The model of environmental restoration that organizations such as NOS Sustainable Northwest are being promoted in coastal communities in Baja California Surhas been taken up by the Government of Mexico as a national strategy to recover marine ecosystems and strengthen the local economy.

During the Mexico Ecosystem Restoration Summit, Alicia Bárcena, secretary of Semarnatpresented the National Environmental Restoration Program (PNRA), which for the first time establishes national ecological restoration goals.

Among the actions of the program is the creation of 10 Marine Prosperity Areas (APpM) in the Gulf of California and the productive restoration of the Bay of La Paz is one of these areas, which seeks to align ecosystem conservation with the economic development of coastal communities.

Silvia Ramirez LunaBCS Program Coordinator at NOS Sustainable Northwestwas invited to participate in the summit as part of a national network of actors already working in environmental restoration and community weaving. In the panel "Weaving knowledge and alliances for coastal-marine resilience", she shared the experience that the organization has built over the years in communities of the Gulf of Californiawhere the environmental restoration goes hand in hand with the local development.

He explained that the MPPA approach takes up concepts such as the Satoumia Japanese model that proposes to restore marine ecosystems by integrating coastal communities as protagonists of change.

"The actions that are being planned have to do with the Satoumi project, which proposes the creation of marine habitat using bivalve shells from fishing or aquaculture as substrate, to reestablish marine production in the Bay," he explained. This is an effort led by the state government with the participation of various local stakeholders and state and federal authorities.

Restoration with social and economic sense

The marine biologist explained that, in contrast to the Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), where social and economic benefits are often viewed over the long term, the Marine Prosperity Areas are designed to have an immediate positive impact on communities.

"Marine Prosperity Areas are aligning ecological restoration by taking the human well-being of the communities that coexist and derive their livelihoods from the environment as a central focus," he said.

In other words, ecological restoration is not the end, but a means to improve the living conditions of those who live along the coasts and depend on the sea.

Ramírez Luna emphasized that this approach represents an opportunity to rebuild the lost balance between conservation and economic development, especially in a region as biodiverse as the Gulf of California.

Innovation from the coasts of BCS

For years, various civil organizations, academic institutions and local communities have been working on pilot projects to restore coastal habitats and build sustainable economic alternatives. The Bay of La Pazin Baja California Sur, is one of those pioneering places.

"At NOS Noroeste Sustentable, we feel very happy, because much of the effort that the community has made in terms of restoration is becoming visible. In that sense we were pioneers, together with them, in generating this type of actions", he said, "the fact that now the government is putting interest in environmental restoration processes and that the project in Bahía de La Paz is considered a priority, has motivated us a lot, it has stimulated us".

The challenge is to collaborate to prosper

The creation of Marine Prosperity Areas challenge of restoring marine ecosystems from the social restoration of the people who depend on them for their livelihoods. On this path, the key will be to generate participatory management plans, alliances between sectors and economic models that strengthen social cohesion in coastal communities, said Ramírez Luna.

"We must seize the opportunity and embrace it, but together, in processes of collaboration, cooperation, understanding and alignment, to generate prosperity in these areas and show that it is possible to get out of these schemes of depletion and environmental challenges, with a more collective approach, where we can all contribute," he said.

The creation of Marine Prosperity Areas opens up the opportunity to show that it is possible to regenerate the marine ecosystems and design solutions to build sustainable and hopeful futures for the communities that depend on them. The great challenge, insisted the marine biologist, is that communities, government, academia and civil society can walk together, weaving alliances that balance conservation with human well-being.