You have the right to remain informed

¡Hola readers!

This past February and March, EcoLogic began its FPIC process in the three land-holding Mayan communities in La Sierra Cojolita Communal Reserve in Chiapas, Mexico. Workshops and information sessions designed to inform the communities about REDD+ were held in the communities of Frontera Corozal, Nueva Palestina, and Lacanhá Chansayab. As the new human rights research intern at EcoLogic, it has been a whirlwind of activity as I learn a ton about the project area, about REDD+, and about the ins-and-outs of working in a non-profit. If you'd like a brush-up on REDD+, David Kramer, Senior Program Officer, has written an excellent post about the mechanism. But wait, you may be saying, what exactly is FPIC and why is it important? Let me take a moment to unpack this term and its importance for both REDD+ and for the EcoLogic project.

Cattle gather in Nueva Palestina, one of the three communities EcoLogic is working with in Chipas. The pressure of ever expanding cattle ranches is one of the principal threats to the Lacándon forest and its natural resources.

FPIC stands for “Free Prior, and Informed Consent,” and is a rights-based approach that puts the emphasis on the rights of local communities to make decisions about the use and management of their land and natural resources. It was codified in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples over five years ago. For REDD+, FPIC is especially important because forest-dwelling communities are often disenfranchised and historically marginalized groups. FPIC is an approach that is central to empowering communities to make informed decisions about their futures.

EcoLogic is making the FPIC process in La Sierra Cojolita Communal Reserve a central part to the project planning stage. As I mentioned, there were a series of workshops in February and March that had the goal of giving the communities information about REDD+ and of completing a participatory factor analysis in each community.

Participants in the workshop prioritize community concerns.

EcoLogic spent three days with each of the three communities, working to address the specific issues and concerns of each, depending on the community context. While this FPIC process has been, and continues to be, a lot of work for EcoLogic, we are committed to ensuring that the communities are empowered to make a truly informed decision about whether or not they want to take part in a REDD+ project. It’s important to stress that the communities will make the decision, and that EcoLogic's role is that of a facilitator and mediator. Our aim is to inform communities about their options.

In the workshops, there was an overarching agenda that was open to change and adaptation depending on the needs of the individual communities. Generally speaking, the first day was devoted to providing introductory information to all community members about EcoLogic, climate change, and REDD+. At the end of the first day, 20 to 30 people were selected by the community to participate in the second part of the workshop, which was the community analysis of factors that impact the possibility of implementing REDD+.

Andrea Savage (center), EcoLogic’s Carbon+ program manager, meets with community members to assess their interest in the project.

Now that the first steps in the FPIC process have been taken, it will be exciting to see how the conversation with the communities continues to evolve and bring to light new information. The experience has been amazing and educational so far, and I'm excited to be learning about a new and still-evolving development tool under the mentorship of EcoLogic, an organization that is doing so much hard work to “do REDD+ right.”

- Anneliese Abney, CarbonPlus Community Engagement Intern
Anneliese works closely with EcoLogic’s CarbonPlus team on project execution and community involvement. She will be graduating from Brandeis University’s Heller School for Social Policy and Management in 2014.

Common Commute

The purpose of our trip was simple: Demarcate the watershed found at the Quebrada Barro Colorado in southern Panama. The trip itself was much more complicated.

The Quebrada Barro Colorado is located in Punta Patiño Nature Reserve deep in the Darién, Panama. This reserve is remote, private, and administered by the National Association for the Conservation of Nature (ANCON), a private nonprofit organization founded in Panama. I was headed there with Eric Lorenzo and Humberto Tamayo of ANCON.

That's me on the left and my travelling companions Eric and Humberto.

Our journey started in Panama City, where we took a three hour car ride to the city of Metetí. There we changed routes and hopped over to Puerto Quimba along the coast, about 12 miles west. We boarded a boat and prepared for travel through the estuary that would eventually bring us to the community of Mogué. The entire trip was scheduled around high tide in order to get out of the mouth of the estuary. We timed it right and the entire boat ride took about an hour and a half. The sights from the boat were overwhelming in their beauty. You have mangroves on either side of you, seabirds flying overhead and, if you’re lucky, a group of dolphins might escort you for part of the way. The ride filled me with that sense of freedom that only nature can bring.

Picture time while traveling through the estuary.

Eventually we docked our boat and had a short 10-minute walk along a beautiful trail which cut through the comarca of the Embera and Wounaan peoples. It is a beautiful land dotted with Embera and Wounaan dairy farms, and traditional houses built on stilts. We passed several young women in brightly colored parumas, or traditional clothing.

Embera and Wounaan community members taking a rest during the day.

Upon arrival it was important to contact the traditional authority of the community. We explained to him the purpose of our visit, in this case ours was simply taking a shortcut through their lands to get to Quebrada Barro Colorado. The meeting was pleasant and quick and then we were on our way.

For generations, the Quebrada Barro Colorado has been the source of water for communities in Punta Alegre. It is important to demarcate the land to ensure the watershed is protected. The people hope to eventually build an aqueduct—running about 8 miles—that will continue to provide water to communities. 

We decided to take a quick break at "Rosita," a small store. It was there that we met up with a guide Lucio, who was to be our guide the rest of the way. He kindly offered to put us up at the worker’s house on his ranch where we could spend the night. ¡Que bueno!

Nothing like a sip of natural, cold water.

To get to the small ranch home it was a long, but pleasant two mile hike through lush rainforest full of large
trees and small streams. We arrived at Lucio’s ranch house at sunset. The small house was perfect – and so was the nearby lake where we caught our dinner. We cooked our fresh catch over a small campfire.

The late night sky gave us a breathtaking star show. We shared stories throughout the evening, enjoying the meal and each other’s company, and eventually went to sleep. Some of us slept in hammocks, some slept on the floor inside the ranch house.

We were all up bright and early, made some very strong coffee and ate a few yuccas. We walked an hour on narrower trails where at one point we saw titi monkeys playing in a high tree and at another we watched a beautiful, majestic eagle land on a Cuipo tree. The tree had been full of small birds that quickly scattered leaving the eagle alone as the mistress of her tree.

Let's recap: Panama City, to Metei, to Puerto Quimba, over to Mogue and finally down to
La Reserva Natural de Punta Patiño.

From the dense, thick jungle we finally arrived at the Quebrada Barado CoIorado water source. We had made it. Now, it was time to get to work demarcating the water source.

So, how did you get to work today?

- Yaira Allois Pino, Program Officer for Panama
Yaira is from Santiago de Veraguas, Panama and works on EcoLogic's projects with our partner organizations in that country.