Participatory Development of an Ecotourism Route with a Solidarity-Based Approach: between Women and Mangroves

The RIESS Network recognizes that open education and collaborative research are essential components for strengthening processes, highlighting how rural communities can undertake economic activities that enable sustainable and community-based tourism development. This involves leveraging their natural resources and knowledge of traditional and ancestral cuisine from the Centla wetlands region. Therefore, a proposal has emerged to collectively build an ecotourism route with a focus on the social and solidarity economy, spearheaded by ejido women eager to transform their knowledge, history, and natural resources, and interested in improving their family and community economies. "Between Women and Mangroves" is a proposal created by the Social and Solidarity Economy Hub for Economic and Social Activation in Centla. It integrates women's economic empowerment with the preservation of natural ecosystems, specifically the mangroves in the Centla Wetlands Biosphere Reserve. Through solidarity-based ecotourism, the ejido women of this community will not only generate sustainable income but also actively participate in the conservation of their habitat. This approach allows women to assume leading roles in exercising their economic autonomy, promoting comprehensive and sustainable development for their community.