The Coastal Resources Center built a core group of professionals from within the Ecuador Coastal Management Program (PRMC). This included:

• building the skills of both PMRC staff, government, university, and non-governmental organization counterparts
• building university capacity to provide training and education in coastal management, with a focus on ESPOL university, which created a coastal resources center
• creating local capacity for participatory coastal management, especially through the special area management zones
• strengthening technical capacity in key issue areas including water quality, mangrove and mariculture management — using technical working groups paired with international experts
• utilizing training as a key method for creating the Ranger Corps, an interagency coastal law enforcement group