Mangroves and Meaning-Making: A mutual relationship over time? Ethnographic Data. Study Report

The objective of this research was to understand the co-dependent relationship of mangrove ecosystems, public mangrove discourses and the human use of mangrove areas. Research questions were: How have mangroves been made sense of around the Gulf of Guayaquil from the 19th century until today, and how does this guide the use of mangrove areas today? Mangroves were studied from the perspective of Social and Discursive Constructivism, arguing that mangroves are being made sense of by humans by relating to them socially and discursively. The Sociology of Knowledge Approach to Discourse (SKAD) by Reiner Keller served as methodological framework: Methods were interdisciplinary, and span from ethnographic methods (participant observation, interviews) to participatory mapping and archival research. The outcomes of the research show that some cultural groups living in the research area were historically highly underrepresented in political knowledge production and in the governance of mangroves. With the advent of a shrimp industry in the mangroves in the late 1980s globalized discourses of commodification, conservation and development entered intensively into the area, producing hybrid zones of knowledge invasion and negotiation resulting in a very visible Mangrove Culture today: Structural underrepresentation and socio-economic conditions caused severe marginalization of historically already marginalized and excluded groups on the one hand. On the other hand, innovative adaption strategies submerged, showing how people can make a living in and can make innovative meanings of mangroves close to the city. Understanding the impact of intensive knowledge influx in an area and the result it has for natural resource governance helps decision-makers and stakeholders to analyse, guide and soften discourses and knowledge. It leads actions for a more sustainable co-living of mangroves and humans, at the same time increasing visibility of and thus empower underrepresented groups.