A coast is the part of the continent or an island that is contiguous with the sea and has an unstable landscape where the beach zones and its bi-dimensional profile can grow due to the sediment deports. In order cases, it can be diminished by the erosion processes. There are areas of incredible biodiversity since they have the most productive ecosystems in the world.

Due to the great amount of matter and energy, they have the biggest sustenance and maintenance biomass. Choral reefs, estuaries, and mangrove swamps are points where many organisms are fed, reproduce, and live. They play an important role in the direct and indirect variety of men’s benefits. We must protect the coast from pollution and misuse of its vital elements.

One of the main factors that causes loss to these ecosystems is the increase in the human population, which practices fishing, tourism, and poor use of natural resources. Natural factors like the climate, the wind, the surge, biological activity, and the human activities mentioned above also modify the coasts.

This development is alarming because the coasts fulfill a variety of uses and play an essential ecological role as a zone of damping between the tides and the coastal zone.

Objectives

General: Generate scientific knowledge on marine ecosystems in the regional scope and to promote sensitized social and environmental education about the natural resources among the Cambutal population.

Specific:

• Reach children and young people on the importance of conserving and protecting the coastal zone.
• Provide approaches based on the ecosystems for the conservation and sustainable use of marine and coastal resources.
• Undertake direct action to protect the average sailor against negative impacts.
• Promote the use of techniques that serve to reduce to the minimum the detrimental effects in the marine and coastal biological diversity

About the Community

The community of Cambutal is geographically located in the group of Los Jueves de Guanica, district of Tonosi, province of Los Santos. The community has 800 people, although this number varies much due to the amount of people with second residence in Tonosi, Las Tablas, and the surrounding zones.

Cambutal offers one of the most surprising international beaches on the Pacific coast. Many national and international tourists visit it for its great beauty, surprisingly abundant forest, sand caves, good surfing waves, and abundant beaches, hills, and wildlife. Thus, the increase in tourism, big hotels, and real estate investors has developed into a great industry for the local economy.

However, this can damage and contaminate the coastal zones, changing the area’s marina ecosystems. For this reason, the community implemented a system to control the number of tourist facilities in the area.

Activities that can help to the development and protection of Cambutal:

1- Interact with the area’s children and young people, who would be willing to organize activities to protect the coast.

2- Offer them a quick lesson on the importance of protecting the coasts and beaches, stimulating them and based on scientific knowledge.

3- Gather the community to organize monthly cleaning of the beaches.

4- Accomplish two-hour workshops on diverse subjects of Environmental Education

5- To make a sampling pilot to emphasize the coastal conditions and in which ways they are being affected.