co-strongmanagementstrong strategy for the sustainable use of coral reef.pdf

Co-management strategy for the sustainable use of coral reef resources in the National Natural Park “Corales del Rosario y San Bernardo” in Colombia Jorge H. Maldonado (jmaldona@uniandes.edu.co) Rocio del Pilar Moreno-Sanchez (rpmoreno@humboldt.org.co) CEDE – Universidad de los Andes Carrera 1E 18A-10 Bloque A Of. 311 Bogotá - Colombia Selected Paper prepared for presentation at the American Agricultural Economics Association Annual Meeting, Portland, OR, July 29-August 1, 2007 Copyright 2007 by Jorge H. Maldonado and Rocio del Pilar Moreno-Sanchez. All rights reserved. Readers may make verbatim copies of this document for non- commercial purposes by any means, provided that this copyright notice appears on all such copies. Co-management strategy for the sustainable use of coral reef resources in the National Natural Park “Corales del Rosario y San Bernardo” in Colombia1 Abstract The National Natural Park “Corales del Rosario y San Bernardo”, located in the Caribbean Sea, is one of the most important parks in Colombia since it hosts high biological biodiversity, receives more tourists than any other natural park in the country and provides sustenance to several communities settled in and around it. However, lack of governance and incompatibility of incentives among authorities, communities and visitors threaten its conservation and sustainability. Using experimental economic games with fisherman communities, we tested different rules related with the management of natural resources in the protected area. In addition to standard rules of communication and external regulation, we