Alternatives for Recovering the Ecosystem Services and Resilience of the Salamanca Island Natural Park, Colombia

Abstract

From a comprehensive diagnosis of the associated basins, islands, and wetlands of the coastal lagoon system of Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, Colombia, this work describes feasible options for the recovery of its ecosystem’s health and ecological resilience. Firstly, the state of the coastal lagoon was assessed, finding that hydrology, wave climate, and the morphological changes of the coastline explain recent changes in the coastal wetlands. Key variables were used to describe the level of conservation or degradation of the coastal lagoon system and to identify measures to improve its ecological functions. Finally, to mimic some of these functions and improve connectivity of the ecosystems, green infrastructure alternatives were proposed for the short and medium term to recover the services of these ecosystems and restore their resilience.

Coping and Adaptation in Response to Environmental and Climatic Stressors in Caribbean Coastal Communities

“…Floods and droughts linked to El Niño and La Niña events, and pulses of pollution and sedimentation generated by land-use changes and infrastructure development in the Magdalena catchment (Restrepo et al 2015 ), have caused a decline in fishery resources (Ibarra et al 2014 ). Government initiatives designed to recover the coastal resources have been sporadic and without previous assessments of their long-term impacts (Rivillas-Ospina et al 2020 ).…”

Nature-Based Solutions for Coastal Engineering and Management

“…The scene is set by a review paper that defines coastal resilience, claiming that Building with Nature approaches are intrinsic to achieving resilience [1]. All authors concur that nature-based solutions provide a means of meeting nature restoration goals as well as addressing socio-economic needs [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. While one article evaluates the cost effectiveness of a particular solution [6], a critically reflective article compares nature-based solutions with conventional engineering solutions, distinguishing four axes, two of which relate to the inclusion of multiple stakeholders and ecological knowledge [5].…”

“…While one article evaluates the cost effectiveness of a particular solution [6], a critically reflective article compares nature-based solutions with conventional engineering solutions, distinguishing four axes, two of which relate to the inclusion of multiple stakeholders and ecological knowledge [5]. The majority of articles echo the need for both engineering and ecological knowledge in the design process, and two actively involve stakeholders in their analyses [11,13]. There are six articles that include the design of a (hybrid) nature-based solution [2,4,6,9,10,13], while five articles undertake interdisciplinary experiments and measurements in the laboratory, the field, or via modeling to ascertain the performance of nature-based solutions [2,3,[7][8][9].…”

“…The majority of articles echo the need for both engineering and ecological knowledge in the design process, and two actively involve stakeholders in their analyses [11,13]. There are six articles that include the design of a (hybrid) nature-based solution [2,4,6,9,10,13], while five articles undertake interdisciplinary experiments and measurements in the laboratory, the field, or via modeling to ascertain the performance of nature-based solutions [2,3,[7][8][9]. A number of contributions focus on environmentally friendly Integrated Coastal Management (ICM), with two articles identifying factors most beneficial to ICM [11,12].…”

“…Rivillas-Ospina et al [13] also emphasize respect for nature and the people dependent on natural resources. They undertake a comprehensive assessment of the basins, islands, and wetlands of the coastal lagoon system of Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta (CGSM), Colombia.…”