A qualitative systematic review of governance principles for mangrove conservation

Management of mangrove ecosystems is complex, given that mangroves are both terrestrial and marine, often cross regional or national boundaries, and are valued by local stakeholders in different ways than they are valued on national and international scales. Thus, mangrove governance has had varying levels of success, analyzed through concepts such as principles of good governance and procedural justice in decision‐making. Although there is substantial research on case studies of mangrove management, global comparisons of mangrove governance are lacking. This research aims to fill this gap by comparing relationships among qualities of governance across mangrove social‐ecological systems worldwide. Through a systematic literature search and screening process, we identified 65 articles that discussed mangrove governance and conservation. Case studies in these articles, drawn from 39 countries, were categorized as top‐down, bottom‐up, or comanaged and thematically coded to assess the influence of eight principles of good governance in mangrove conservation success. Across all three governance systems, the principles of legitimacy, fairness, and integration were most important in determining conservation success or failure. These principles are closely related to the concept of procedural justice, highlighting the importance of stakeholder inclusion throughout all stages of mangrove management. Thus, we recommend clearly defined roles for all governance actors, transparent communication of policy development to stakeholders, fairness in both process and outcome, and careful consideration of sustainable access to conservation resources. Una Revisión Cualitativa de los Principios de Gestión para la Conservación de los Manglares Resumen El manejo de los manglares es complejo dado que son terrestres y marinos, con frecuencia cruzan las fronteras regionales o nacionales y están valorados por los actores de diferentes maneras de cómo son valorados en las escalas nacionales e internacionales. Por lo tanto, la gestión de los manglares ha tenido diferentes niveles de éxito al ser analizados con medidas como los principios de buena gestión de Lockwood et al. (2010) y con conceptos como la justicia procesal (O'Beirne et al. 2020) en la toma de decisiones. Aunque existe una cantidad sustancial de información de estudios de caso del manejo de manglares, existen pocas comparaciones mundiales de la gestión de los manglares. Este trabajo busca cerrar esta brecha mediante la c