As scientific research progresses, blue carbon projects that target the conservation of coastal areas based on their carbon sequestration abilities are increasing in number. Successful conservation projects often depend on local support, which is heavily influenced by perceptions of the impacts that are experienced by local communities and opinions of management and governance. Blue carbon projects are multi-stakeholder, cross-scale, and cross-institutional conservation models and present an ideal case study to explore conservation success. We used a mixed-methods approach to evaluate local perceptions of the Blue Carbon Community Project in Osa, Costa Rica in regards to goals, outcomes and governance. The Blue Carbon Community Project receives funds from the private sector to reforest mangroves, and employs local community members to implement the project on the ground. Interviews were conducted with local participants and with local members of the NGO facilitating the project in the Osa area during the summer of 2015.
Results/Conclusions
The results indicate conflicting views on the overall goals of the project and revealed uncertainty on what blue carbon is. Consequently, perceived outcomes varied with overall goal interpretations among the interviewees. Despite this variation, interviewees had a primarily positive perception of the project itself, and cited numerous perceived social, economic, and environmental benefits. Project governance had an equally positive reception among local community members. Interviews revealed that the project itself had no formal monitoring and evaluation of outcomes, with no established indicators for understanding the progress of mangrove reforestation. These results point to some vital recommendations for the project, including implementing a more formal evaluation system and improving communication lines between the community members and the NGO members. It is interesting to note the widespread perceived success of the project despite the multiple interpretations of project goals. Future research on how these mismatched conservation goals impact actual outcomes may provide important feedback for the conservation community. Further research in this area is important as blue carbon projects may provide a venue for coastal communities to build capacity and promote ecological and social resilience by ensuring a future with sustainable resources.