Moving social‐ecological restoration forward: how mangrove project managers' perceptions of social monitoring and community engagement serve as a model for broader restoration efforts

Abstract

Restoration is effective for improving ecosystem health and protecting biodiversity. However, restoration initiatives often neglect socioeconomic dimensions that affect local communities. When these factors are included, they are often under the purview of managers whose perspectives of public engagement remain understudied. Here, we focused on mangroves and surveyed restoration project managers in Latin America and the Caribbean to explore if and how they have engaged in socioeconomic best practices such as including the community, local knowledge, and social monitoring. We also sought to understand how these activities related to perceptions of project outcomes. Most managers (n = 182) reported that they engaged in some best practices, such as community engagement in various project stages and incorporating local information. Differences existed as to which types of information were included, which project stages included the community, and how frequently the community was involved. Overall, managers, especially those who engaged the community more frequently and throughout the entire restoration process, believed projects were successful and provided numerous community benefits. However, despite the reported number of benefits, less than half of the respondents conducted social monitoring to assess the actualization of these benefits or other social indicators. We provide suggestions for how mangrove restoration projects, and restoration efforts more broadly, can increase the inclusion of communities, their knowledge, and social monitoring to better assess the achievement of project outcomes.