Tourism and Natural Infrastructure in Community de Agua Blanca, Puerto Lopez, Ecuador

Agua Blanca Community is located in the province of Manabí, in the municipality of Puerto López, Machalilla parish. The community, founded in 1930, is within the Machalilla National Park, and occupies an area of 10,500 hectares. It is made up of approximately 80 families, that is, almost 300 people. It possesses one of the largest archaeological settlements on the coast related to the manteña culture (800-1532 AD). The community has historically conducted activities in agriculture and livestock, especially extraction of products that can be obtained from the cloudy dry forest. Recently, its inhabitants have dedicated to offering tourism services as an alternative for community development.

This study case focuses on institutional performance of the Community Agua Blanca. Previously, the community has been studied as a unit of tourism and the economic development in the community thanks to tourism. This present work uses the comparative analyses regarding Ostrom's Design Principles to analyze the institution framework. Community Agua Blanca represents in some sense a case of institutional failure, under the conditions and perspectives of development and generation of income.