We organize smallholders in the upper Mamoni River valley, one of the 25 most biodiverse places in the world, as steward of of the forest. We pay our neighbors for contributing to jaguar research in collaboration with KAMINANDO. When smallholders need to sell, we fundraise to purchase the land in the name of our Community Base Organization, which is designed to protect the forest in perpetuity directly and through our partners.
Forests in eastern Panama lie in the narrowest part of the Tumbes-Choco-Magdalena bioregion, one of the most biodiverse on Earth. Yet for landowners, forests generate little income, while clearing land provides immediate returns from timber, agriculture, and cattle. There are no accessible conservation payment mechanisms, so land is often sold to buyers who keep it clear or deforest it, driving ongoing ecosystem loss.
As a local CBO, we work with neighbors to pilot practical conservation solutions. We tested a payment for ecosystem services model and now support biodiversity monitoring payments (e.g., camera traps). We track land sales and facilitate conservation purchases when funding is available. We are also organizing local owners of rainforest. Our role is to connect community needs with emerging finance and protect key forest areas.
We have facilitated the protection of 76 ha in the Caracol Basin in the upper Mamoni river valley with GEOVERSITY FOUNDATION-now regenerating secondary rainforest, stewarded by a resident family. We also engaged two families who now value standing forest and continue conserving 23 ha, sequestering ~700 tCO/yr. We aim to expand these locally rooted models to protect more forest while supporting livelihoods.
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