Despite their ecological and economic importance, mangroves have suffered degradation in West-Africa, mostly from anthropogenic activities. To sustainably and successfully manage natural resources in complex social-ecological systems (SES), it is important to take into consideration the divergent viewpoints, values, and knowledge of stakeholders, this allows to make informed decisions by identifying shared views and contentious grounds. We applied Q methodology to identify the subjective perceptions of local stakeholders on mangrove management in the Sokone and Toubacouta regions of the Sine-Saloum Delta in Senegal. Three distinct discourses (distinct viewpoints) were identified following the application of Q methodology: (i) the ‘Official’ discourse: “Mangrove management is fragmented; communities need to fill in the gaps for the management to work uniformly in all parts”; (ii) the ‘Happy Villagers’ discourse: “Village-level co-management works but some imbalances need to be corrected”; and (iii) the ‘Unhappy Villagers’ discourse: “Mangrove management is not working; things need to change, but it is not up to us (the villagers) to act”. There is polarization among the discourses on the effectiveness of current management. There is consensus among the discourses in wanting improvements in the current management but there is no agreement on what needs to change. The study highlights the importance of establishing clear guidelines concerning the role of government and other actors in participatory decentralized resource management. The identified areas of consensus can help create opportunities for sustainable management interventions and dissensus viewpoints highlight critical topics that require further discussion to improve the present management regime.

尽管具有生态和经济意义，但红树林在西非却遭受了退化，这主要是由于人为活动造成的。为了可持续，成功地管理复杂的社会生态系统（SES）中的自然资源，重要的是要考虑到利益相关者的不同观点，价值观和知识，这可以通过确定共同的观点和有争议的依据来做出明智的决策。我们使用Q方法论确定了当地利益相关者对塞内加尔Sine-Saloum三角洲的Sokone和Toubacouta地区红树林管理的主观看法。运用Q方法论后，确定了三种不同的话语（观点截然不同）：（i）“官方”话语：“红树林管理支离破碎；社区需要填补空白，以便管理层在各个部门统一工作”；（ii）“幸福的村民”话语：“村级共同管理工作，但一些失衡需要纠正”；（iii）“不高兴的村民”话语：“红树林管理不起作用；事情需要改变，但这不取决于我们（村民）采取行动。” 关于当前管理有效性的论述之间存在两极分化。在各方面之间的共识是，希望对当前的管理进行改进，但是对于需要改变的地方并没有达成共识。该研究强调了建立有关政府和其他参与者在参与式分散式资源管理中的作用的明确指导方针的重要性。