Más allá del juego de la culpa, una vía de restauración reconcilia los modelos divergentes de degradación entre ecologistas y líderes locales.

Abstract

Abstract:Knowledge about the dynamics of ecosystem condition states is key to reversing degradation and establishing ecological restoration priorities. Such knowledge can be the result of scientific investigation, but important insight can also reside in observant land managers. In Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests (SDTF) in Southern Ecuador, recent decades have seen important advances in the knowledge of the biodiversity values of these forests, but the available data have not yet been integrated and translated into tools that support managers in deciding restoration measures. One powerful model framework to organize and communicate information about ecosystem degradation and recovery dynamics is the state-transition model (STM). We generated this model combining scientific and local knowledge. Obtained through an adaptation of the Stanford/SRI expert elicitation protocol. The data analysis were based in a coding process. Ecologists and locals agreed on the restoration actions, but disagreed on the cause of degradation. Whereas ecologists consider that grazing management can trigger a transition to degraded states, local leaders attribute the transition to logging and fires. Importantly, however, both ecologists and local leaders considered that exclusions of livestock grazing was a necessary action to promote ecological recovery. A forward-looking strategy focusing on objectives for ecosystem recovery, and ecosystem management for biodiversity and human well being might be more successful than ones that emphasize or seek to attribute responsibility for degradation.