ASOCIATIVIDAD Y FORTALECIMIENTO COMUNITARIO DESDE EL MANEJO COSTERO INTEGRADO

LA EXPERIENCIA DE MUJERES PESCADORAS EN EL ÁREA PROTEGIDA DE LAGUNA DE ROCHA (ROCHA, URUGUAY)

Abstract

The ICM (Integrated Coastal Management) is a field of knowledge and practice working towards the welfare of socio ecological systems. Artisanal fishery is one of these and ICM enables a holistic and participative approach, including integration of knowledge and institutional and territorial scale. Thanks to the fact that its Protected Areas are considered to be a valuable toolkit for the ICM, it enables actions that promote conservation and valorization of natural and cultural heritage through articulation of stakeholders and public policies within the territory. During the last twenty-five years, the protected area of Laguna de Rocha (Rocha, Uruguay) presented stakeholder articulations processes for preservation and socio-productive development of the artisanal fishery of the lagoon. In 2013, through an associative empowerment project, a group of fisherwomen started to arise. The use of an action-oriented / participatory methodology, allowed the beginning of a cooperative experience called “La Cocina de la Barra”. The start-up settled in 2015 thanks to an associative strengthening  programme. This space aims at the appraisal of fishing heritage in a broad sense, Laguna de Rocha’s gastronomy, landscapes and the culture of fishing. In addition, La Cocina de la Barra, has become the platform for a process of community strengthening, associative and empowerment of fisherwomen within their organization APALCO. Hence, La Cocina de la Barra  became an engine of the local development of the community of artisanal fishermen being a referent for the spaces of governance and management of the protected area. The analysis of this experience allows us to raise awareness on how the MCI should incorporate and reflect, from a theoretical and practical point of view, on its capacity to contribute to community development processes, associative and gender approach in protected areas or other types of areas of preservation and management of coastal zones in Latin America.