One of the meetings with some members of the community of Agua Buena de Chucunaque.
Carolina Borrero
Outreach with communities in the Agua Buena area of Chucunaque
The first thing we did was to talk to two teachers who own a cattle ranch in Agua Buena de Chucunaque, they are leaders. They told us the history of the site, so that we could understand the dynamics of the area and see if what is happening there has the same pattern as in other places with conflict. Then they supported us in making the call. It is easier to attract people through someone the community respects. On the 14 kilometers of road we always take the windows of the car down and greet people and if they need a ride to the entrance or to the farm we do it, because this creates bonds and trust, because it allows us to talk more with them. The teachers and we went house to house to tell the people at the meeting about the jaguars and other activities. The talk is presented, we give a space for each one of them to express themselves about how they perceive the jaguar and what has been happening in the area, and how they think they could minimize the conflict. After the community has expressed itself, we explain to them what we can do together, then we carry out the training and create stronger links and trust with the communities. Trust is the key to making the project work and it is a step-by-step process.
- Create alliances with families and communities,
- Advise them to improve their activities,
- Maintain constant communication with different members of the community, although there may be a few who lead the process within the community,
- Always listen to what they think, besides being respectful of their opinions that, if they are biased by culture and myths, little by little, based on trust, they will understand and change their attitude.
Working with the communities is fundamental, the constancy of our work has borne fruit. We have sought tools that can be understandable and replicable for the community and at the same time is useful for other communities.
Working together helps to get more support (such as the Pathfinder Award). Several members of the community are now multiplier agents and guide their neighbors and other communities. Others have become environmental promoters for jaguar conservation. The community now has scientific information and has learned to manage their activities on the farms.
In Panama they talk about "the tiger kills people", referring to the jaguar. It is a complicated issue in rural areas. It is mentioned in the meetings, trying to make people realize that in Panama no one has been killed by a jaguar. Now they know that we have to respect them and that it is vital for our forests. As I mentioned before, for the project to work in the medium and long term there must be trust between Yaguará and the communities.