Disputed Spaces: Concheras, Shrimp Aquaculture, and Conservation in the Mangrove Forests of Southern Esmeraldas, Ecuador

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Disputed Spaces: Concheras, Shrimp Aquaculture, and Conservation in the Mangrove Forests of Southern Esmeraldas, Ecuador AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OF Melva B. Treviño Peña for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Geography presented on June 7, 2018. Title: Disputed Spaces: Concheras, Shrimp Aquaculture, and Conservation in the Mangrove Forests of Southern Esmeraldas, Ecuador. Abstract approved: ______________________________________________________ Laurence C. Becker The mangrove ecosystem has served as a life-support system to large populations of coastal dwellers in Ecuador for many generations. Diverse communities comprised of multi-racial and multi-ethnic groups have formed along the edge of the mangrove forests throughout the Ecuadorian coast. These groups self-identify as being part of an “ancestral” pueblo of the mangrove ecosystem. As is the case of many rural frontier lands in the Global South, the coastal regions of Ecuador have experienced an influx of various large-scale economic activities over recent decades that resulted in a vast biophysical transformation of these landscapes. While these developments have environmental implications, they have also resulted in complex social and cultural impacts. This dissertation examines the people-mangrove relations of the inhabitants of a community in southern Esmeraldas, Ecuador that has historically relied on mangrove resources to subsist. Semi-structured interviews, household surveys, participant observation, and geolocational data were collected in Bolívar, a mangrove community in Muisne, Esmeraldas to gain an understanding of the ways in which the community perceives, utilizes, and interacts with the mangrove forests. It further identifies how the introduction of new spatialities to these mangrove spaces – shrimp aquaculture and mangrove conservation – affect the spatiality of the ancestral mangrove users. An examination of these contemporaneous spatialities reveals that they conflict, converge, and complement one another in variegated and often insidious ways. This dissertation argues that because the mangrove forests are being appropriated for the extraction of resources, whether through shrimp aquaculture or state-led conservation, the introduction of these spatialities pose comparable social and cultural impacts on the mangrove users who have historically depended on mangrove resources. Loss of access to mangroves has resulted in the loss of spaces traditionally used by the community to sustain nutritional needs, to carry out livelihood practices, and to foster cultural and personal identity, which has resulted in complex social and cultural changes Furthermore, the findings of this dissertation indicate that the impacts of these processes are not evenly spread among all mangrove users, but rather further marginalize vulnerable groups, particularly the women of the community. ©Copyright by Melva B. Treviño Peña June 7, 2018 All Rights Reserved Disputed Spaces: Concheras, Shrimp Aquaculture, and Conservation in the Mangrove Forests of Southern Esmeraldas, Ecuador by Melva B. Treviño Peña A DISSERTATION submitted to Oregon State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Presented June 7, 2018 Commencement June 2019 Doctor of Philosophy dissertation of Melva B. Treviño Peña presented on June 7, 2018. APPROVED: Major Professor, representing Geography Dean of the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences Dean of the Graduate School I understand that my dissertation will become part of the permanent collection of Oregon State University libraries. My signature below authorizes release of my dissertation to any reader upon request. Melva B. Treviño Peña, Author TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER 1: Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Overview .......................................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Research context .............................................................................................................. 2 1.2.1. Contested space: The mangrove forests .................................................................... 2 1.2.2. Pueblos del manglar .................................................................................................. 3 1.2.3. Shrimp aquaculture in Ecuador ................................................................................. 6 1.2.4. Mangrove conservation ............................................................................................. 7 1.2.5. Summary ................................................................................................................... 8 1.3. Theoretical framework ..................................................................................................... 9 1.3.1. The lens of political ecology ..................................................................................... 9 1.4. Conceptual frameworks.................................................................................................. 11 1.4.1. Feminist political ecology ....................................................................................... 11 1.4.2. Production of space ................................................................................................. 13 1.4.3. Spatiality ................................................................................................................. 15 1.4.4. Market environmentalism ....................................................................................... 16 1.5. Research questions ......................................................................................................... 17 1.6. Research methods and study site .................................................................................... 18 1.6.1. Study site ................................................................................................................. 18 1.6.2. Data collection ........................................................................................................ 21 1.6.3. Data analysis ........................................................................................................... 26 1.7. Structure of dissertation ................................................................................................. 27 1.8. References ...................................................................................................................... 30 CHAPTER 2: Los concheros de Bolívar: Ancestral users of the mangrove ecosystem in southern Esmeraldas, Ecuador ................................................................................................. 35 2.1. Abstract .......................................................................................................................... 35 2.2. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 36 2.3. Bolívar: Pueblo del manglar ........................................................................................... 38 2.3.1. The community ....................................................................................................... 38 2.3.2. The local economy .................................................................................................. 40 2.4. Who are the concheros? ................................................................................................. 44 2.5. Perceptions of the mangrove ecosystem ........................................................................ 47 2.5.1. Mangroves are life .................................................................................................. 47 TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) Page 2.5.2. Part of the mangrove ecosystem ............................................................................. 49 2.6. Uses of the mangroves ................................................................................................... 51 2.6.1. Mangroves provide nourishment ............................................................................ 51 2.6.2. Mangroves empower women .................................................................................. 56 2.6.3. Mangroves provide commercial products ............................................................... 58 2.6.4. Mangroves are a source of employment ................................................................. 59 2.6.5. Mangroves pay for education.................................................................................. 61 2.6.6. Mangroves are spaces of cultural identity and social development ........................ 64 2.7. Conchando in the mangroves ......................................................................................... 65 2.8. Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 71 2.9. References ...................................................................................................................... 74 CHAPTER 3: A reorganization of space: Spatialities in the mangrove forests of southern Esmeraldas Province, Ecuador ................................................................................................. 76 3.1. Abstract .......................................................................................................................... 76 3.2. Introduction ...................................................................................................................
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