Abstract

GUZMAN-NOH, Gertrudis  and  D.-GURRI, Francisco. Resilience of salt gathering in the hurricanes exposed marsh ponds of the coast of Yucatan, Mexico. Nova scientia [online]. 2021, vol.13, n.26, 00018.  Epub Aug 30, 2021. ISSN 2007-0705.  https://doi.org/10.21640/ns.v13i26.2725.

The salt ponds from the coastal marshes in the Yucatan Peninsula are extremely vulnerable to hurricanes. Nevertheless, salt gathering forms part of a socioenvironmental system that makes this activity highly resilient. It belongs to a diverse coastal adaptation generated by a population that has interiorized it as one more economic or survival option, probably since pre-Colombian times. Technical knowledge is transmitted from one generation to the next, even if the parent generation had completely abandoned the activity. Perhaps its greatest strength lies in the fact that, despite the damage, salt ponds will eventually clear up, and their exploitation will remain as only another option for when the time is right.

Keywords : resilience; coastal salt ponds; marsh; vulnerability; sustainability.