3.1.2. Anthropic Drivers

The basin of La Mancha is a rural area with little urban development, where incomes are based on livestock and agricultural activities. The contamination due to untreated wastewater from nearby settlements, and the small-scale felling of mangrove trees for agricultural land are the main problems in the study area, regarding the health and integrity of the ecosystems [18]. Notwithstanding, Ramírez Méndez [18] underlined the impacts of the opening of the lagoon inlet, two or three times a year, which modifies the natural hydrosedimentary regime in the lagoon. These openings are carried out by the *Sociedad Cooperativa de Producción Pesquera La Mancha de S.C.L.* (Fisheries Production Cooperative of La Mancha), in order to improve their fish catches [12]. Most of these fishermen prefer to fish inside the lagoon (72%), and almost half of them (42%) fish all year round. Consequently, they deliberately alter their fishing grounds [18].

The anthropic drivers considered are as follows:

