Mangroves Ecosystems Ecuador 2020

The mangrove ecosystem is considered an asset to livelihoods, particularly for ethnic groups in coastal areas. This study explores the perceptions regarding mangrove ecosystem services in two ethnic communities living in “El Morro Port” and “Costa Rica Island” (Ecuador). Seven quantitative variables on the Likert scale were used to conduct an exploratory factor analysis. The total sample includes 94 people. We found 2 main factors namely, tourism (29.07% variance) and food production (25.45% remaining variance). The reliability of the questionnaire was acceptable according to Cronbach's Alpha 0.654. Future interventions should address educating local people on sustainable tourist and food production activities.