News

On August 3, ELTI lost a dear friend and colleague with the death of Dr. Arbainsyah (known as “Insya”) due to Covid-19. Insya worked with ELTI in East Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) since 2017, first as the Indonesia Program Assistant and then as the Indonesia Program Coordinator. Insya’s loss is truly heartbreaking for us at ELTI. His hard work and dedication will live on as a legacy in both the landscapes that he helped to restore and in the hearts of everyone he trained and mentored along the way.

Please join us in celebrating Insya’s work with ELTI by learning about his training innovations, his work in the field, and the many publications that he developed with partners and colleagues. Link to detailed tribute: https://mailchi.mp/yale/insya_tribute

ELTI affiliates in Panama recently attended the closing ceremony for farmers from the Coclé Province who participated in the project: Sustainable Livestock in the Middle and Lower Watersheds of the Santa María River as a Measure of Adaptation to Climate Change. Over the past two years, this project, the largest sustainable cattle ranching project ever implemented in Panama to date, has established 600 hectares of silvopastoral systems with 120 farmers in three provinces of Panama. ELTI along with ELTI’s primary partner in Colombia, the Center for Research on Sustainable Agriculture (CIPAV) were members of a consortium led by the Group for Sustainable Environmental Education and Management (GEMAS) to carry out the project, which was funded by the Adaptation Fund. In 2019 ELTI trained the 120 farmers on silvopastoral systems via their Panama Training Landscape and helped them develop their farm management plans, the first step of the project. For ELTI affiliates, it was inspiring to attend the closing ceremony and witness the results of the project participants such as, Jorge Cedeño, who had converted his conventional pastures into an intensive silvopastoral system and increased the milk production of his dairy farm by 50%. For more information about this project, please visit: https://www.instagram.com/p/CSxOOZlr11D/

Working with ELTI's global partners is key to scale up our efforts. In collaboration with IUCN, ELTI facilitated a series of training courses for environmental leaders from Ethiopia, Madagascar and Togo, who are strengthening their technical and leadership skills to become more empowered restoration leaders. This collaboration was recently featured by Yale in the World and Yale’s Africa Initiative.

Watch this short video to learn about ELTI’s approach and inspirational results.

ELTI hosted a six-day field course for Latin American decision makers whom have been awarded a Russell E. Train Education for Nature (EFN) Reforestation Grant from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and will be conducting reforestation projects in their individual communities with the goal of restoring biodiversity and enhancing human wellbeing in degraded forest landscapes. The course, which occurred in December 2019, focused on the social and ecological consequences of forest degradation and demonstrated the importance of community associations in forest restoration.

Mongabay published an article written by ELTI alumnus David Woodbury and ELTI affiliate Arbainsyah about their research on degraded mine sites in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. The article entitled, “Being realistic about coal mine rehabilitation in Indonesia: An ecological perspective,” describes the challenges associated with an Indonesian law that requires mining companies to restore the degraded land to its “original condition,” an unrealistic target. The accepted solution by the Indonesian government to restoring degraded land is ecological rehabilitation. But ecological rehabilitation cannot restore the land to its “original condition,” and this goal may not align with local community interests or with ecological recovery. You can read the Mongabay article here and find the journal article in Land Degradation & Development here, written in collaboration with other researchers at the Yale School of the Environment, Tropenbos Indonesia and the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry and the Environment.

David and Arbainsyah conducted their research around ELTI's training landscape in Indonesia with in-kind support from the ELTI Indonesia Program and Balitek-KSDA.

Melaleuca oil, also known as tea tree oil, is an essential oil that comes from steaming the leaves of the Melaleuca cajuputi tree. The oil is used in Indonesia and around the world for its medicinal properties and is also used in a range of cosmetics and other household products. As part of an online course using Melaleuca oil as a non-timber forest product, ELTI Indonesia Coordinator Insya created a short video explaining how to collect and extract the oil from the leaves.

In January 2020, the Yale Africa Initiative published their "Yale and Africa" brochure to share more about Yale activities and collaborations in many countries across Africa. They highlighted ELTI's work as part of joint endeavors on research, scholarship and education (page 10). 

In collaboration with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and other partners, ELTI has implemented innovative courses that combine online components with in-person field workshops in eight African countries: Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Togo and Uganda.

