Awareness-raising program on ecosystem goods and services

Abstract

Understanding the relationship between local populations and ecosystems is of great importance because ecosystems are the basis on which human societies are sustained, providing goods and services that satisfy different needs associated with human welfare, constituting a heritage for communities, especially in protected areas. Hence, the article is the result of a research aimed at implementing an awareness-raising program based on the relationship between the local stakeholders of Valle Ancón (one of the communities of the protected area, Viñales National Park) and the ecosystems, specifically their link with the goods and services they provide. Based on the following methods: documentary analysis, analysis and synthesis, expert interviews, survey, discussion groups and non-participant observation, the community diagnosis was carried out. This made it possible to examine the criteria and perceptions on the use and exploitation of ecosystem goods and services, the causes that are influencing the lack of recognition by local stakeholders and the effects that the lack of knowledge of these has had on the natural heritage. Thus, through the implementation of the awareness program, local stakeholders were made aware of the need to facilitate new alternatives and strategies to integrate ecosystem goods and services into local development planning, and to promote the preservation and sustainable use of ecosystems.