In Ecuador, mangroves grew in all estuaries of the Pacific Ocean. Rich in nutrients and resistant to the turbidity of the waves, millions of shrimp farms were built in the 1980s in these areas. In some areas, such as the Muisne estuary on the south side of Esmeraldas province and on the Cojimies River on the north side of Manabi, the mangroves were almost completely destroyed. Nevertheless, the local people’s realization that the traditional and main source of their livelihood was disappearing, motivating the protection of the last vestiges remaining in these estuaries. The protected area covers 3,173 hectares, divided into 25 different sections.