Sustainable Development Success Stories
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CSD-8: Sustainable Development Success Stories |
| Location |
Regional |
| Responsible Organisation |
Centro Científico Tropical (CCT) from Costa Rica and la Fundación para el Desarrollo Sostenible de Panamá (FUNDESPA). Coca-Cola, Clemson University, Conservation International, East Balt Bakeries, Inc., Keystone Foods, L&O Fleischwarren, McDonalds Corporation, Monsanto, Nestle, OSI, SONY Corporation, and Texas A&M University. |
| Description |
Project partners undertook efforts in 1991 to stem habitat destruction and provide new means of livelihood to the people in the La Amistad buffer zone, labelling their project with a name derived from a Spanish acronym of words meaning friendship, conservation, and development, AMISCONDE. Working with 30 community groups from 14 rural communities, project partners sought to improve agricultural technology and productivity to reduce negative environmental impacts of farming; introduce and expand cash crops, as well as related processing and marketing facilities; restore degraded lands, protect forests, and better control fires; establish environmental education for 1,500 primary and secondary students annually; provide equipment, adequate remuneration, and training for guards, fire fighters, and agricultural agents of the biosphere reserve; establish women- and youth-run community tree nurseries, producing 100,000 seedlings each year; and open well managed and sustainable community credit systems. These activities were selected and managed by a Project Advisory Committee that delegated responsibilities for day-to-day operations to an Executive Committee composed of representatives of Conservation International, Texas A&M staff and faculty members, and staff of McDonalds Corporation. Conservation International was chiefly responsible for the on-the-ground implementation of the project, working in collaboration with local non-governmental and community organizations. |
| Issues Addressed |
Sustainable agriculture, sustainable land management, education, capacity building, public-private partnership. |
| Results Achieved |
Successful protection of a biologically rich, Central American biosphere reserve was accomplished through alliances between U.S.A. universities and the private commercial sector that produced new means of livelihood and income for local rural communities and for participating U.S.A. partners. Since its inception in 1991, the project has become a most successful buffer zone preservation project for poor, rural hillside communities. Local farmers now export fruits and vegetables from the region, and local organizations have been assuming increasing responsibility for project operations. By the end of 1999, the initial 14 rural communities will have acquired full ownership of the program, and AMISCONDE will be able to shift its operations into new regions of the biosphere reserve. Clemson and Texas A&M University Ph.D. students have completed seven student theses on AMISCONDE. University faculty have also conducted and completed numerous research projects in support of the project. Partners are now moving into new collaborative projects unrelated to natural resource and environmental conservation such as, to improving rice and sugarcane production in Panama. 20 Panamanian students of animal science have initiated a student exchange program between their country and Texas A&M University. The AMISCONDE model, building on university-private commercial sector collaboration, has spread to other world regions. For example, McDonalds and Texas A&M are engaged with other partners and donors (e.g., the US Agency for International Development) to improve poultry, beef, and potato production in India, Indonesia, Mexico, the Philippines, Thailand, and Turkey. |
| Contacts |
Dr. Thomas E. Lacher, Jr. |