case studies undp: talamanca initiative, costa rica

7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: TALAMANCA INITIATIVE, Costa Rica

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Equator Initiative Case StudiesLocal sustainable development solutions for people, nature, and resilient communities

Costa RicaTALAMANCA INITIATIVE

Empowered live

Resilient nation


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UNDP EQUATOR INITIATIVE CASE STUDY SERIES

Local and indigenous communities across the world are advancing innovative sustainable development solutions that wo

or people and or nature. Few publications or case studies tell the ull story o how such initiatives evolve, the breadth

their impacts, or how they change over time. Fewer still have undertaken to tell these stories with community practition

themselves guiding the narrative.

To mark its 10-year anniversary, the Equator Initiative aims to ll this gap. The ollowing case study is one in a growing ser

that details the work o Equator Prize winners vetted and peer-reviewed best practices in community-based environmenconservation and sustainable livelihoods. These cases are intended to inspire the policy dialogue needed to take local succ

to scale, to improve the global knowledge base on local environment and development solutions, and to serve as models

replication. Case studies are best viewed and understood with reerence toThe Power o Local Action: Lessons rom 10 Years

the Equator Prize, a compendium o lessons learned and policy guidance that draws rom the case material.

Click on the map to visit the Equator Initiatives searchable case study database.

EditorsEditor-in-Chie: Joseph Corcoran

Managing Editor: Oliver HughesContributing Editors: Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Erin Lewis, Whitney Wilding

Contributing WritersEdayatu Abieodun Lamptey, Erin Atwell, Toni Blackman, Jonathan Clay, Joseph Corcoran, Larissa Currado, Sarah Gordon, Oliver Hughe

Wen-Juan Jiang, Sonal Kanabar, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Rachael Lader, Patrick Lee, Erin Lewis, Jona Liebl, Mengning Ma,

Mary McGraw, Gabriele Orlandi, Juliana Quaresma, Peter Schecter, Martin Sommerschuh, Whitney Wilding, Luna Wu

DesignOliver Hughes, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Amy Korngiebel, Kimberly Koserowski, Erin Lewis, John Mulqueen, Lorena de la Pa

Brandon Payne, Mariajos Satizbal G.

AcknowledgementsThe Equator Initiative acknowledges with gratitude the Talamanca Initiative, and in particular the guidance and inputs o Diego Lynch

photo credits courtesy o the Talamanca Initiative. Maps courtesy o CIA World Factbook and Wikipedia.

Suggested CitationUnited Nations Development Programme. 2012. Talamanca Initiative, Costa Rica. Equator Initiative Case Study Series. New York, NY.
http://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_winners&view=casestudysearch&Itemid=858http://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdf


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PROJECT SUMMARYSince the late-1970s, local NGO Asociacin ANAIhas promoted sustainable arming practices in ruralcommunities living within the Talamanca region o CostaRica. Home to one-third o the countrys indigenous people,the canton ranks lowest in many key socioeconomicindicators, including human development, yet is hometo some o the countrys richest biodiversity. This naturalheritage was threatened by overreliance on cacao armingas a monoculture, which has contributed to a vicious cycleo orest clearance and loss o soil productivity.

Asociacin ANAI has acted as an incubator or community-based action that seeks to address these persistent socialand ecological challenges. Chie amongst these localinitiatives have been sustainable agricultural approaches,inspired by ANAIs regional Finca Educativa training centre.Peer-to-peer learning has also been applied in marineand coastal settings, through endangered turtle speciesconservation, and in developing ecotourism ventures.

