Abstract

CARRILLO GARCIA, Mireya; ENRIQUEZ ROCHA, Paula  and  MELENDEZ HERRADA, Alejandro. Community management and avitourism potential at the Sustainable Ecotourism Center El Madresal, Chiapas, Mexico. El periplo sustentable [online]. 2017, n.33, pp.564-604. ISSN 1870-9036.

Community management is a strategy that promotes local development. Avitourism can provide socioeconomic benefits and help to the conservation of habitats and the species living there. Members of the Sustainable Ecotourism Centre El Madresal (SECM), in Chiapas, Mexico, had the initiative to implement the avitourism to obtain social and economic benefits, but at the same time contribute to the conservation of a wetland coastal zone, which is habitat of high avian species diversity. Using the sustainable livelihoods theoretical framework, we designed an instrument with 19 indicators to evaluate the SECM member’s community capacities for avitourism management through workshops, individual and group interviews and participatory observation and surveys with tourists. We obtained eight indicators in high, seven in medium and four in low level of development. The value of the Ecotourism Potential index of the birds was 66.25% indicating that is well for avitourism. The SECM has possibilities to implement the avitourism; nevertheless, it is important to solve the necessities of capacitation in avian observation and to obtain equipment for offer a good service.

Keywords : community capacity; community-based tourism; participatory management; conservation; avitourism.