Inteligencia territorial como proceso para el análisis territorial y el desarrollo local de Isla Grande en el Archipiélago de Islas del Rosario (Distrito de Cartagena de Indias, Colombia)

Abstract

This doctoral research aims to contribute to the process of local development and environmental sustainability of Isla Grande, located in the Islas del Rosario archipelago of Cartagena de Indias.This contribution is made from the elements of environmental sustainability of the territory that the competent environmental authorities and with jurisdiction in the Archipelago have determined for the Afro-descendant community under the historic decision of the Colombian Constitutional Court to grant and recognize the rights Collectives on the territory by sentence T-680 in August of 2012 which ordered to solve in favor of the community the application of collective titling. The decision contemplates the recognition and collective titling of 100 hectares, 5670 square meters of the Island. This implied a process of better community organization to guarantee the environmental sustainability of the territory. In this sense, the Ministry of the Environment of Colombia establishes, through resolution 0456 of 2003, on the sustainable development model of the Islas del Rosario archipelagos, that special attention should be paid to the new constructions of native habitat expansion, Institutional, civil works on the coastline, construction and adaptation of trails, which can generate impacts on the ecological structure with the loss of plant cover and therefore changes in land use. Also be careful with tourist activities that are developed there observing the load capacity of the island, generation of waste and liquid spills that can cause damage to the marine and terrestrial ecosystem. This research contributed to the strengthening of community processes translated each into challenges for local development and environmental sustainability of the territory. This was possible through participatory community action to achieve some challenges, such as: the characterization of the tropical dry forest, the zoning of the territory, the commitment to an adequate management of the residues, the evaluation of the tourist load capacity in its tracks accompanied by an environmental assessment against the anthropic pressures on the sustainability of the Territory, the design of a tourism marketing plan, among others. The research process had as methodological foundations for its development the tool of territorial intelligence and participatory action research. For each of them has in common that communities are subject and object at the same time in an investigative process. That is, they are not the only object in the process, they are also investigative actors through active participation. The doctoral research thesis addressed in a first stage the territorial zoning, which was developed with local actors and members of the community council, whose objective was to identify the current use and occupation of the territory, so that a community proposal could be defined of order of the same. A second stage of the process was carried out with native biology students from the Island and the accompaniment of ancestral knowledgeable people of the types of plants and centenarian trees that are there in order to identify the biodiversity of flora and the state of conservation of the forest Tropical dry (BST), because the BST is one of the biggest challenges that the community faces. And the sustainability of collective titling depends to a great extent on its preservation and preservation. The third stage included the realization of solid waste management workshops with the participation of the members of the women's cooperative of the Island who provide the service of waste collection. With this cooperative and other people in the community, the situation of the service provision was analyzed and the imperative need to propose a collection scheme that guarantees coverage and effectiveness in the provision of the service. From the above, a proposal to extend coverage, zoning of the territory, increase of harvesting frequencies and a scheme of use of inorganic and organic residues for the production of compost in the medium term appears. The fourth stage of the investigative process included the realization of an inventory of population and economic activities of accommodation in which environmental, population and tourist occupation variables were analyzed. These variables were the support to establish the evaluation of load capacity in the main ecotourism trails and the projection of capacity of population load. According to the previous analysis, this research proposed to the local actors immersed in the tourism economy a design of tourism marketing plan of the Island to project and strengthen Isla Grande as a destination for nature tourism. The last stage of the research process involves the design of a geographic information system for local development under the web platform using a geographic viewer, which will allow to have a cartographic baseline, data, statistics, research and projects that are or are being developed In favor of territorial development. The system itself is a tool for decision-making, urban pfanning of the island and will be available to all natives and those who carry out economic activities on the island, will also be a tool for consultation for schoolchildren in their process Of training in terms of knowledge of the territory and its evolution. Finally, this research establishes recommendations regarding the elaboration of the cartographic atlas on the complete characterization of BST and mangroves. The urgent need to implement the guidelines for the management of soiid waste. The elaboration of a guide on the zoning of the territory where the zones of use of urban expansion, conservation areas, new infrastructures for the provision of the community services of health, sports and recreation, as well as of new economic activities of accommodation. Likewise, it is recommended to create productive chains among local actors who use ecotourism in Isla Grande by establishing strategic alliances in a collaborative way so that everyone is benefited in a systemic dynamic for local development. It is also recommended to maintain the updating of the geographic information system and a team of professionals of the community in its administration and management, as this tool will be of great importance and foundation of the processes of local development and territorial planning of Isla Grande.