Note: Yale School of the Environment (YSE) was formerly known as the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES). News articles and events posted prior to July 1, 2020, refer to the School's name at that time.
Summary
Edelmira Navarro is the President of Save a Tree Live Better (SAVIM), an ecological producers’ association based in El Calabazo, Macaracas District, in Panama. With ELTI's support SAVIM received funding from the Small Grants Programme of the Global Environmental Facility to implement a sustainable ranching and forest restoration project. Edelmira and other association members have established model farms where they share their knowledge and experience with other farmers and are considered pioneers of silvopastoral and forest restoration practices in the region.
With this project, Eldemira wants to help meet the needs of both SAVIM members and Peace Corps volunteers to become effective trainers and communicators of forest restoration and silvopastoral practices. Her goals are to:
- offer a training-of-trainers event, in collaboration with ELTI, for SAVIM members so that they could gain experience on how to facilitate field courses at their model silvopastoral farms
- provide technical training for Peace Corps volunteers who are serving as community environmental conservation extensionists so that they have more tools to help their community members implement on-farm sustainable ranching and forest restoration activities
- via the hands-on training, provide labor to SAVIM members to expand forest restoration and sustainable training activities on their model farms.
Eldemira hopes that this project will help SAVIM and Peace Corps volunteers to become empowered and effective disseminators of sustainable ranching and restoration in the region.