Conflict Management and Consensus Building for Integrated Coastal Management in Latin America and the Caribbean

This paper provides a summary of conflict management issues and options in the challenging cultural, ecological, economic and social context of Latin America and the Caribbean. Dealing with conflicts is one of the greatest challenge facing integrated coastal management because most of these systems involve not only property rights, fishing rights, and use rights, but they also usually involve common property resources as well. This study argues that conflict management, starting with a careful analysis of potential conflicts in the early stages of project preparation, should become an explicit component of integrated coastal management. Case studies for the Bay Islands in Honduras, the Gulf of Fonseca, and the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua (Pearl Lagoon area), all areas affected by Hurricane Mitch in 1998, are presented.