Governance Roundtable of the Quinchao Bay Nature Sanctuary Strengthens Participatory Management of the Protected Area

Representatives of local organizations, the community, public institutions, and stakeholders connected to the territory took part in a working session of the Governance Roundtable of the Quinchao Bay Nature Sanctuary, a forum aimed at strengthening participatory management and conservation of this important protected area on Quinchao Island.

The session made it possible to review the main challenges associated with managing the Sanctuary, share information about its biodiversity, and advance coordination among those with a direct role in protecting and responsibly using the territory.

Topics addressed during the session included bird conservation, threat management, environmental education, community participation, and planning of future actions, fostering a shared view of the protected area's management priorities.

Quinchao Bay is a high-value site for waterbirds and shorebirds, both migratory and resident. Among them, the American oystercatcher (pilpilén) stands out — a species that uses coastal sectors of the Sanctuary to breed and has been the focus of monitoring and management actions carried out in recent years.

One of the central goals of the Governance Roundtable is to move from legal protection toward active management of the Sanctuary, where conservation decisions and actions can be built in coordination with the local community, the municipality, territorial organizations, and other institutions connected to the area.

The session also strengthened shared knowledge about the Sanctuary and consolidated a space for dialogue among stakeholders with different experiences and responsibilities. These forums are essential for identifying threats, coordinating responses, and reaching agreements that make it possible to reconcile biodiversity conservation with the activities that are part of daily life in the territory.

Fundación Conservación Marina has supported this process by promoting management based on scientific information, long-term monitoring, environmental education, and community participation, recognizing that the effective conservation of a protected area also depends on the commitment of those who live in and relate to it.

The consolidation of the Governance Roundtable marks an important step toward strengthening the protection of Quinchao Bay and building a shared vision for its future, moving toward a model in which community, local knowledge, institutions, and conservation work together to care for the Sanctuary.