Local | PANORAMA

Playful, pedagogical and communicative strategies for the social appropriation of protected areas.

APAburra7

Área Metropolitana del Valle de Aburrá

APAburra8

Área Metropolitana del Valle de Aburrá

The guarantee of conservation of urban protected areas, beyond the technical and legal exercise of declaring them, is a robust process of social involvement. To this end, it has been essential to develop actions and strategies to promote recreation and environmental education around protected areas, expanding a collective awareness of the importance of their conservation, not only for biodiversity but also for the quality of life in the city.
The appropriation of socio-ecological concepts becomes a key factor in achieving the conservation objectives of protected areas. To the extent that stakeholders are committed to and recognize the values and ecosystem services that these types of spaces provide for the sustainable development of cities, the permanence of these spaces over time is guaranteed in desirable conditions for the conservation of biodiversity and amenity, enjoyment, well-being, and physical and mental health for all.

The continuity of social appropriation processes based on environmental education and public communication for biodiversity provide tools for the management and adequate co-management of protected areas, facilitating coordinated actions among all stakeholders: institutions, citizens, academics and the private sector.

The environmental education strategies and the dynamization through activities such as interpretive tours, yoga, weaving, bird watching, etc., allow for better learning, understanding and appropriation of the protected areas to the extent that another type of relationship is built between humans and nature and the search for a biocentric vision of life where interdependencies are recognized.
Other educational-environmental tools are strengthened and provided, as well as other conservation actions that were being developed by citizens and other stakeholders prior to the declaration.
The incorporation in the citizenship and the government of some concepts based on the dialogue of knowledge helps the conservation of ecosystems and biodiversity.
Participatory action as a fundamental axis for the successful management of protected areas.
Other actors and sectors are involved in the conservation strategy of protected areas, including universities and companies, which make contributions based on their specific interests and capacities.

Planning phase

Inception phase

Implementation

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local

Global

Ciencia ciudadana en el área protegida Piamonte (Municipio de Bello)

Execution of Competitions with local organizations

Mechanism for repeated/cyclical competitions for the financing of local projects

National framework (PREP), local and specific planning (PDLS)

to improve the project formulation and implementation capacities of local organizations, identifying their administrative and technical capacities beforehand.

Implementation

Local

Development of a Local Investment Instrument

The objective of the intervention was to develop strategic planning to guide local investments for ecosystem and landscape restoration in an effective and efficient manner. In order to achieve this objective, a methodological framework was developed that includes four steps: 1) Mapping of relevant local actors at the territorial level, 2) Participatory analysis of the dynamics of environmental degradation, 3) Definition of objectives, goals and restoration activity and 4) placement of resources.

The mapping of relevant local actors was carried out using the GIZ "Capacity Works" cooperation model; for the analysis of environmental degradation and the definition of objectives, the "Open Standards for Conservation Practice" methodology of Conservation Measures Partnerships - CMP was used.

PREP as a framework,

funding mechanism as an incentive/"promise" of an effective implementation of the PDLS (having in sight a real possibility of receiving funding for the implementation of the PDLS motivates the actors to participate actively).

Trust in FIAES, MARN and GIZ

Lessons from the construction process, piloting now being used in all areas prioritized by the PREP (?)

Planning phase

Local

Sustainable livelihoods

Mbya Guaraní Yerba Mate

Cindy Galeano

The shade-grown yerba mate model generates profitable economic income from the added value of recovering forests while maintaining traditional organic customs and practices around yerba mate. Ancestral Guarani techniques are combined with modern low-impact agroecological management techniques for yerba mate production. The market for organic yerba mate continues to grow annually as a nutritious foodstuff and international markets are in high demand.

There is a culture related to the management of yerba mate in the area; rural communities were already cultivating under the traditional model.

The private yerba mate sector is concentrated in the area where the solution will be implemented, which allows for the establishment of alliances with the national yerba mate association.

There is a commitment from local governments to support the development of the model, as it is a local industry.

For yerba mate production to be successful, it must be combined with other crops that currently contribute to the livelihoods of local people in a diversified organic farm model.

The producers are in the process of forming an Association after 5 years of starting the initiative. Accompaniment and training should be planned over a period of several years to empower and organize rural and indigenous producers to govern the value chain.

Implementation

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local

Subnational

Forest Landscape Sustainability Accelerator

Clear measurable outcomes

Female local from Galapagos loading DNA in minION machine

GSC

Female trainee working in the lab

GSC

Quantifiable outcomes for the participants. We trained 74 locals (naturalist guides, farmers, and fishermen) in research skills, field experience, laboratory (molecular work), and sequencing (DNA) tools.

The number of species sampled. To date, we have produced over 10,000 of DNA sequences from soil and water samples to be analyzed, all produced on the Galapagos by local trainees.

Field trips and samples collected: In total, 15 field seasons were performed on three islands where locals learn field techniques and data collection. We have already collected over 200 samples of soil (microbiome research) and 10 of water (metabarcoding).

Physical space to deploy the technology

Molecular equipment and reagents shipped to the Galapagos (via local collaborators Universidad San Francisco de Quito)

Community acceptance and support. Local agencies (Agencia de Biocontrol y Seguridad) partnership allowed the training of locals on 2 islands synchronously,

Hiring 74 locals for a period of 10 months is an expensive endeavor, but gratifying to know we helped 74 families with income during the pandemic

These past months of work have represented a full-time job for several team leaders managing the grant, finances, and purchasing.

