Lulo, Landscapes, and Lotsa Learning

I hadn’t been to Colombia alone before since 2001. My first time there was in the late 90’s, and that trip was pretty much a blind leap into adventure and the unknown -- this time was certainly going to be different. I now know the country and what to expect, so I did what I always do when I go there: I drank my body weight in lulo juice. Lulo is a unique fruit found only in the northern Andes. It’s green through and through. Even a tiny glass of the stuff is loaded with impact beyond anything you’d expect: a tart flavor, bubbling over with antioxidants, and smile-inducing. In fact, lulo juice reminds me a lot of EcoLogic.

My typical afternoon meal with two wonderful glasses of lulo juice.

It was precisely for this lulo juice, I mean, love of EcoLogic’s work that I made my pilgrimage back to Colombia. I was attending a conference on capacity building in conservation. I wanted to learn about new ways that project evaluation can be streamlined and communication improved between project teams and communities. This conference was a chance to think long-term and get ahead of the curve. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the conference itself (conferences can be hit or miss), but I knew I’d be able to gain inspiration from other attendees, not to mention the gorgeous colonial town of Villa de Leyva, Colombia, which lies about four hours from Bogotá.

Once I settled into my hostel (called Renacer, or “Rebirth” in English, and operated by Oscar, a biologist and birding guide), I trekked each day to and from the conference site on a dirt path. I passed smiling families, kids playing outside, and the ubiquitous Colombian military outpost blasting cheerful vallenato music from portable radios before their morning drills.

The conference presented a nice mix of leadership tips and management advice along with presentations about technical experiences in the field, and it delved into cases related to landscape-level conservation, and protected areas management. The “productive landscape” approach is very much in line with EcoLogic’s; this bolstered my confidence that we’re on the right path. It gave me plenty to chew on (like bad-boy chef and novelist Anthony Bourdain said about his recent trip to Colombia) in terms of how we might tweak our projects, better coordinate with our talented international staff and partners, and continue to elevate the role of rural communities in leading collaborative conservation and restoration efforts.

The whole conference crew!

EcoLogic has an awesome opportunity to parlay its years of experience and relationships in Mesoamerica into a landscape-level approach to forest and resource conservation. Our focus on treating the whole landscape is vital for countering threats and capitalizing on the energy and grassroots leadership we have helped build at the community level over the past 20 years.

Landscape-level conservation is about protecting and restoring natural systems across various types of land use including in and around protected areas. EcoLogic’s strategy is to promote sustainable landscape management by focusing on three inter-related areas: (1) Improving rural community well-being, (2) Conserving and managing at-risk areas, and (3) Facilitating coalitions at the landscape level. These focus areas ensure we keep an eye on people and nature and make decisions based on data driven analysis and results -- good and bad.

The beautiful home I saw during one of my morning walks.

At the end of the last morning in Colombia, I felt supremely confident that EcoLogic is a model of what could be if more organizations listened closely to and valued the opinions, knowledge, and vision(s) of local people. We don’t swoop in and jump out on our own terms -- our long haul approach provides stability and certainty, a kind of scaffolding for building a future that simply takes time to “set.” I see greater value than ever in EcoLogic’s work and holistic approach, recognizing that most conservation challenges are, in fact, human issues and can only be solved by committed leadership and those willing to go out on a limb, take risks, and lean into the unknown to obtain the fruits of their labor. No matter what we do -- and no matter how important it is -- it will always begin with people, families, and communities. Sometimes, it comes down to a white board, papier mache, and a tin roofed community center, bringing people together to take the first steps toward making sustainable change and conserving invaluable landscapes for generations to come.

Just don't forget the lulo!

- David Kramer, Senior Program Officer for EcoLogic
David researches and authors EcoLogic's proposals and reports to institutional funders. He also helps coordinate staff and partners in EcoLogic's participatory project design and evaluation.

Mi vida en Totonicapán

On several occasions I have been asked how I came to work with EcoLogic. This is my story.
In 2007, there was a call for work in Totonicapán that caught my attention because it was where I had grown up and, well, it was time for me to return home. It was time for me to use my knowledge, experience, and support for innovative projects for people and families as part of my goal in life, which is to help others.

