Chomes Community, COSTA RICA
At the national level, fisherwomen from coasts, seas, rivers, wetlands and other ecosystems are not recognized, valued or encouraged in a positive way that would strengthen their actions towards biodiversity conservation and restoration. They also lack access to participation in policymaking, especially in the national agenda. Fisherwomen have provided important inputs and efforts in proposing sustainable management plans that incorporate their traditional knowledge. However, the implementation of most of these plans is lacking, as in the case of Chomes mollusk-gathering women. Moreover, Costa Rica’s national development agenda focuses on blue growth (blue economy), which threatens food sovereignty, culture, and sustainable livelihood of the women of the mangroves by promoting large-scale aquaculture developments.
Much still needs to be done in encouraging restoration efforts and improving working conditions in women’s sustainable use of their biological resources in their territories.
This project will provide vitality to CoopeMolusChomes R.L’s efforts in the last 15 years on the conservation and recovery of the mangrove ecosystem and the improved well-being of women and girls in the coastal and marine community. Most of these initiatives are in the management plan prepared with women mollusk gatherers’ traditional knowledge and will. The restoration processes proposed by women have defined no-take areas where mollusk juveniles live, the adequate size of the mollusk for commercial use, and the protection of mangroves from trash and unsustainable mangrove practices by people outside the community.
From a national perspective, this project will strengthen the gender equity approach in the Responsible Fishing Marine Areas and Marine Territories of Life Network, projecting new practices, and opening new spaces for meeting and learning. In addition, this case study from Costa Rica can also be presented at the international level. It will demonstrate the importance and the vital role of women in biodiversity conservation and restoration, and can be creatively adapted to other contexts.

PROPOSED OUTPUTS/OUTCOMES
• Women trained and knowledgeable about the potential of international treaties and politics related to biodiversity and human rights issues
• Agenda of fisherwomen from coasts, seas, rivers, and wetlands enriched with new contributions from this knowledge and in the current context
• Position document of the artisanal fisherwomen of the Marine Areas and Marine Territories of Life Network that evidences their strategic interests in terms of conservation, restoration of coastal and marine biodiversity, and human rights
• Support to the work and inputs of the mollusk-gathering women of Chomes in the context of conservation, restoration of coastal and marine biodiversity, and human rights in their marine territory of life
• Video of women’s work to share at the national and international level
REPORTS
ARTICLES

La importancia del consentimiento libre, previo e informado al trabajar con pueblos indígenas y comunidades locales: el caso de Costa Rica y las mujeres molusqueras de Chomes
Las organizaciones de pueblos indígenas y comunidades locales cuentan con un poder que suele ser poco valorado por..
OTHER OUTPUTS

Territorio Marino de vida Chomes, la diversidad cultural y biológica van de la mano Sub en ingles.
For CoopeSoliDar R.L, cultural and environmental diversity are intrinsically linked. The culture and resources of the sea are fundamental for the security and food sovereignty of the marine-fishing communities
MEDIA COVERAGE
- 20 Trabajadoras del Mar se capacitaron en estrategias de negocios
- Recolectoras de moluscos se capacitan en defensa de los derechos laborales
- Mujeres trabajadoras del mar reclaman más participación en la toma de decisiones
- Mujeres trabajadoras del mar lanzan iniciativa para superar barreras laborales
- Pescadores artesanales solicitan al nuevo gobierno un espacio en la toma de decisiones
- CBD Side Event | Applying a Human Rights-based Approach in the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework
- Participación de la Presidenta de Coopemoluschomes Costa Rica, Aracelly Jiménez Mora, en la COP 1 del Acuerdo de Escazú
- Taller sobre el Consentimiento Previo, Libre e Informado realizado en Chomes

OVERVIEW
REGION:
Puntarenas Province
PILOT SITE PARTNERS:
ECOSYSTEM:
Mangrove
RESTORATION COVERAGE:
Total mangrove forest area under CoopeMolusChomes R.L sustainable use: 15,800 hectares
For restoration: 100 hectares