Local trainees have shared via our impact team recordings (survey) and high reward and gratification. The measurable metric of well-being shows high values for all participants and increases trust and acceptance of institutions and people behind this project in the community.

Long-lasting effects: Most trainees will return to participate in a similar project if given the opportunity. We are currently assessing the number of participants' economic well-being and engagement in STEM employment.

Transfer of Technology

Scientist Diego Ortiz, a Barcode Galapagos project coordinator, center, instructs fisherman Manuel Chalen, left, and scuba instructor Oswaldo Ortiz, as they start the process of extracting DNA from plant samples collected by other locals, at the Galapagos

-Use non-invasive 21st century genetic barcoding techniques to catalog the biodiversity of the main Galapagos Islands and surrounding marine reserve, from microbial to mammal;

-Train locals in key field, lab and curatorial techniques, and employ them to undertake the project, which can also open new job opportunities in the future

Group of society in need of support (capacity building)

Group of society that understands the power of science and technology

Individuals that are eager and excited to participate

Economic collapse due to banned of tourism to a community that depends on visitors

Good perception of science and scientists in the society

Lots of interest from the community to get involved with more than 300 applications.

Resilience from the local population by finding new areas of employment (STEM) as citizen-scientists, lab technicians, field biologists. This shows an interest from the public to learn the need for diversifying job opportunities and technical tools to be developed (demystifying science and accessibility).

Excitement by the use of cutting-edge equipment, hands-on experiences enhanced by involvement in most modern sequencing techniques available.

Challenges in translating scientific terms to non-scientists, and bridging the gap between scientific knowledge and applicability by locals.

Lots of good testimonies suggest we recognized a gender issue (employment).

Implementation

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local

Local citizen scientists map genetics of Darwin’s Galapagos

Barcode Galapagos

Local trainee

Regenerative Agriculture

Yerba mate woman

Cindy Galeano

The production of yerba mate under shade is a model in which yerba mate - Ilex paraguariensis - is grown in degraded or totally deforested areas of the Atlantic Forest, during the production cycle it is enriched with other native tree species to generate shade and the ground cover is preserved with biomass, it is replicable in the Atlantic Forest region.Indigenous Mbya Guaraní communities have ancestrally managed yerba mate without greatly disturbing the forest, and this model combines ancestral techniques with modern agroecology.

Yerba mate is traditionally produced extensively, without forest cover and with the use of chemicals that degrade soils. As it is a native species of the Atlantic Forest, its organic production in degraded forests favors the resistance of the species, the quality of the plant, the enrichment with native forest species and makes it possible to rescue and implement ancestral techniques of yerba mate production with a minimum impact on the native forest.

1. Since this is an innovative production model that combines traditional and ancestral yerba mate management techniques, a period of years of technical support is required to install the model and empower producers to continue with the production model.

2. The model should not be implemented in forests in a good state of conservation; it should be expanded in areas with a high degradation index within the Atlantic Forest ecoregion, since the production system seeks to gain areas of organic and agroecological production while recovering forest cover.

2. Climatic conditions are a determining factor for obtaining inputs such as seedlings, seeds and others.

Forest Landscape Sustainability Accelerator

Incorporation of Forest Management into Coffee Cultivation

Methodological Steps Silvocafé

GIZ

Step 1. Extraction of mature trees

GIZ

Step 2 and 3. Replant damaged coffee plants and incorporate HCV trees.

GIZ

Step 4. Plan thinnings for shade management

GIZ

Silvocafe is a restoration technique that seeks to make wood production viable in coffee plantations, through the incorporation and management of a density of trees -AVC- as "shade trees". The steps to execute it are:

Extraction of mature trees: with a census and georeferencing of trees with DBH>10 cm, an extraction is carried out using the following criteria: frequency per hectare, phytosanitary condition, tree shape, density by species of interest and distribution.
Replant damaged coffee plants and incorporate HCV trees: each extracted tree affects approximately 20 coffee plants, that is, 500 to 700 plants/ha, which means a replanting of plants/ha of 10%-15% after each intervention.
Establish an adequate shade density of trees of high commercial value: this requires a stock of between 40 to 60 HCV trees/ha; with a recommended spacing of 12x14 m.
Plan thinning for shade improvement: Higher shade density (50-70% cover, 50-30% light) is justified when the crop site has high ambient and soil temperatures, low ambient and soil relative humidity, greater exposure to sunlight, poor soil fertility and low altitude above sea level.

It is preferable to apply it in prime-extra-prime coffee plantations (0-1000 masl); since in hard-semiduro (1000-1400 masl) and strictly hard coffee (+14000 masl), due to their level of production qq gold/ha and their differentiated prices reached in the market, the adoption of this technique may not be attractive.

It is important to select the species of trees of high commercial value to be selected as shade trees for coffee, their own genotypic and phenotypic conditions, the market interest in the species and, most importantly, their interaction with the crop, since economic yields will depend on this decision.

Tomo I Manual de Criterios y Parámetros PROBOSQUE

Tomo II Formatos de Planes de Manejo Forestal PROBOSQUE