Evaluación de la efectividad de manejo de la Reserva Biológica Cerro Plateado

Abstract

Abstract: The objective of this research was to determine the current management levels in the Cerro Plateado Biological Reserve, located in the province of Zamora Chinchipe, Ecuador. To this end, a questionnaire was designed and applied to the reserve administrator, based on the Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) methodology proposed by Hockings. This questionnaire included 47 questions distributed in six management areas. The information obtained was processed, quantified and evaluated under specific criteria, which allowed us to determine that the reserve achieved an overall average management effectiveness of 76.21%, classifying it as Very Satisfactory. This result showed that the permanence and basic management of the protected area is guaranteed. However, the analysis also showed an imbalance between the different areas evaluated, with deficiencies that have limited the fulfillment of some secondary objectives. To contextualize these results, a comparative analysis was made with other studies that evaluated other protected areas in Ecuador, which allowed the identification of strengths and weaknesses that served as a basis in the presentation of some proposals for strengthening the indicators of greatest impact.