Field visit during IUCN-ELTI blended course in Madagascar | ELTI Archive

Zoraida Calle, CIPAV researcher and ELTI affiliate, co-authored a research article entitled, “Decline in local ecological knowledge in the Colombian Andes may constrain silvopastoral tree diversity” published in the Restoration Ecology journal. Following up on a survey of workers, managers and owners of silvopastoral farms in the Colombian Andes six years later, the authors found that the ability to identify native trees and describe their uses was significantly lower, as well as the interest in planting trees.

The study shows that knowledge about the uses of native species is critical for motivating cultivation of diverse trees in silvopastoral farms, and that multipurpose trees are the most likely to be planted. The authors concluded that local knowledge on the ecology and use of native species plays a critical role on decisions made by cattle farmers about the trees they plant in their farms. “Perhaps it is time to treat local ecological knowledge as what it really is: an irreplaceable treasure,” said Zoraida.

ELTI’s Indonesia Program, in collaboration with Blue Forest Foundation, Tropenbos Indonesia and Balitek-KSDA, published a book entitled, Bekantan dan Habitatnya di Sungai Hitam (in English, Proboscis Monkey and Their Habitat at the Sungai Hitam Mangrove Forest). The book outlines the results of a social and ecological assessment conducted to determine the best way forward to rehabilitate a riparian habitat for the proboscis monkey in the ELTI training landscape in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Pertamina EP supported the printing of this publication.

In one of the most deforested regions of Panama, the Azuero Peninsula, water is becoming very limited for livestock during dry seasons. Farmers are struggling to adapt to the effects of climate change and are seeking innovative approaches to manage natural resources more sustainably.

ELTI alumni and members of the Save a Tree, Live Better Ecological Producer’s Association (SAVIM) received $20,000 USD in support from the Global Environmental Facility's Small Grants Programme to explore a promising innovative solution to limited water supply.

Over the next 15 months, the famers will establish three rainwater harvesting systems to supply water for a native species tree nursery, an agroecological garden at the local primary school and cattle aqueduct for silvopastoral systems.

As the first of its kind in the region, this project will contribute to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals to reduce environmental impacts while improving the quality of life of local communities. The project will also directly address priorities set forth by the Panamanian government to optimize the use of water resources, soil and climatic conditions to guarantee the production of water throughout the year.

These photos from a Panamanian landscape illustrate the extreme seasonal changes during the year and consequently the increased vulnerability of degraded pastures to provide water and sustain livestock production.

Photo credit: ELTI archive

ELTI’s new online certificate program, “Tropical Forest Landscapes: Conservation, Restoration, & Sustainable Use”, was featured in the fall 2019 edition of Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies’ CANOPY magazine. The article highlights the capacity of the online certificate program to achieve impact by supporting participants to apply their new knowledge on the ground. In its first year, the online certificate program enrolled a global group of 43 people from 29 countries. Trainees praise the course’s content as well as the possibility of interacting with other participants who work to promote conservation and restoration around the world.

Click here to read article (page 13, "A Campus for the 21st Century: Online Programs Open Yale Expertise to the World").

ELTI Director Dr. Eva Garen was featured on The Sustainability Agenda podcast to discuss ELTI’s work in Latin America and Southeast Asia. The Sustainability Agenda explores innovative approaches to sustainability around the world. Dr. Garen shared ELTI’s approach to capacity development and restoration, with insights from her 25+ years working on the social aspects of conservation and development in the tropics.

Water shortages in Panama’s La Villa River watershed are becoming a problem for both farmers and cities in the Azuero Peninsula. With over 78% of the watershed deforested due mostly to conventional agriculture and ranching practices, more sustainable land-management activities are needed.

With support from the Conservation, Food & Health Foundation, ELTI will train and support farmers and extension agents within the La Villa River watershed to become environmental leaders. ELTI was selected from a pool of 300 applicants to apply our training-of-trainers model, which offers experiential learning opportunities for farmers to learn from ELTI and local experts about land management practices at ELTI’s Panama Azuero training landscape. ELTI will provide follow-up training to help farmers establish and manage model farms, as well as learn how to share their knowledge and experience. By demonstrating and communicating results to others, this group of environmental leaders will help to replicate more sustainable farming throughout the region.