KEY FACTS

EQUATOR PRIZE WINNER: 2002

FOUNDED: Late 1970s

LOCATION: Talamanca, south-east Costa R ica

BENEFICIARIES: Over 20 grassroots organizations

BIODIVERSITY: Wildlife refuge & marine turtle conservati

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TALAMANCA INITIATIVECosta Rica

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Background and Context 4

Key Activities and Innovations 6

Biodiversity Impacts 8

Socioeconomic Impacts 9

Policy Impacts 10

Sustainability 11

Replication 11

Partners 11


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4

he canton o Talamanca lies in the south-east o Costa Rica, bordered

y Panama and the Caribbean. It is the countrys poorest region in

ocioeconomic terms and the richest area in terms o biodiversity

nd tropical orest ecosystems. Stretching rom the highest point

n the country to sea level, the 2,800-square kilometre region is

ome to approximately 32,500 people, as well as many plant and

nimal species that are ound nowhere else in the world. The area

hat straddles Costa Rica and Panama, La Amistad International Park,

was declared a World Heritage Site in 1983, and, along with Chirip

nd Cahuita National Parks, covers approximately 55 per cent o the

antons territory. In total, 88 per cent o the region is under ocial

rotection. Yet Costa Rica has one o the highest deorestation rates

n the world. Tropical rainorests maintain almost all their nutrientsn the trees and animals, unlike temperate orests where much o the

utrient wealth is in the soil. Consequently, when a orest is cleared

lmost all the nutrients are lost and the original orests cannot be

egenerated.

Pervasive poverty and over-reliance on cacao

alamanca is home to around one-third o Costa Ricas indigenous

opulation, numbering more than 11,000, primarily rom the Bribri

nd Cabcar groups. The canton sufers rom pervasive poverty.

n 2009, its human development index was the lowest-ranked

all Costa Rican cantons. The inant mortality rate was 12.89 per

housand in 2009, but as recently as 2003 it had been as high as 22.5er thousand. In 2010, only just over hal o Talamanca inhabitants

ad access to either piped or septic tank sanitation. One o the main

ources o income is agriculture, and particularly cacao; traditionally,

armers have relied heavily on the intensive cultivation o cacao

n monoculture plantations. When, in 1979, cacao trees became

nected with a ast-spreading ungal disease, the local agricultural

conomy in Talamanca was let devastated. Farmers were orced to

lear the land to raise cattle, cut the trees or timber, and introduce

ntensive arming methods to produce short-cycle cash crops,

ontributing to a vicious cycle o widespread deorestation.

Asociacin ANAI

Recognizing that this would only lead to the destruction o the re

however, a local initiative has worked to re-introduce indige

agricultural techniques, diversiy arming and develop ecotou

among other alternative livelihood activities, to conserve

regions natural environment and improve local wellbeing. In 1

to stop tree harvesting and the selling o land or ranching, a

NGO called Asociacin ANAI began encouraging armers to

into practice methods that both conserved the environment

generated income.

Asociacin ANAI had begun as a loose coalition o North Amebiologists and Talamancan armers dedicated to raising aware

among the regions agrarian community o sustainable arm

practices. Eforts were initially ocused on an experimental arm

in the surrounding community o Gandoca. Through experie

learning and ongoing assessments o local needs, the associat

work became entrenched in its beneciary communities, an

local people began to exercise an increasing level o owner

over its projects, conservation-development linkages became m

apparent to its member armers. As condence in ANAI grew, t

linkages gained more attention. The rst ormal recognition o

groups work came in 1985, when the association partnered

local communities and the Costa Rican government to esta

the 25,000-acre Gandoca Manzanillo National Wildlie Reuge incoastal part o Talamanca.

The Talamanca Initiative

From 1985 onwards, the association evolved rom a loose coal

o ounders with a very local and thematically-limited ocus

consolidated organization with a regional ocus, working with

communities o all o the regions ethnic groups. ANAI prom

a broad menu o sustainable development alternatives

projects that were embraced by the cantons local and indige

Background and Context


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55

ampesinos. Due to its close association with local people, this work

ame to be known collectively as The Talamanca Initiative, and gained

ational and international credibility or its pioneering integration o

ustainable development and community-led conservation.

