ABSTRACT
The recent interest of countries in Latin America on coastal and marine-related issues, coincides with a growing set of both public and civil society initiatives to protect these critically important environments. With extensive coasts and a long history of using and exploiting different ocean resources – both renewable and non-renewable – Chile, Mexico and Peru offer an interesting possibility to compare how these countries have advanced in developing appropriate policy and institutional structures to address the complex challenges and emerging opportunities to sustainably use the sea and coastal areas and their resources. Strong institutions and governance systems – including through well-founded scientific research – are a pre-condition to meet these challenges and opportunities.
