As socio-ecological systems, coastal wetlands constitute great economic, cultural, recreational and environmental value. However, due to rapid urbanisation and intensification of agricultural activities, these hybrid systems are continuously degraded, generating several ecological and social problems. This paper aims to deepen how agriculture-nature interactions and actor behaviour affect coastal wetlands' management while conditioning decision-making processes. El Hondo Natural Park (Alicante, Spain) is the selected case study in which 15 key stakeholders from the public administration, the rural community, and the civil society are selected. Data were collected between April and June 2018 through semi-structured interviews and analysed following the Grounded Theory principles and by computer-assisted qualitative and mixed methods data software, MAXQDA®. Results revealed how the rural community and civil society members agree on El Hondo Natural Park's cultural function, conceived as a mechanism to preserve local identity, protecting traditional agricultural practices and rural heritage. However, El Hondo Natural Park's origin and management generated discussion, including topics such as the natural park’ declaration, public investment, and participation in decision-making processes (especially due to the lack of transparency and information). Furthermore, main challenges have been identified: farmers' survival, water scarcity and water quality standards, and social recognition and promotion of the natural park. Researchers and relevant authorities can use obtained results to customize their interventions based on previous and well-structured knowledge of how socio-ecological systems are perceived and which past or new conflicts generate frustration among confronted stakeholders' demands. | This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness [Juan de la Cierva postdoctoral research fellow, grant number FJCI-2015-24346] and by the Interuniversity Institute of Geography, University of Alicante [grant number I-PI-88-18], both awarded to the first author.

Se discuten las especiales relaciones existentes entre regadío, gastronomía local y valores ambientales en el caso concreto del Campo de Elche, uno de los ámbitos europeos de mayor riqueza ecológica de Europa, así como la manera en que los avances tecnológicos en la configuración histórica del sistema ilicitano de regadío han ampliado los recursos culinarios y la biodiversidad de la zona. Se intenta mostrar así que la interrelación entre cultura gastronómica, regadío y riqueza ambiental ha mostrado tradicionalmente un notable dinamismo, resultado de la capacidad de iniciativa socioeconómica local, que lleva el sistema más allá de los puros condicionantes geográficos. Al mismo tiempo, se discute el potencial de los aspectos gastronómicos, condicionados por el regadío y sus transformaciones históricas, en la sostenibilidad del sistema frente a los nuevos escenarios socioeconómicos. Se toma como ejemplo paradigmático el del melón de Carrizales de Elche en cuanto elemento simbólico en la estrategia de promover la sostenibilidad de este espacio de alto valor ecológico y socio-cultural.