One o the goals o ANAIs work in Talamanca has been to act as a

upport agency or the incubation o local and regional initiatives,

acilities, and grassroots organizations, the management o which

s transerred to local communities over time. Over the course oeveral years, ANAIs staf would meet on a weekly basis with armers

rom a particular community, and monthly with representatives

rom all o Talamancas communities, designing a regional

rogramme to address sustainable development and conservation

ssues. Among the rst initiatives sponsored by ANAI in this way

were the Association o Small Producers o Talamanca (APPTA) and

he Talamanca Caribbean Biological Corridor Association (CBTCA),

oth leading actors in the Talamanca Initiative. The association

lso sponsored the creation o Finca Educativa, a regional training

entre, and the establishment o several community savings and

oan groups.

Many o these groups are now sel-sustaining organizations, carrying

ut the initiatives activities independently rom ANAIs supervision.

he association continues to act in its sel-designated role as an

ntermediary or Grassroots Support Organization. ANAI acts as

acilitator, providing strategic and managerial support, and has

ranched out into activities such as biomonitoring.

A common core belie o the Talamanca Initiative is that the key

o conservation and sustainable development is the successul

management o these issues by the local people. The work o

he Talamanca Initiative is guided by ve core principles: i) no

nherent contradiction exists between economic development and

nvironmental conservation (i communities and nations are tohrive, development and conservation must take place together);

) the best stewards o the tropical lowlands are the regions

ampesinos and Indian armers who have dedicated their lives to

hese lands; iii) all natural tropical areas that are not protected will

e radically altered during our lietime and we must work to protect

hese areas and preserve their biodiversity or uture generations to

njoy; iv) the natural orest and other unique primary ecosystems

re Talamancas most economically valuable asset in the long term;

nd v) a successul strategy to address these issues must successully

ntegrate environmental, social, economic and organizational needs.

If communities and nations are to thrive

development and conservation must tak

place together

Diego Lynch, Asociacin ANAI


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6

Key Activities and Innovations

he primary project catalyst was the need to nd an alternative to

acao as a source o income. This built on widespread recognition

uring the 1980s among Talamancan armers that diversicationwas the answer to sustaining their livelihoods. ANAIs vision was

o minimize destructive practices by establishing diversied

groorestry systems which would not only mimic the unction

o the natural orest (as does traditional cacao arming) but also

produce enough income rom a small area to enable each armer to

preserve a portion o natural orest. This combination o agroorestry

nd natural orest would also provide or the sustainable harvest

o wood or other products such as medicinal plants or watershed

protection, tourism and the arm amilys own use.

ANAI began by planting crops on its experimental arm in 1978,

ventually planting more than 150 species o ruit, nut and spice

rops that they identied rom the worlds lowland rainorest areas

s having potential to be integrated into Talamancas small arm

ystems. This included bananas and many types o ruit trees which

were not previously common, such as araza, sapoti and jackruit.

etween 1985 and 1990, more than two million cash crops, ood

rops and trees or timber were planted on the regions amily arms,

reating a larger and much more diverse resource base. The variety

o plants and trees mimicked the variety in natural orests and so

elped to support biological diversity a key to sustaining insect lie

nd allowing the surrounding orest to thrive.

Using the inormation gathered during the crop trials, ANAI helped

ocal armers establish tree nurseries in every community oalamanca, an innovative approach that allowed the distribution

o the new crops and new varieties o cacao to communities ar

rom the nearest road. ANAI learned early in the process that most

ommunities had little experience in coming together in groups to

make decisions and solve problems, so the nurseries became a ocal

point or completing work, learning about crops and allowing the

ommunity to work together.

Adding value to local harvests

To make crop diversication economically viable, the Associo Small Producers o Talamanca developed local proce

inrastructure and marketing strategies. Markets were sec

by applying or and receiving air trade and organic certica

rom internationally recognized organizations. ANAI then wo

to: identiy the potential or growing and marketing organ

grown crops; identiy markets, both locally and internationally

establish an organic certication programme (the rst o its kind

small armers in Costa Rica, ultimately arranging certication o

rst 500 arms.