For several years I worked outside Totonicapán, now this was my big chance both to return and to help people who had been less fortunate in life.

That's me all the way on the right, with my friends Don Augustin, the Greenhouse Manager in Totonicapán and Técnico Fernando Recancoj.

In Totonicapán, among my first projects working for EcoLogic was training and consultation with the board of the 48 Cantones, an indigenous quasi-governmental structure that has helped govern local communities of Totonicapán for over 800 years. Working with the communities and the 48 Cantones, we were able to create a modern project that used a system of micro-irrigation (a watering system that maximizes water use) to produce more trees for reforestation with less work then had ever been done before in the area.

Greenhouse Manager  Don Augustin showing the rows of tree saplings that, when large enough will be reforested.

I also promoted EcoLogic’s fuel-efficient stoves. With these stoves we give families the hope of an improved quality of life.

A local family showing off their new stove.

Another project of particular significance was collecting and organizing the ancestral knowledge about natural resources, mountains, forests, and water from community elders. This was one of the projects with greatest impact on teachers, students, authorities and the general public.

EcoLogic's Traditional Memory project aims to preserve the values and traditions of the Totonicapán Quiché Maya by inspiring the next generation of leaders to learn, understand, and continue their customary system of forest management. Here, Quiché Maya offer prayers to the forest before reforestation begins.

Working with less fortunate people and families is one of my purposes in life, something that has brought me pleasure, happiness and personal joy. To be someone’s source of hope for a greater tomorrow, to take action to ensure availability of water for children and women, is priceless. Personally, this brings me immense satisfaction.

I was presented a banner by a local group of women and recent fuel-efficient stove recipients to show their appreciation for their new stoves.

With respect to the culture of Totonicapán, I understand that each day is like an experiment with the individual aspects of life, in my case I can say that I have total connection: of thought, culture, language, leadership, love of my neighbors. This connection is not just with the Quiché Maya village, but also with the Keqchi people, the Man, Chuj, and other indigenous communities which have a wealth of ancestral knowledge.

Aside from my work with EcoLogic, for two years now I have been a member of the Board of Directors for the 48 Cantones, as Mayor of my Paquí community. I coordinate volunteering services to the community and to the town of Totonicapán. Here the experience is enormous in regard to leadership, decision-making, management, politics, administration and more.

In Quiché the word chiwimequena means “over hot water”, in Spanish it is totonicapán which comes from the Náhuatl Atotonilco, totonilco means “the place of hot water.” And it’s true, in Totonicapán there are hot springs accessible to everyone. However, I feel like the communities of Totonicapán, and the families I call neighbors are not in hot water – but on the road to a very bright and sustainable future.

- Francisco Tzul, Program Officer for Guatemala
Francisco provides technical assistance to EcoLogic’s Guatemalan partner organizations. He is from the western highlands of Guatemala and has an agricultural engineering degree focused on systems of production. He enjoys working directly with people and looks forward to developing new ways to support EcoLogic’s partners in Guatemala. He speaks Spanish and Maya Quiché. 

I'm on my way...

Rio+20+Chris!


Quite the equation. Wait, it needs to equal something. How about: Rio+20+Chris = EcoLogic to the zillionth degree!


Okay, let me break the math down (yeah, I called that math). In 2 days I’ll be representing EcoLogic in Rio de Janeiro at Rio+20, aka the Earth Summit, aka the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (another equation: Lots of aka’s = lots of importance). Rio+20 is the most relevant and widely attended gathering of sustainable development practitioners, policy-makers, funders, and thinkers in the world. Why “+20?” Twenty years ago, the UN hosted the first Earth Summit in Rio. Out of that conference emerged the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (which Mexico and all seven Central American countries have ratified) and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. At the conference, I’ll have access to hundreds of workshops, presentations, and policy strategy sessions, interacting with representatives from thousands of organizations from all across the world.

