Environmental Psychology and Mangrove Reforestation in the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, Colombia: An Approach to Ecosystem Restoration

Sandra Milena Ruiz-Guevara, Cristian Yoel Quintero-Castañeda, Luis Roberto Hernández-Angulo and María Margarita Sierra-Carrillo ()
Additional contact information
Sandra Milena Ruiz-Guevara: Faculty of Psychology, Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia, Bucaramanga 680002, Colombia
Cristian Yoel Quintero-Castañeda: Faculty of Engineering, Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia, Santa Marta 470003, Colombia
Luis Roberto Hernández-Angulo: Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, INRAE, IRD, Grenoble INP, IGE, 38000 Grenoble, France
María Margarita Sierra-Carrillo: Faculty of Engineering, Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia, Santa Marta 470003, Colombia

World, 2025, vol. 6, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: Ecosystem restoration success heavily depends on community participation, yet the psychological factors influencing local commitment and sense of ownership in mangrove conservation remain understudied. The Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta (CGSM), Colombia, represents a critical case where community engagement is essential for successful mangrove restoration. This study investigates the relationship between environmental psychology and community participation in mangrove reforestation, focusing on identifying key psychosocial factors and barriers that influence participation in ecosystem restoration. Through a mixed-method approach involving quantitative surveys ( n = 100), semi-structured interviews, and focus group discussions, the research examined psychosocial factors and participation indicators using correlation and regression analyses. Results revealed a strong emotional connection to the mangrove ecosystem (r = 0.62, p < 0.01) and predominantly positive attitudes toward conservation (85% of participants). Social norms showed a significant influence on participation (r = 0.56, p < 0.01), with social norms and community sense explaining 64% of participation variance (adjusted r 2 = 0.64, F(3,96) = 58.92, p < 0.001). However, low perceived self-efficacy emerged as a significant barrier, present in 40% of participants. The findings suggest that interventions strengthening self-efficacy and promoting community commitment could significantly increase reforestation participation. Success depends on integrating technical training with psychosocial support and establishing appropriate logistical frameworks. These findings provide practical guidelines for designing more effective community-based restoration programs in similar socio-ecological contexts.

Keywords: environmental psychology; mangrove restoration; environmental protection; community participation; social-ecological systems; psychological skills (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G15 G17 G18 L21 L22 L25 L26 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 R51 R52 R58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4060/6/1/24/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4060/6/1/24/ (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:jworld:v:6:y:2025:i:1:p:24-:d:1583843

Access Statistics for this article

World is currently edited by Ms. Cassie Hu

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