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 Projects5.

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

organizations 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: 2003Local partner: 48 CantonesChief 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: 2005Local 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 203Cambridge, MA 02138(617) 441-6300

www.ecologic.org

Slide Number 1PRESENTATION OUTLINEOUR MISSIONOUR VALUES-DRIVEN APPROACHSOME TOOLS & TECHNIQUES WE USEPROJECTS AND PARTNERSHIP SITESGUATEMALA PROJECTSTOTONICAPAN, GUATEMALAHUEHUETENANGO, GUATEMALAMEXICO PROJECTSCOJOLITA, CHIAPAS, MEXICOLA CHINANTLA, OAXACA, MEXICOHONDURAS PROJECTSNORTHERN HONDURAS LANDSCAPENORTHERN HONDURAS LANDSCAPENORTHERN HONDURAS LANDSCAPENORTHERN HONDURAS LANDSCAPESOME MEASURES OF SUCCESSWHAT’s NEXT?THANK YOU!