The principle of transition theory that states “it is possible to reach the same equilibrium in different ways” is widely accepted but has not been tested on real-life cases. This research compares trajectories of urban wetlands towards co-management. Specifically, it explores to what extent trajectories towards co-management of urban wetlands within the same city are different, and how they affect the ecological condition of these ecosystems. Trajectories of management are traced from the early 1990s to 2015. Based on semi-structured interviews and focus groups carried out in eight urban wetlands, comparisons were made by using a framework that allows classifying social transitions and analyzing their dynamics. The effect of the social transition on the ecosystem is measured by the overall land cover change of the wetland.
Results/Conclusions
The results indicate that there exist three types of trajectories towards co-management. Of eight urban wetlands, six of them reached this type of management at some point; three of these six were able to develop it, and only two could sustain it. The main differences between these cases were due to local context and the type of local-community activities applied in each case. The cases that sustained co-management used different strategies: court ruling and contact with strategic allies. Each type of trajectory towards co-management had a different effect on the land cover of the urban wetlands. These findings suggest that differences in pathways towards co-management occur mainly at a local level despite all of them sharing similar conditions at the city level.