This approach has been so successul that over 1,000 armers

established organic agro-ecosystems, combining commercial c

with ood security strategies. The Association o Small Produce

Talamanca has become the largest volume producer and export

organic products in Central America, generating an average an

income o USD 500,000 to date. Revenues are channeled into

local economy through a large number o amily armers. In

demand or organic cacao has outgrown supply, so the progra

is being expanded to neighboring countries to meet demand.

A regional centre o excellence

In 1991, a locally-run regional training centre known as F

Educativa was established in the Talamanca Indigenous Res

It was constructed by tits users and is managed by a local bo directors and executive committee. It serves over 2,000 pe

per year, providing courses and workshops in agriculture, he

appropriate technology, and conservation or example,

concept o endangered species, reorestation, and the relation

o individual animal species with their habitats. Leadership tra

programs have ocused on empowering local people to un

as community leaders, and this has served, among other th

to strengthen community-based organizations. Environm

education in local primary schools has been undertaken since

early 1990s.


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7

Forest conservation

o conserve the regions orest and avoid the extraction o timber

t the lowest negotiable price, the initiative developed low-impact

perations that would produce a value-added product in the

ommunity. In addition, they purchased land as a last resort to save

he land rom immediate deorestation; provided legal assistance

n matters ranging rom resolution o land tenure disputes to

norcement o orestry and wildlie laws; replanted native species;nd developed integrated land management plans.

As an example, members o ASACODE, a local group which

ocuses on sustainable orestry, have all been trained to develop

management plans or selective sustainable logging, to navigate

he complex permit processes, to harvest trees so as to minimize

amage, to extract logs using animal traction (water bufalo), and

o process the wood at their own sawmill. Unlike conventional

oggers, ASACODE members also consider conservation needs and

lternative options, such as non-traditional orest products and

cotourism. As a testament to the success o their work, the arms

eing managed by ASACODE have been certied as meeting all the

riteria or sustainability set out by SmartWood, an international

ertication agency or sustainable orestry.

Ecotourism

Costa Rica had been exploited in the past by businesses and

ntrepreneurs that developed the land or tourism with little regard

or the environment or the local people. In contrast, the Talamanca

nitiative recognized the potential to draw urther income into the

egion by developing a sustainable ecotourism market. The growth

o tourism in Talamanca has exploded since 1985 and has b

recognized as a double edged sword, representing both destru

elements and opportunities. Thereore, the emphasis has b

placed on proper planning and management o activities

local people. The early work o two ecotourism lodges inor

and guided ecotourism activities by other groups. The pion

demonstrated that locally controlled ecotourism can make

organizations stronger and more sustainable.

In 1998, 17 associations and businesses ormed the Talaman

Community Ecotourism Network to acilitate close organizat

relations, product development, inormation and idea sha

training, collaborative planning, production o promotional m

and participation in ecotourism airs. There are now ve ecotou

lodges, which are all owned and managed by commu

organizations. The revenue earned goes directly to the am

in the community who have set up small amily businesses.

tangible benets rom conservation have been an essential pa

the process o developing support or conservation among the

poor. The Talamanca Network also decided to create a conserva

und, into which they contribute a percentage o all ecotou

income.

Scaling out: 1998 to present

The initiative currently involves collaboration and coopera

between more than 20 grassroots organizations, represen

around 1,500 small producer households, and Costa Ricas Min

o Environment and Energy. Participants include men and wo

o all the social and ethnic groups o the southern Caribbean re

o Costa Rica, including Aro-Caribbean, indigenous, and me

peoples.


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8

Impacts

BIODIVERSITY IMPACTS

The initiatives conservation impacts have included both terrestrial

nd marine ecosystems. The Gandoca-Manzanillo National Wildlie

Reuge, stretching or 30 km along the Caribbean coast, was

established in 1985 as a direct result o Talamanca Initiative actions,

n partnership with the Costa Rican Ministry o the Environment

nd Energy. This reuge (now an ocially recognized RAMSAR

ite) protects many species o endemic plants and animals, serves

s Costa Ricas last remaining reuge or manatees and other

endangered species, and contains a diversity o unique wetland

ecosystems ound nowhere else in the country. A co-management

plan implemented in the reuge, the rst o its kind in a Costa Ricanprotected area, has served as a model o communities, NGOs, and

governments working together or the benet o local people and

he areas unique biological resources. The reserve has provided a

timulus or the local ecotourism trade, bringing economic benets

o neighbouring communities.

