saltwater, mangrove, mud flat, and tropical forest habitats, this area boasts unusually high biodiversity, even within a country already recognized as one of the most biodiverse in the world. In addition to the biodiversity, this area is known for the population of humpback whales that come to the warm protected waters of the bay to give birth every July-November.
The whales draw thousands of visitors every year, but there is much more here to see, including blue footed boobies on Isla Palma, long sandy beaches, natural fresh water swimming pools, picturesque waterfalls, and walks through the jungle. There are also cultural attractions, such as traditional music performances or La Ruta de Piangua, where local women demonstrate the traditional harvest of the Piangua, an endemic mangrove clam. Tourists coming to the area can seek more modern accommodations in Juanchaco or Ladrilleros, camp on the beach in La Barra or Chucheros, or stay in a community owned guest cabin in La Plata or Puerto España.
The tourism development in these communities is developing at different rates, and recent efforts have focused on community-supported eco- and ethno-tourism, looking for a pathway that fosters development that is good for the community and protects the local culture and environment. The town of La Plata has a community owned and run tourism organization (Ecomanglar) that offers all tourist services to visitors to the area. In Ladrilleros, EcoNatal has been working to protect and restore the mangroves, cleaning out trash, offering educational talks to visitors, and maintaining the routes to the natural pools. In Chucheros and La Sierpe, the community councils are working with the local authorities to establish and update their conservation strategy, and the national park is working with all six communities to establish a cooperative bay-wide management plan.
Within this mix of nature and culture, where subsistence was the norm, tourism is now opening doors for community development and bringing with it other changes too. My research takes advantage of the differences in type and speed of development to study what some of those changes are – in particular investigating how the arrival of tourism creates alternative livelihoods and how this alters patterns of natural resource use (fishing, logging, agriculture), household diet and food security, and community cohesion and cooperation. While this place is unique, there are coastal areas around the world that are looking for ways to develop, and many of them are hoping to have a sustainable future with tourism. Understanding how that development affects resource use and community wellbeing is important for both conservation and development planning.
The beach in La Barra
Karly is a PhD candidate in marine science at the University of California Santa Barbara. She is currently living in Colombia for her field work on the effects of tourism development on artisanal fishing and food security.
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