The transformation of El Manglito should be immortalized in a book. It should be narrated by its protagonists: the members of the community, who recognize that they are responsible for the shortage of seafood products at some point and also those who promoted a positive change to reverse the problem, which they turned into an opportunity.

The book Somos del Mar, Development and Community in El Manglito takes the reader back to the times of those great-great-grandparents who were pearl divers and dived with scuba, a piece of equipment consisting of a metal helmet connected to the surface by a hose through which air was supplied to the diver so that he could breathe during his dive.

It also addresses the evolution of this community, from the time when fishermen used to catch fish with harpoons and a compressor, and the change to the present day with artisanal fishing, mainly with spearguns and dive boats, and the practice of scuba diving with safer equipment.

You can download in this link the book We are from the Sea. Development and Community in El Manglito

Reflection and dialogue between generations in El Manglito

In this book, the community reflects on the transformation processes that have been experienced in El Manglito and the future vision of its inhabitants.

It describes the challenges that the community faces in the midst of multiple pressures on its territory and seeks to generate spaces for intergenerational dialogue that contribute to the training and leadership of young people, contribute to the consolidation of a sense of belonging to the territory and disseminate to various audiences the lessons learned and transformations that have taken place in the community.

"One idea that we have with this book is to make ourselves visible and tell everyone that we are here. I think it is very valuable for people to know our history and for us to feel proud and also to seek protection, since the rich want to take us out. The purpose is to begin to create this concept of belonging, to say 'I'm not leaving here,'" says Andrea Musuy Méndez García.

The El Manglito Youth Collective

It is a group of 13 members of this fishing community from La PazThey are between the ages of 14 and 25 years old. They had the initiative to meet, participate and coordinate cultural, artistic, sports and community activities.

Since 2009, they have held photography workshops, inlet cleanup and environmental education days, as well as film clubs, fishing tournaments, and community soccer and volleyball tournaments. Despite the difficulties brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, the collective was formed in 2021 and reactivated the activities that keep the neighborhood alive.

Its objective is to strengthen the social fabric of the neighborhood and make visible both its positive transformations and the challenges faced by the youth of the community; threats to the traditional fishing economy, environmental pollution and lack of communication and the lack of education and opportunities for the new generations.

"This was all bush."

The book We are from the Sea offers short stories of some of the first inhabitants of the community. This is the case of Magdalena Camacho Higueramember of the first family to arrive in the country. El Manglito.

"I used to live here, this was all bush. The only house here was ours, there was no water and we had no electricity. Little by little the family grew and my husband started to go fishing, he used to dive for the catarina clam, the callo de hacha, the caguama (...), and my children started to grow and they started to go diving. A lot of boats came, not like today's pangas, but a small canoe, La Conchita".

"It was a golden era."

Another of the testimonies offered in this book is that of Guadalupe Méndez Sánchez, who describes the El Manglito of her childhood as a prosperous place.

"At that time there was a lot of abundance. Abundance of callus, clams, everything."

This publication integrates the reflection of the inhabitants about what happened in the community. They recognize that the lack of knowledge to manage the product of the sea led to the shortage.

Ruth Aracely Méndez Márquez indicates that this shortage of seafood was most evident in 1976, when a hurricane wiped out many mollusks and species, causing the community to collapse.

"The shortage of the product was caused by ourselves. Before, we fishermen didn't know what size of product to take, what size to keep. We didn't know, before you would arrive and if you looked at a five-centimeter axe you would take it out. That was when everything became scarce. Everyone was catching everything and said, if he catches ten kilos, why can't I catch ten kilos? We didn't have a fishing quota.

Thus, many families moved to other fishing camps in La Paz and dispersed.

Unity, strength

It was in 2011 when the community of El Manglito organized to combat the plundering of products. They reached a "no fishing" agreement to begin restoration of the inlet. With the support of the non-governmental organization, such as NOS Sustainable NorthwestThey developed a vision as a community and carried out cleanup actions, territorial surveillance and took part in trainings.

Some members of the community united their family cooperatives in an association they called Fishermen's Organization Rescuing the Inlet (OPRE).

Through this they managed to title a concession of the inlet in 2016, which currently owns 2 thousand 048 hectares selected by the fishermen themselves. They also managed to concession 11 resources. The atmosphere within the community was one of brotherhood, solidarity and fellowship.

"So we began to take advantage of all the training available: if there were talks, the women were there; if there was training, the women were there; if there was a diving course, we did the diving course, in other words, everything. We were gaining a space. Some of our female colleagues got involved in monitoring, in the computer, for example," says Martha García Juárez.

In 2018 the organized women of the community began a process of organization to collaborate in the tasks of cleaning the mangrove. Since then they have been recognized as "Guardianas del Conchalito".

El Manglito Park

With support from the organization BCS Brochuresthe community built the park El Manglitoa 15-year struggle of perseverance and perseverance.

This book addresses the challenges facing the community, such as mega-developments such as hotels, residences, condominiums and marinas that are installed on the shores and within the inlet, including dredging for the entry of yachts and cruise ships, which affects the marine diversity of which it is maintained. El Manglito.

About the book We are from the Sea. Development and Community in El Manglito