That's me looking very pensive. I was visiting a local farmer in Honduras and listening to his presentation on how  he is working with EcoLogic to incorporate agroforestry onto this farm land.

Also coming out of the first Earth Summit in 1992 was a little NGO-that-could called EcoLogic Development Fund. EcoLogic was founded on the principle, promoted by so many rural and indigenous people at the Earth Summit, that truly effective and long-term conservation strategies demanded the inclusion and prioritization of rural voices – their needs, concerns, and ideas. So we’ve got two good reasons for me to be at Rio this year: 1) it’s an important conference for our work, and 2) it is deeply rooted in EcoLogic’s history and legacy.


But there’s an amazing 3rd reason why I’m going, and probably the reason that personally excites me the most. One of EcoLogic’s partners, AJAASSPIB, a local water council in rural Honduras, was named one of 25 winners of the United Nations Development Programme’s Equator Prize. The way I’ve explained the Equator Prize to others is that it’s the Grammys of the community-based sustainable development world. And AJAASSPIB is Radiohead (got to shout out the world’s greatest band whenever possible). Well, that means that AJAASSPIB gets to send a representative, Doña Zumilda Duarte, to Rio to participate in conference activities, multiple trainings, and an award ceremony. Since EcoLogic nominated AJAASSPIB for this award, I’m able to join Zumilda and representatives of the other 24 winners at some of these events. I truly cannot wait to hear what these rural leaders have to say. What they’ve learned and what they still struggle with. What they need and, just as important, what they don’t need.

Doña Zumilda Duarte , community leader and former AJAASSPIB President will be at Rio to accept the Equator Prize. 

So now you see why Rio+20+Chris = EcoLogic to the zillionth degree. It’s an amazing opportunity for us to join AJAASSPIB on this momentous opportunity, engage with peers, promote our work, and learn new insight to bring back to our network of grassroots partners. On top of all that, it offers a unique opportunity for us to reflect, build upon our roots, and reinvigorate our resolve to create a world where both people and nature can thrive.


I’ll keep you posted on how things go. As you can tell, I’m going to be busy. I’ll be tweeting throughout the conference next week so follow us on Twitter @ecologicdevfund and I’ll give you a full wrap up when I return.

Até logo!

- Chris Patterson, Program Officer for EcoLogic
Chris collaborates closely with the senior program officer by writing grant proposals and project reports, and following trends in philanthropy, conservation, and international development. He is also on his way to Rio+20!  

Eco-Family in the Field

The entire Eco-Family spent a week together in sunny --, no wait rainy -- no wait- sunny again Honduras at the end of June for EcoLogic’s biennial retreat. We bonded, we learned, and we exchanged ideas. But this was no kumbaya-fest. Our daily meetings consisted of intense sessions on strategic planning, science-based impact assessments, and theories of change. It was intense, it was real, and it was done EcoLogic-style. There is really too much to tell, so I’ll just highlight my favorite moments.

After arriving absurdly late to a quiet hotel in San Pedro Sula, I was ready for bed. Three hours later I find myself in a minibus driving to our projects in the region of Atlántida to see our work in agroforestry, fuel-efficient stoves, watershed management, and tree nurseries. Let me tell you about two of the project sites we visited, which we are implementing with our local partner, the Alliance of Municipalities of Central Atlántida, otherwise known as MAMUCA.

Fuel efficient stoves; hey what can I say? I love these things. We saw several stoves and heard from three different women who own and use them. I was extremely impressed with the maintenance of all the stoves we saw. I asked at one point, “Are these new?” I thought at MOST they might be a few weeks old but nay, I was told that all of the stoves we saw were a year or older. The women have to sand the stoves down every couple of days to keep them in tip top shape. And boy do they shine – I never knew adobe could sparkle. The women form groups of eight and together THEY make a stove for each person in the group. They are trained on how to construct, care for, and use them. The stoves use less fuel-wood, are more sanitary and keep the smoke out of the home. We all know the benefits of a smokeless house but it was NEVER as apparent as when I walked into one of the homes, stove to the right and a teeny tiny infant asleep in an itty bitty hammock not even 3 feet away. The babe was swinging lightly in the breeze and thankfully its little lungs were breathing clean air. It made me feel really good to see the positive difference we are making.

