Resumen de The link between higher education institutions as a support for development of community tourism and conservation of the mangrove in Costa Rica island, El Oro, Ecuador

Verónica Lucía Mora Jácome, Santiago Salinas, Amador Durán Sánchez, Claudia Patricia Maldonado-Erazo

• The present is a study on the connection that the institutions of Higher Education have with the community, and the obligation as an academy to contribute to the development of vulnerable zones. Here we analyze the existing resources on the Costa Rica Island, which is located in the Jambelí Archipelago, in the Santa Rosa canton, El Oro province. In this area there are approximately 520 ha. of mangrove, whose custody was delivered by the Ministry of Environment of Ecuador in 2000 to the Costa Rica Association; a methodology based on a theoretical - exploratory analysis has been used in which data from primary and secondary sources was obtained to determine the biodiversity existing in the area, mainly in the mangrove, while the second phase consisted in the application of the methodology of survey and hierarchy of tourist attractions established by the Ministry of Tourism of Ecuador, composed of four points that are: survey, registration, weighting and ranking. The link that has been achieved through this study, results in the discovery of the tourist vocation of the island, since tourism as an activity contributes to the revaluation of the area and to enhance the initiatives of the comuneros, besides, consolidate the presence of the UTPL, as a pioneer in the development of social responsibility projects with impact on the community.