Protecting an endangered marine species

The Talamanca Marine Turtle Conservation Program, started in 1992

n the community o Gandoca, has saved thousands o leatherback,

green, and hawksbill turtle eggs rom predation and poaching,

bringing stability back to the local populations o these endangered

nimals. Sea turtle conservation has become the economic motoror this community, generating six times more income than was

previously generated rom the harvesting and selling o turtle

eggs, through the provision o services to the project volunteers

nd tourists. As one o the most successul projects o its kind in

he world, Gandoca has become a center or the training o turtle

onservationists throughout Central America and the Caribbean.

Talamanca is one o the ew places in the world where leatherback

ea turtle populations are growing.

Quantiying the benefts o agro-ecology

Scientic validation o the role that small arm agro-ecosys

can play in biodiversity conservation has been achieved thro

various research initiatives, the most notable having been publi

jointly with The Nature Conservancy in a study which illustrate

importance o these agro-ecosystems as integral parts o an ov

conservation strategy that simultaneously protects biodive

and improves economic prospects. As habitat or a wide varie

plants and animals, these systems are an important compleme

primary and secondary orest habitats, and create wildlie corr

linking conservation areas. The opportunities that this present

marketing certain products as environmentally riendly and riendly, with consequently higher revenue or small armers

being actively pursued.

Ecosystem restoration and biomonitoring

Reorestation with native tree species has been carried out by

than 1,600 arm amilies. A total o 115 small armers are curre

receiving carbon ofset payments or conserving over 6,000 hec

o their orests. This programme area, along with other conserv

projects currently being implemented as part o the Talam

Initiative, have benetted rom rigorous monitoring by Asocia

ANAI. Through a participatory biomonitoring initiative ocuse

resh water streams, or instance, local communities are gathevaluable inormation or appropriate land-use planning and dec

making. Other monitoring eforts have ocused on particular spe

Central Americas only permanent raptor migration monito

programme has recorded more than 2.9 million birds o prey

season, becoming not only the second highest count in the w

but also a living laboratory or conservation education and a

opportunity or integrating conservation with ecotourism initia

Numerous scientic, conservation and sustainable developm

oriented studies have been carried out, including a Rapid Ecolo

Assessment, Site Conservation Planning, the identication o


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pecies, the ecology o estuarine habitat use by the Atlantic tarpon

Megalops atlanticus), sustainable orest management planning,

and biological inventories o diferent taxa and ecosystems.

SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS

A key actor in the success o the initiatives projects, and their high

degree o local ownership, has been the benets brought to local

arming and shing communities.

. Turtle conservation

For years in Talamanca, local people took sea turtle eggs rom nests

and sold them throughout Costa Rica, a tradition that has had a

erious impact on the endangered reptiles. Virtually all sea turtle

eggs were being lost to either poachers or domestic animals. The

Talamanca Marine Turtle Conservation Programme was designed

as a response to this situation. ANAI worked with a local shing

community to plan and implement a new approach which both

protects the turtles and provides income. Traditional conservation

measures, which attempt to protect turtles and their eggs, are

normally undermined by local community members incensed atosing an important source o income. This problem afects most o

he worlds turtle beaches and in Talamanca the community initially

esisted limitations on their access to the eggs. To address this, it

was necessary to: i) create better economic alternatives that are

dependent on the conservation o the sea turtles; ii) educate, train

and empower the community; and iii) enroll volunteers to patro

beach nightly to protect eggs rom poachers rom outside o

community.

