25 MT AUBURN ST, SUITE 203, CAMBRIDGE, MA, USA 02138 | ECOLOGIC.ORG - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

25 MT AUBURN ST, SUITE 203, CAMBRIDGE, MA, USA 02138 | ECOLOGIC.ORG

Barbara Vallarino, Executive Director Gabriela González García, Regional Director of Programs Margaret Doherty-Lopez, Senior Program Officer for Institutional Development

PRESENTATION OUTLINE

1. Our Mission and Approach 2. Mesoamerican Map of our Work 3. Tools and Techniques we Use with Communities 4. Example Local Projects 5. Scaling to the Landscape Level 6. Engaging with Mesoamerica 2020

OUR MISSION

To empower rural and indigenous peoples to restore and protect tropical ecosystems in Central America and Mexico.

Photos: Dan Grossman

OUR VALUES-DRIVEN APPROACH

1. SELECTIVITY: Place a premium on underserved places where untapped assets and a culture of conservation can flourish 2. SOLIDARITY: Form long-term partnerships with grassroots communities and

• rganizations they can

trust with local staff 3. CO-DESIGN: Use participatory methods and consultations to co-design and tailor projects that address human needs first, making long-term commitment to conservation and restoration possible 4. CONNECTION: Forge connections between resource users, organizations, and programs that can allow a project to be self-sustaining

SOME TOOLS & TECHNIQUES WE USE

• Peer-to-peer learning and workshop

facilitation

• Micro-watershed management
• Payment for environmental services

(PES) scheme design, access to incentives programs, and encouraging adoption of forest-friendly land uses

• Agroforestry, for example with inga edulis

(guama) and technical assistance for soil recovery, stronger food security, and slowing slash and burn-driven deforestation

• Fuel-efficient cookstoves for improved

health of people and forests and early buy- in to long-term projects

Photo: Dan Grossman

PROJECTS AND PARTNERSHIP SITES

GUATEMALA PROJECTS

TOTONICAPAN, GUATEMALA

Year began: 2003 Local partner: 48 Cantones Chief aims:

• Sustainable management of 16,000

hectares, restoration of 5,000 hectares

• Protection and restoration of

watersheds

• Preservation and recording of K’iche

traditional knowledge and customs for new generation of leaders

More than 100,000 Maya K’iche depend on a 21,000-hectare communal forest, but their traditional governance system is being threatened.

HUEHUETENANGO, GUATEMALA

Year began: 2005 Local partner: Northern Border Municipal Alliance (MFN) Chief aims:

• Collaborate with communities to

manage and restore degraded areas, especially around water sources

• Increase adoption of agroforestry

Huehuetenango, with the highest density of native plant species in Guatemala, is home to four watersheds that provide water for more than 200,000 people. But illegal timber and firewood extraction, poor development planning, and slash and burn agriculture threaten forests and the life that depends on them.

MEXICO PROJECTS

COJOLITA, CHIAPAS, MEXICO

Year began: 2012 Local partner: Chiapas Bureau of Environment, Natural History (SEMAHN) Chief aims:

• Help communities resolve long-standing land

use conflicts

• Enable communities to sell carbon credits on

voluntary market

• Educate community members with Free,

Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) about all aspects of a potential REDD+ project

The Lacandon Rainforest is one of the most biodiverse regions in

• Mexico. EcoLogic collaborates with three Mayan ethnic groups

who reside there to develop a community-based REDD+ project.

Photo: Álvaro Vallejo

LA CHINANTLA, OAXACA, MEXICO

Year began: 2013 Local partner: Regional Environmental Collaborative for the Chinantla Region of Oaxaca, Mexico (FARCO) Chief aims:

• Engage stakeholders (municipalities, Mexican

government agencies, conservation NGOs) in developing a landscape-level conservation approach and PES scheme

• Train & educate community members in

sustainable resource management approaches (agroforestry, sustainable livestock raising, reforestation)

The highly biodiverse area of La Chinantla, Oaxaca, is threatened by industrial agriculture and livestock production, and conservation efforts currently suffer from a lack of unified strategies for conservation and community organization. EcoLogic is working to promote integrated community management of the Santo Domingo and Valle Nacional micro- watersheds by training and working with eight rural and indigenous communities.

HONDURAS PROJECTS

NORTHERN HONDURAS LANDSCAPE

Year began: 2003 Local Partners: Southern Sector Water Committee Association of PBNP(AJAASSPIB) and Alliance of Municipalities of Central Atlántida (MAMUCA)

EcoLogic began work with Honduran communities after 1998’s Hurricane Mitch. To-date, we’ve worked to promote a holistic approach to watershed conservation on the periphery of Pico Bonito National Park (PBNP) and in corridors connecting it to other protected areas. Moving our work to the landscape scale will require pioneering a new approach that accounts for large-scale threats from agriculture (pineapple, African palm, and other crops), timber extraction, and cattle ranching.

NORTHERN HONDURAS LANDSCAPE

Pico Bonito National Park

NORTHERN HONDURAS LANDSCAPE

NORTHERN HONDURAS LANDSCAPE

Opportunities:

• AJAASSPIB is award winning and influential

(Equator Prize 2012, Municipality of Olanchito PES, cattle association)

• Diverse matrix of protected areas and multiple

use (Emerald Hummingbird, PIBOTEX)

• Model Forest of Atlantida
• USAID ProParque
• LPFN support and advice

Challenges:

• Change –

staff roles, partnership shifts

• Skills –

planning, spatial analysis, impact

• Staying rooted, locally-driven but combining

with full landscape view

SOME MEASURES OF SUCCESS

• 1,260 community workshops serving

18,900 participants

• 1,319,500

trees planted, many in strategic water recharge areas

• 2,500

fuel-efficient stoves constructed

• 840

community forest guards trained

• 300 smallholder farmers implemented

agroforestry

• 18,510 hectares put under local community

management, many as microwatersheds

• 160

water committees established

Since 1993, EcoLogic has worked with 627 communities, achieving:

…and more to come, with help from you!

WHAT’s NEXT?

• EcoLogic’s landscape scale-up via

“Collective Impact” / “backbone support organization” approach

• Interdisciplinary project teams using

Open Standards for Practice of Conservation (Miradi software)

• Alliances and strategic partnerships

(e.g. LPFN, PARTNERS)

• Continue to engage with

Mesoamerica 2020 to overcome challenges to biodiversity conservation and capacity in Mesoamerica

THANK YOU!

Guatemala Office: 5 a calle 14-35, Zona 3 Apartamento 202, Edificio Las Tapias, Quetzaltenango, Quetzaltenango 09001 Guatemala (+502) 7763-5682 USA Office: 25 Mt. Auburn Street, Suite 203 Cambridge, MA 02138 (617) 441-6300

www.ecologic.org