We have learned that reducing the short-term opportunity costs of conservation is extremely important to sparking interest in long-term management. VSLs can help facilitate this by (i) providing direct access to short-term incentives, (ii) providing financial security in times of need, and (iii) enhancing collaboration at the community level. Since VSLs depend on group savings and group loans, this financial mechanism can serve as a platform to discuss wider issues, such as conservation area management. Monthly meetings with VSL groups offer important opportunities to discuss issues, enhance collaboration, and build participatory platforms for collective action. As effective community-led conservation often revolves around a common pool resource, these regular gatherings, incentivized through the VSL, are critical for equitable local management.

The lessons learned have been many. The owners of farms in Agua Buena de Chucunaque have been able to see that by managing or moving the animals with small paddocks and having water tubs in them, with improved pasture and keeping records of what happens on the farm, the results are very good.

Now they know that they must see the farm as a small business, only in this way they will be able to see the results of the work they carry out and that it is a dignified work, that well carried out, the family can live much better.

In addition, with the farm management plan they can also opt for loans in the banks of Panama, because now in Panama if someone wants a bank loan for these activities, they require a farm management plan and since they already have it, it is easier for them, they just have to continue advising them.

In addition, they have also learned that it is better to get advice from people who know and this is something that Yaguará Panama will continue to contribute, since the presence of Yaguará Panama in the area will be for a long term.

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.

• The collaboration or alliance with the Ministry of Environment helps us to maximize the achievement of our objectives, which is why we work together on the Non-Carbon Benefits program typified in the Paris Agreement.
• The more actors involved in the solution, the easier it is to achieve the objectives and results.
• Working with international organizations such as Euroclima+, Expertise France and Forests of the World gives recognition and credibility to the solution.

• The importance of allowing researchers, students and scientists to carry out their studies in the Mamoní Valley Reserve has an impact not only for them but also for the country and the world. For example, if the Smithsonian Tropical Institute discovers the reason why the fungus affects frogs in one geographic area and not in others, it could be decisive in saving a species.
• Achieving this combination of youth and mentor is a management strategy that contributes to create that critical mass to form young emerging leaders and protectors of the environment. At the beginning of the solution, a lot of manpower was required to build the structures of what would become the Mamoní Center, collaborators, volunteers and the executive team worked shoulder to shoulder.
• Creating a center or a conserved area is hard work that requires a lot of commitment and collective work, but harvesting achievements is an incomparable satisfaction.
• When thinking about acquiring land for conservation you should keep a low profile so that it is not misinterpreted as land grabbing.

- Ecosystem conservation depends on local enthusiasm and identification of the importance of biodiversity and strategic ecosystems.

- Management plans and conservation proposals must be included in land use plans.

- Protected area management should be approached from a regional perspective so that each municipality takes the model and implements it in its own municipality with a logic of connectivity and ecosystem globality.

- The participation of research institutions in the biodiversity identification process and in the formulation of protected area projects is of great importance; it avoids doubts about the importance and certainty of the proposals.

- Community participation motivated by the evidence of biodiversity and the functionality of ecosystems is of great importance to keep alive the enthusiasm for its dissemination and knowledge.

1. The good relationship we maintain with the environmental authorities in Panama has given us recognition as a conservation organization and for two consecutive years we have received the Environmental Excellence Awards.
2. The organization's committed work team has allowed us to achieve many accomplishments both locally and internationally.
3. Having strategic allies that since 1990 have been helping the organization both financially and professionally has contributed to the development of many of our conservation initiatives and leadership programs.
4. Environmental education in the communities is crucial as it will allow them to understand the value of forest conservation, develop the link with Mother Earth and perform sustainable actions with the environment.

Importance of knowledge of the biodiversity of species to value local ecosystems and make it known by different means to promote the interest and ownership of institutions and the community in conservation.

Local conservation is successful when it is based on internal initiatives that integrate institutions and the community and is supported by knowledge, participation and norms that motivate or encourage the protection of ecosystems.

Land use planning and ecosystem conservation strategies should be closely related in order to define congruent conservation projects and decisions that are supported by national norms.

The fact that protected areas are environmental determinants of land use planning is the clearest possibility that exists to avoid the alteration, degradation, or disappearance of strategic ecosystems in the urban context, favoring the collective right to a healthy environment, as these cannot be ignored by municipal administrations or by the political will of the moment.

However, it is not enough to incorporate them into the planning tools to position the designation, regulation and administration in order to achieve specific conservation objectives in public policies and to ensure that there is an effective commitment to them. Interinstitutional coordination and articulation are necessary to achieve effective management of protected areas in a scenario particularly dense in conflicts and interests such as the urban landscape.

• Recognition of the actions, knowledge and initiatives of citizens regarding the conservation and protection of these strategic spaces for the maintenance of biodiversity and the preservation of ecosystem services.
• Co-management promotes inter-institutional dialogue and the exchange of knowledge to develop a joint construction of the protected areas, which allows for the strengthening of trust among the stakeholders, reaching levels of good governance.
• The contribution of private enterprise contributes to the sustainability of urban protected areas, while at the same time it is potentially functional to the private sector's environmental responsibility actions.