By generating six times more income than was previously rea

rom the harvesting and selling o turtle eggs, the project

brought about signicant social and economic benets. It

brought stability back to the endangered turtle populat

losses are now less than ve per cent and local people are stsupporters o the research and conservation programmes that

made this possible. The model is being shared throughout Ce

America and the Caribbean.

ii. Crop diversifcation

Organic crop diversication or Talamancas amily arms was a

ocus o work in the early to mid-1980s. Previously, small ar

had been dependent on cacao as their only cash crop. Ate

arrival o a new ungal disease, monilia, many local armers

without any other resources or options, were orced to sell

land or harvest their trees or lumber. Using community nurs

as a means o producing seedlings locally, as community tracenters, and as ocal points or community organization,

arms were diversied, creating new opportunities to allow s

armers to stay on their land and maintain their traditional w

lie. Now, over 1,500 Talamancan armers have established org

agro-ecosystems, combining commercial crops with ood sec

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trategies, in a multi-storey planting system that mimics the

tructure and unction o the rainorest. Additionally, armers have

een trained in managing the new crops and agricultural systems,

reating many new jobs on their productive, labor-intensive amilyarms while providing signicant environmental benets such as

mproved soil and water quality, biodiversity habitat, carbon dioxide

xation and improved community health.

ii. Value-added processing

APPTA has developed a local processing inrastructure or organic

acao and bananas, quality control checks, marketing strategies,

nd an organic certication program, becoming the largest volume

roducer and exporter o organic products in Central America. In

ddition to creating completely new markets or some products,

he price premium armers are receiving or their certied organic

roducts ranges rom 15- 60 per cent. In addition, eight communityredit and loan associations have been established.

v. Ecotourism

or over 10 years, ANAI has given valuable training to local

ommunities to help develop the skills necessary or community-

ased ecotourism initiatives, including training in nancial

management, small business operation, computer technology,

cology, biology, natural history, and tourism management. As a

esult, 13 community ecotourism ventures have been established in

alamanca, and are a growing source o income or local people and

heir organizations. Five ecotourism lodges (CASACODE, Kekoldi,

ACODEFO, ASODECC, and Yorkin) are all owned anAd managed by

ommunity organizations whose objectives include conservation,

ustainable economic development, community development,

nd, in the case o the indigenous community groups, protection

cultural traditions. The Gandoca community ecotourism venture,

managed by local amilies, provides home-stays, hotels, and services

or ecotourists and volunteers in the ANAI Sea Turtle Conservation

rogramme. The Nature Guides Association or the village o

Manzanillo, managed by an executive committee o member guides,

rovides local guide services. Six other community-based ventures

are beginning to provide services o diferent kinds. All o t

groups are committed to the ideal o ecotourism as both a liveli

and a means or biodiversity and ecosystem conservation.

In 1998, the ormation o the Talamancan Community Ecotou

Network, a collaborative efort which acilitates close organizat

relations, product development, inormation and idea sha

training, collaborative planning, production o promotional m

and participation in ecotourism airs. Communities have seen

tangible results o their earlier work, which has helped them dev

a proactive approach and empowered them to change their s

and economic situations.

POLICY IMPACTS

On a local level, the work o the Talamanca Initiative has le

environmental advocacy and citizen participation in environmactivities. Conservation o biodiversity and ecosystems is

an understandable, even commonplace, concept in muc

Talamanca. The most recent sustained action by the local popul

and their organizations orced the Costa Rican government to r

an environmental impact estimate and efectively end oil dr

of the Caribbean coast. Local people are committed to crea

new approaches that will provide sustainable socioecon

development while protecting their natural environment

unique biological resources.

The Gandoca-Manzanillo National Wildlie Reuge was establish

1985 as a direct result o the work o ANAI and the Talamanca Initia

in partnership with the Costa Rican Ministry o the Environm

and Energy. Co-management o the Gandoca Manzanillo Nat

Wildlie Reuge is empowering local communities and NGOs,

decision-makers in what was once the exclusive domain o

government. Training o many kinds is helping people prepar

new jobs and better manage their amily enterprises. Training

strategic support has resulted in stronger organizations and be

managed community initiatives.

