Perceptions and Social Values Regarding the Ecosystem Services of Beaches and Coastal Dunes in Yucatán, Mexico

Gabriela Mendoza-González, Arely Paredes-Chi, Dalia Méndez-Funes, María Giraldo, Edgar Torres-Irineo, Eliana Arancibia and Rodolfo Rioja-Nieto
Additional contact information
Gabriela Mendoza-González: CONACYT–Facultad de Ciencias, UMDI-Sisal, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 97302 Sierra Papacal, Yucatán, Mexico
Arely Paredes-Chi: CONACYT–Facultad de Ciencias, UMDI-Sisal, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 97302 Sierra Papacal, Yucatán, Mexico
Dalia Méndez-Funes: Facultad de Ciencias, UMDI-Sisal, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 97302 Sierra Papacal, Yucatán, Mexico
María Giraldo: Escuela Nacional de Estudios Superiores–Mérida, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 97757 Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico
Edgar Torres-Irineo: Laboratorio Nacional de Resiliencia Costera (LANRESC), Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACyT), 97356 Sisal, Yucatán, Mexico
Eliana Arancibia: Escuela Nacional de Estudios Superiores–Mérida, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 97757 Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico
Rodolfo Rioja-Nieto: Laboratorio Nacional de Resiliencia Costera (LANRESC), Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACyT), 97356 Sisal, Yucatán, Mexico

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 7, 1-22

Abstract: The ecosystem services (ESs) approach has been used as a powerful tool for the analysis of socio-ecological systems to investigate the relationship between society and the environment. The aim of this article is to analyze the social perceptions of stakeholders, forms of use (sociocultural and economic), and the conservation of beaches and coastal dunes in Yucatán, Mexico. Interviews were held with focus groups to analyze the forms of use, social perceptions of stakeholders, and the conservation of beaches and coastal dunes in Yucatán, Mexico. The results indicate that these ecosystems are important to different types of activities related to regulating, provisioning, and cultural services. However, degradation is identified as a consequence of contamination and land-use change. The main identified threats are natural phenomena, followed by the presence of garbage, human presence in natural environments, infrastructure construction, and privatization of beaches. The opinions (e.g., conservation, ecosystem services provision, drivers of change), emotions (e.g., joy, fear, sadness), and knowledge of the local community and tourists with respect to these ecosystems were evidenced. In general, there is an absence of conservation and sustainable management projects. However, community perceptions provide an opportunity to outline public conservation strategies in which the community, as a component of these socio-ecosystems, can be fully involved in their implementation.

Keywords: ecosystem services perception; beaches and coastal dunes; socio-ecosystems; stakeholders; ecosystem services; Yucatán (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/7/3592/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/7/3592/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:7:p:3592-:d:522985

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().