The regent in Ambiente is the Ministry of Environment and we have been working with them since 1998, but in 2017 we signed a cooperation agreement to minimize the jaguar-human conflict through a preventive management project to seek solutions. We have also achieved an alliance with USFWS to work farm management plans, anti-predation measures, monitoring with cameras and collars with the jaguar. We work with the Small Grants Program/UNDP/GEF and are working on a camera trap monitoring project in Darien and support/advice to community-based organizations, so that communities know how to solve and take to another level what is happening in their areas. Nat Geo supports us in the most extensive camera trap monitoring project in Panama in Darien, in addition to helping us in outreach and communications at the international level. With the Howard Huge Medical Institute (HHMI) we work in scientific research with camera traps, in addition to disseminating, communicating and educating through their digital platforms what we find in the Darien National Park. Other important alliances are the Ministry of Tourism, ANAGAN, ISA, University of Panama, UNEP. We work with some indigenous groups and more than 10 community-based organizations distributed throughout the country.

Through various trainings, exercises and case studies, local stakeholders such as technicians, firefighters, secretaries of agriculture and planning were guided in developing skills for the management and use of information built through Geographic Information Systems - GIS. For this purpose, we illustrated and practiced with free access and digital tools such as Q-Gis, to strengthen the analysis of information and cartographic graphic outputs for processes such as land use, water network, planning, zoning and municipal ordinance. In addition, brochures were prepared with the information obtained at the technical-cartographic level to facilitate the information to the stakeholders.

This building block has two phases. In Phase 1 of the solution researchers involved in the project identify visions of desired futures for this landscape from data obtained in previous two blocks. Initial visions developed for our study area can be found in this Deliverable (see link below). These visions are never fully final, they are further improved / developed when new information is available. They provide lay of the land so-to-speak for decision-makers on different levels and stakeholders themselves of various interests in the landscape and how they collide or align together.

Second phase of this building block focuses on reflexivity – both among researcher team members who have developed these visions and ideally also a few stakeholders. For the former such reflexivity is needed to identify and be aware of all possible biases and preconceptions that they have introduced in visions while analysing data and developing them. For example, often if a researcher has worked in the area for a long time, they might rely on knowledge that was obtained outside this data collection and this needs to be acknowledged. Reflexivity among stakeholders on the other hand is needed in order to 1) validate developed visions, 2) foster a deliberation process during which new / modified visions representing shared or joint ideas could emerge.

The cross-cultural and multi-disciplinary study of stone tidal weirs and efforts to raise awareness require the establishment of an international network.

The academic core consists of the three member universities, part of the UNESCO UNITWIN Network for Underwater Archaeology: the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, the University of Guam, and the University of Warsaw. The network enhances the protection and research efforts on underwater cultural heritage by connecting universities and professional training institutions, and acting as a bridge between academia, civil society, local communities, and policy makers. 

On the other hand, local NGO or NPO organizations play a central role in safeguarding or reviving stone tidal weirs. As an intermediary the academic core builds relationship between coastal community stakeholders, including NGOs or NPOs, and international organizations, including the UN, UNESCO, ICOMOS, plus local and national governments.

Marine habitats sustain critical biodiversity and fish stocks that support the livelihoods of coastal communities across Honduras and the world. Healthy oceans and well managed fisheries ensure continuous benefits for those who depend on them during good times and bad.

Saving clubs provide economic safety nets against crises and shocks by serving as mechanisms for families to save and borrow in the absence of formal financial services. During COVID-19 and after the hurricanes, saving clubs provided an immediate safety net for many families.

Fish Forever’s overarching community-driven approach and concrete elements within it, like savings clubs, have strengthened bonds between community members and built social capital across fishing communities. Stronger social cohesion and greater social capital—through shared savings and joint participation in natural resource management— proved essential in times of crises and resulted in families and communities supporting each other with food and other essentials.

Building Block 3 (BB3) was based on establishing links with fair trade for small coffee growers, inserting them in training programs and permanent training in coffee growing and environmental education, and guaranteeing them technical assistance from local cooperatives and coffee beneficiaries.

Given that the territory is recognized as a tourist destination, the opportunity to strengthen the agrotourism value chain between coffee and tourism was promoted so that the farms could be planned and managed for this purpose, thus diversifying and increasing income.

On the other hand, synergies were identified with other initiatives and private organizations to continue working with the people benefited by the project, in order to take advantage of the leadership and awareness to expand the restoration actions, replicate the knowledge acquired and insert the beneficiaries in the commercialization link of the production chain.

One of AESAC's first objectives as an organization was to promote the replicability of its sustainable production model by supporting the training of other producer groups in the Bajío region. The workshops provided by its members had a very important multiplier effect when other producers in the region felt identified and felt more confident in sharing their experiences and asking their questions. The members' plots functioned as demonstration plots, where they could show the results of the practices implemented and thus motivate other producers to initiate processes of improvement and conditioning of their productive areas.

INIFAP technicians and other organizations have accompanied Apaseo el Grande producers for many years, training them and encouraging them to seek their own solutions to the particular problems of their plots.

Over time, the growers learned that their plots have particular needs depending on their location, soil type, climate conditions, among other things, and that the "recipes" they sometimes find in books do not always work the same for everyone. This motivated them to continue experimenting with different practices within the five axes of sustainability they had learned, and to write down the combinations that gave them better production yields at lower cost. This has been at the heart of the AESAC experience.

They also learned to share their experiences and give recommendations to other producers who were resistant to change, and were able to organize training workshops even in other communities.