Institutional Frameworks and Strategies for Implementing the Socio-Ecosystemic Approach to Coastal Marine Governance in Cuba

Abstract

In Cuba, coastal zone management is a matter of environmental priority. The Cuban State has legislated its protection mechanisms, actions, and instruments according to a high-hierarchical-rank legal norm. This article revealed the institutional frameworks and implementation strategies that support the socio-ecosystemic approach in coastal marine governance in the southeastern region of Santiago de Cuba, focusing on the management practices of integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) programs. Under the logic of ICZM principles, a scientometric, exegetical–legal study was carried out, with thematic content analysis, using the Driving Forces–Pressures–State–Impacts–Respond (DPSIR) framework. The methodology to meet the objectives was based on three analytical stages that generated scientific proposals for implementing the socio-ecosystemic approach in adaptive coastal governance practices. As a result, it is demonstrated that this approach has a scientific and legal proposal in Cuba, and its dynamics in coastal management programs are revealed. This study indicates that the logic of the DPSIR framework provides a propositional platform that helps structure the fundamentals of the proposed approach with reference to objectives and responses of coastal marine governance in Cuba.