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11

Sustainability and Replication

SUSTAINABILITYhe Talamanca Initiative has brought about the creation and

rowth o more than 20 grassroots conservation and development

rganizations, dedicated to maintaining thriving human

ommunities and a healthy environment. Signicant participation

nd leadership by women has been achieved in most o these

rganizations.

Almost all these organizations are based on entrepreneurial activity,

roviding nancial stability, while supporting and subsidising

nvironmental and social aspects o the work. Each activity, project,

nd program integrates environmental, economic and social aspectswhile maintaining both a community and a regional perspective.

he development o new community initiatives ocuses on activities

hat provide tangible benets. A culture o collaboration and has

een ostered. Key stakeholders have made long-term commitments

hat are not limited by time or external unding. Local people have

eceived theoretical and practical training, developing capability

o efectively design, manage and consolidate their own projects.

here is deep mutual respect or the cultural and social heritage o

alamancas various groups, and initiatives are tailored accordingly.

here are active partnerships with almost all local community

rganizations, relevant governmental institutions, private businessesnd landowners. The long-term commitment to Talamanca has

lowly cultivated a sentiment o loyalty to the regions natural

esources by many o its people, based not only on nancial gain but

n an appreciation o its inherent value.

REPLICATION

alamanca Initiative actively participates in various orums,

onerences and workshops to promote strategies, actions, policies

nd laws that urther the integration o socioeconomic development

and biodiversity conservation throughout the Neotropics

sharing and disseminating the Talamanca model, lessons lea

and knowledge and experience gained through this process

Talamanca Initiative strives to inspire, encourage and support o

organizations and communities to develop similar processes.

Tangible results o partnerships beyond Talamanca inc

organic certication and higher prices or more than 2,000 m

indigenous armers in Bocas del Toro, Panama, through work wit

Cooperativa de Cacao Bocatorea (COCABO), and the establishm

o community-based sea turtle conservation programmes in

other sites throughout Central America. Carbon ofset paymen

conservation initiatives by small armers have been extended toentire Atlantic drainage area o La Amistad International Park.

PARTNERS

Talamanca Initiative has provided leadership at many levels, inclu

the main creative energy or the establishment and consolid

o organizations such as the Costa Rican Sea Turtle Conserva

Network and the Central American Sea Turtle Conservation Netw

Other organizations in which key members rom the Talam

Initiative provide leadership include the National Campe

Forestry Board (Junta National Forestal Campesina JUNAFOR

the UNDP-implemented GEF-Small Grants Programme or Costa

the Atlantic Regional Environmental Council, ACTUAR (the NatAssociation o Community Ecotourism Initiatives), WIDECAST (W

Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network),and the Latin Ame

Network or Alternative Development.

The most important partnerships are those that have been devel

within and between the communities o Talamanca. These tie

the result o real exchanges evolving rom cooperation. Talam

Initiative osters an environment where project staf, commun

grassroots organizations, local authorities, businesses, acade

and proessionals work together in pursuit o common aims.


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Equator Initiative

Environment and Energy GroupUnited Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

304 East 45th Street, 6th Floor

New York, NY 10017

Tel: +1 646 781-4023

www.equatorinitiative.org

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UNs global development network, advocating or change and

necting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better lie.

The Equator Initiative brings together the United Nations, governments, civil society, businesses and grassroots organizati

o recognize and advance local sustainable development solutions or people, nature and resilient communities.

2012 by Equator Initiative

All rights reserved

FURTHER REFERENCE

Parrish J., Reitsma R., Greenberg R., Skerl K., McLaerny W., Mack R. and Lynch J. 1999.Cocoa as Crop and Conservation Tool in Latin Ame

Addressing the Needs o Farmers and Forest Biodiversity.

Talamanca Initiative Photo Story: vimeo.com/27017143

Click the thumbnails below to read more case studies like this:
http://vimeo.com/27017143http://vimeo.com/27017143http://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348150455.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348162360.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348161568.pdf

case studies undp: talamanca initiative, costa rica

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