The argoforestry parcel we visited was also pretty impressive. With 40,000 seeds in the ground, the year-old trees (cue music) stood majestically along the hill-side. The trees are there to improve crop yield (here it’s corn), prevent erosion, and decrease the work of the farmers all while attracting wildlife, preventing disease and diminishing the need to encroach upon the surrounding forest. Don Faustino, owner of the land, was enthusiastic about the results and the benefits of guama. The full benefits will not be seen for another 2 years -- but, so far, so good and Don Faustino is happy to tell others about his success so they can replicate this work.

Oh, and we had an all-staff soccer game. There is not a lot to say about this except it was DEADLY (in a good way). It was fun, it was a time for bonding, and the temperature was freaking HOT. My team made it to the finals (yaay) but alas, the elusive EcoLogic world cup escaped my team’s grasp.

Let me just end this with an enormous shout out to EcoLogic field staff and tecnicos who work on a day to day basis directly with the people and places we strive to support on the ground. In getting to know the regional staff better I was awed by their passion and dedication. Their expertise is astounding and I’m so proud to be working with them.


- Gina Rindfleisch, Program Officer for EcoLogic
Gina manages EcoLogic's fundraising activities targeting individual donations. Prior to joining EcoLogic she served for two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nicaragua working in environmental education and holds a BA in environmental studies from Long Island University. 

Tourist Time!

This past weekend, Sara and I joined an EcoLogic intern, another Sarah, on a trip to Lake Atitlán. This, if you didn't know, is one of Guatemala's (and all of Central America's) most impressive places and a major tourist destination. I've always had mixed feelings about major tourist destinations, as you can probably relate to - how unnatural it feels and the sea of all those "obnoxious tourists" (as if I'm not one myself). But as I've told many friends over the years, particularly those who swear to omit major tourist destinations in favor of going "off the beaten path" - the path is beaten for a reason. Places like Atitlán are popular and flocked to by people from all over the world because they're practically universally amazing. Don't get me wrong, I see the value in going off the beaten path. But I'll deal with a sea of other tourists any day for the opportunity to tour the Alhambra, hike the Grand Canyon, or take in Lake Atitlán. I'll let the pictures do the talking...

For me, the highlight was actually probably observing a ceremony worshiping (or at least praying to) Gran Abuelo (also called Maximón, but according to the Tz'utujil devotee who told us what house the ceremony was in, only people that don't understand and respect Gran Abuelo call him Maximón; I started calling him Gran Abuelo at that instant). I have no idea how to sum up the experience, but it was unreal and I encourage you to search for Gran Abuelo next time you find yourself in the town of Santiago Atitlan.

The lowlight was probably the mental and moral handcuffs I found myself in when thinking about the surplus of local people, almost all indigenous, trying to make a living off of selling their wares or a boat ride in the lake to us tourists. There was stall after stall of almost the exact same dresses, coin purses, flutes, hats, etc. and not nearly enough tourists to buy them, despite Atitlan's popularity. This just increases the pressure to make a sale and puts an aura of desperation in the air. We had a man walk with us for about 10 minutes then wait outside our hotel for another 15 just to see if we'd take a boat ride. Later on, Sara and I momentarily pointed at a blanket. Before we knew it, the woman selling it had given us the price, dropped it 50% and as we walked away yelled out lower and lower prices to try and get us to turn around. It makes me realize even more the crucial need for more dignified, non-tourist-dependent livelihoods, where women don't have to sell the beautiful results of hours of work for the equivalent of a few bucks.


- Chris Patterson, Program Officer for EcoLogic

Chris collaborates closely with the senior program officer by writing grant proposals and project reports, investigating potential funders, and following trends in philanthropy, conservation, and international development. Chris was a fellow for the Ford Foundation's Difficult Dialogues Project and has documented his time working from EcoLogic's regional office in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala from March to June, 2011.