Efectividad de manejo en áreas naturales protegidas en la Amazonía norte del Ecuador

Abstract

The objective of the present research work was to describe and evaluate the Management Effectiveness of the protected areas in the Northern Amazon of Ecuador in relation to the management of context, planning, inputs, processes and products, in order to establish the respective challenges. For the development of the study, different methodologies were used; with respect to the analysis of the current situation of the protected areas, techniques of bibliographic review and grey literature were applied. Consequently, in order to evaluate Management Effectiveness, interviews with the managers were carried out with semi-structured questions to know the achievements, advances in the activities, management objectives, as well as strengths and weaknesses. Finally, to establish the main challenges in the management of protected areas, a group of researchers and students who are related to the theme were used to carry out a technical evaluation expert judgment. The main results indicate that the Management Effectiveness of the six protected areas is in score ranges of satisfied and very satisfied. However, there are some specific problems in some of the chosen areas, such as the availability of financial resources to satisfy all the needs or aspects of personnel capacity and the establishment of infrastructure and equipment. Finally, the study concludes that the best management corresponds to the Limoncocha Biological Reserve with 91.52%. Yasuní National Park 83.62% and Cuyabeno Faunal Production Reserve 91.37%, which means that its management effectiveness is very satisfactory and the objectives of their creation can therefore be fully achieved. It is recommended to work on updating management plans, increasing operational staff, and having the necessary equipment and infrastructure to comply with the development of conservation strategies in terms of environmental education, research and tourism.