Abstract
The ecosystem services (ESs) approach has been used as a powerful tool for the analysis of socio-ecological systems to investigate the relationship between society and the environment. The aim of this article is to analyze the social perceptions of stakeholders, forms of use (sociocultural and economic), and the conservation of beaches and coastal dunes in Yucatán, Mexico. Interviews were held with focus groups to analyze the forms of use, social perceptions of stakeholders, and the conservation of beaches and coastal dunes in Yucatán, Mexico. The results indicate that these ecosystems are important to different types of activities related to regulating, provisioning, and cultural services. However, degradation is identified as a consequence of contamination and land-use change. The main identified threats are natural phenomena, followed by the presence of garbage, human presence in natural environments, infrastructure construction, and privatization of beaches. The opinions (e.g., conservation, ecosystem services provision, drivers of change), emotions (e.g., joy, fear, sadness), and knowledge of the local community and tourists with respect to these ecosystems were evidenced. In general, there is an absence of conservation and sustainable management projects. However, community perceptions provide an opportunity to outline public conservation strategies in which the community, as a component of these socio-ecosystems, can be fully involved in their implementation.
Highlights
The relationship between human well-being and ecosystem functioning is constantly affected by environmental deterioration, which is mainly related to human activities leading to an imbalance in the provision of ecosystem services (ESs)
“Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)” and “economic organizations” are structured groups that carry out productive activities or provide services that generate an economic benefit in the community
Our results indicate that local participants have a clear knowledge of ecosystem services of regulation, identifying provisioning and cultural services, but not support services
Summary
The relationship between human well-being and ecosystem functioning is constantly affected by environmental deterioration, which is mainly related to human activities leading to an imbalance in the provision of ecosystem services (ESs). The number of studies that consider the goods and services that ecosystems provide to human societies has increased over the last two decades [3,4,5]; there remains a need for strategies that take ESs provision into account in order to achieve a sustainable way of life for human societies and ecosystems [6]. Studies have poorly addressed the degree to which ESs are influenced by this context, such as interest in or community perceptions of the relationship between natural ecosystems and human well-being [11,12]
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