A shared sense of identity and belonging within the Coalition
Amigos y colegas
Coalición Cobija
The collective work developed within the Coalition has favorably impacted each of the CSOs that comprise it. The permanent opportunity to exchange experiences, consult each other for technical aspects, logistics, and to seek funding together, has made it hard for the member organizations to imagine work without the Coalition. Without contributing to the management of the territory, many organizations envision that this management would be partial and that the enriching exchange that has led them to be recognized as a key player in the region would possibly not exist. A key aspect of the collective work has been the human aspect, in which the members have found camaraderie, laughter and affection.
A network of actors with territory knowledge that supports integrated management and constant accompaniment of producers;
Openness and trust within the Coalition; independent from levels of knowledge and expertise, all work equally because they have a common goal.
The work within the Coalition has strengthened the modus operandi of each of the organizations individually;
The watershed approach has broadened the vision of member organizations working mainly with productive systems with a focus on conservation and protection of lifestyles and ecosystems.
In the previous building block, the importance of working on and for a common land and taking on common problems was mentioned. For COBIJA members, the common goal is furthermore to do a job with people and for people, promoting social change, strengthening the ways of life of the peasants, and strengthening the sustainable management of key resources such as water and soil. The approach is to generate change by working with the people, for instance to maintain processes for the sustainability of productive projects, or to develop capacities for food security, among others.
Using existing levels of organization within communities, producers, and local authorities in order to build initiatives, e.g. Ejido assemblies, fishing cooperatives, rural production units, etc.
A strong shared sense of identity and belonging among producers, communities and local authorities;
Thanks to the organization's network and the COBIJA Coalition, there has been a greater impact in the workshops in terms of presenting information and results to the producers and making an effective translation of the diagnoses to reality in the field.
The work experience with COBIJA has been relevant for people who do not have a network of organizations that fulfill the role of interlocutors and process accompaniers. There was a void of citizen voice which is being covered as the work of the Coalition progresses.
Given the novelty of the Coalition's work experience with the communities, it has been necessary to create an agile communication strategy with the people.
Working in a common landscape to create synergies in the use of ecosystem services
compartiendo un mismo territorio
Coalición Cobija
Sharing a same ecological and productive landscape has been pivotal for the development of COBIJA´s leadership in the region, since a common landscape stands for the development of common goals within the Coalition. Having started with the shared struggle against phyto-diseases (e.g. "coffee rust") in the coffee plantations of the Jamapa-Antigua region, the Coalition is still working with small coffee producers, along with beekepers and honey producers. Support goes to the sustainable use of the surrounding ecosystems, including water and land management at the local and landscape levels, to maintain the provision of ecosystem services and the productive activities related to them.
By working for a common landscape, the grassroots organizations have been able to focus their efforts, to share their experiences, and to gain access to more funding to solve the various social and environmental issues in the region.
A network of grassroots organizations with sufficient experience so that they can hold a shared vision and leadership in order to mentor local producers and other stakeholders,
A shared landscape and territory: all organizations are in the same region and the same watershed;
Counting with financial resources and institutional support from a larger project that underpinned the work of the coalition.
It has been very important to develop a shared identity for the various member organizations: "Coalición COBIJA" has allowed them to have a greater projection before local and federal authorities, as well as to be recognized as an undisputed spokesperson for the interests of the local communities. More recently, the coalition has become an important reference point, advocating local people´s interest at a level of regional decisions and public policies.
EarthRanger combines different data from different sources. A key aspect of this is reports from the field as rangers carry out their patrols. To ensure robust data is collected and in a format that can be analysed, a ranger patrol report schema was needed. Ol Pejeta designed a set of report types relating to different categories of incidents or issues, such as a wildlife sighting or a security incident. Within each report type, standardized data fields were developed, ensuring data is simple to input and can be compared. Rangers use handheld devices to capture these reports and photos quickly and effectively, building a rich picture of what is happening across the Conservancy. These reports, together with the other data sets integrated in EarthRanger can be used for rapid response to serious incidents, as well as trend analysis to inform longer term strategic conservation planning and management.
User focus – working closely with the rangers and ecological monitoring unit as users of the system to understand their needs and ensure the report design meets those needs.
‘Minimum Viable Product’ approach – ensuring the report types cover most typical scenarios, achieving a balance of enough variety but not too many different categories so that reporting becomes complex and meaningless.
Focus on the challenge, not the technology – the focus should remain the challenge that is being solved, and not the piece of technology being delivered. This ensures that the solution is not cumbersome with unnecessary functions and ties in with the user focus condition which ensures proper uptake of the solution.
EarthRanger provides the platform for integration but the data sets and information to be integrated needed to be determined. Ol Pejeta therefore designed the platform solution, adapting it meet the conservancy’s needs – evaluating what information would be useful and how it could be integrated. This was partly based on what data was readily available as well as understanding the key factors in supporting critical operations. This included combining data from the field (animal, radio, vehicle tracking) to inform security and ecological monitoring efforts. Cameras that monitor wildlife corridors also provide alerts if vehicles, people, or animals pass by. The Conservancy also operates an integrated livestock and wildlife land management approach. Livestock bomas are mapped and if collared predators are close an alert is sent so teams can respond accordingly.
Problem solving – focus on what the needs are and exploring how technology can support rather than being solution led
Operational focus – grounded in conservation, understanding all areas of operations, important data, and user requirements to inform solution design.
Supporting infrastructure & systems – source platforms (digital radio, vehicle monitoring, animal tracking) to be in place to enable integration.
Skills and partnership – technical skills within the team deploying the solution and or partnership with an organisation that can help.
Partnership is critical – delivering such a solution requires partnerships to be formed across different parties. The institution providing the platform, the user and deploying organization and solution providers of the different source data platforms. All these parties have to collaborate effectively to deliver a proper working solution.
User training and buy in is key – the users of the solution have to be properly trained and involved in order to achieve buy in and proper utilization of the solution.
