beneficiaries of the initiative, will be critical to ensure that all requirements, including trainings, permits, funding, labor and expertise, are available to the local people. It is however important to note that few local residents were found to have strong expertise related to wetland restoration and biodiversity conservation.

The present project framework places the local community in a central position to make decisions on planning and implementing the restoration and conservation activities (see Fig. 7). Indeed, the first phase of the project started with collaboration between the local community, NGO and scientists to elaborate on the project design and planning, with subsequent cooperation of other stakeholders including the government and the private sector, built on previous analysis of local values. The fact that the foundation of project implementation was initially based on local views has built trust between the local community and other stakeholders. This trust is considered to be critical for ensuring effective dialogue and collaboration during the implementation phase. Moreover, multi-stakeholder engagement was decisive in the enhancement of barachois management, where restoration and conservation priority-setting will reflect a wider cross-section of society. This will generate a constructive and effective seascape co-management alliance based on mutual support, as well as mutual sharing of knowledge and expertise, thereby enhancing the project’s success in the long term. Mutual information-sharing between stakeholders will need to be carried out on an ongoing basis, through consultation and awareness-raising activities. This will build capacity and raise awareness among all stakeholders towards improved wetland biodiversity and the development of an environmentally, economically and socially sustainable seascape. The perceived values of the seascape, and consequently attitudes, will change over time and need to be monitored over the long term to gauge the seascape’s management impacts on the local community. Similar approaches to assessing value will need to be repeatedly replicated to ensure long-term monitoring within the context of adaptive management.