Below are descriptions of key partners in the following countries: Panama, Brazil, and Indonesia.
Panama
The Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America & the Caribbean (CATHALAC)
ELTI is hosted in Panama by the Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America & the Caribbean, (Centro del Agua para el Trópico Húmido de Latinoamérica y el Caribe [CATHALAC]), an international organization founded in 1992 and based at the City of Knowledge, in Panama City, Panama. CATHALAC promotes sustainable development through education, applied research, and technology transfer in watershed management, climate change, and environmental modeling and risk management.
Association of Livestock and Agrosilvopastoral Producers of Pedasí (APASPE)
The Association of Livestock and Agrosilvopastoral Producers of Pedasí (Asociación de Productores Pecuarios y Agrosilvopastoriles de Pedasí [APASPE]) is a farmer's organization consisting of 38 men and women from the District of Pedasí in the Los Santos Province of the Azuero Peninsula, Panama. Their goal is to transform conventional farming practices into more environmentally sustainable systems with multiple functions to increase farm productivity and restore watersheds and water resources. APASPE members serve as co-facilitators of ELTI courses, providing their expertise and model farms as part of ELTI’s training landscape in the Azuero Peninsula.
Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC)
ELTI is being hosted by the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) through the Achotines Laboratory in Panama. They are responsible for the conservation and management of tuna and other marine resources in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The Achotines Laboratory is part of the IATTC’s Tuna-Billfish Program, which is one of the few research facilities in the world that is designed specifically to study the early life history of tropical tuna.
The United States Peace Corps
The United States Peace Corps promotes world peace and friendship through community-based development and intercultural understanding. Since the 1960s the Peace Corps has assigned volunteers for a two-year period to rural communities in Panama that request Peace Corps assistance and work in collaboration with Panamanian partners. Volunteers are trained by ELTI as well as provide technical and leadership support to ELTI alumni to ensure the empowerment of rural people to make informed and sustainable land use decisions.
Raptors and Forests of Panama Foundation
The Raptors and Forests of Panama Foundation (Fundación Rapaces y Bosques de Panamá) is a local Panamanian NGO that focuses on research, environmental education and community participation for the conservation of raptors and tropical forest habitat, specifically for Panama’s national bird the Harpy Eagle. ELTI trains leaders from the Embera-Wounaan indigenous communities of Panama and helps them establish model farms that serve as example of regenerative agriculture that conserves biodiversity and restores habitat.
Brazil
IPÊ - Institute for Ecological Research
IPÊ - Institute for Ecological Research is a Brazilian socio-environmental organization established in 1992 that works on biodiversity conservation and sustainability in Brazil. Its projects aim to address innovative solutions for many socio-environmental challenges in the Atlantic Forest, the Amazon, the Pantanal and the Cerrado. IPÊ’s actions are integrated and include: Scientific Research, Environmental Education, Community Involvement, Sustainable Business and Income Generation for local communities, Landscape Restoration and Influencing Public Policies. Main results to date include: (i) Conserving six endangered and vulnerable fauna species, such as the Black Lion Tamarin; (ii) Planting 3 million trees in the Atlantic Forest and forming the largest reforested corridor in Brazil; (iii) Supporting over 10,000 people per year with environmental education, community involvement, income generation and information for sustainable production; (iv) Training over 6,400 students by ESCAS - School of Environmental Conservation and Sustainability, which provides quality education via short courses and graduate degrees, such as an MBA and a Professional Master's Program; and (v) Helping over 200 families to benefit from sustainable activities.
Northeast Center for Environmental Research (CEPAN)
The Northeast Center for Environmental Research (Centro de Pesquisas Ambientais do Nordeste, referred to by the Portuguese acronym CEPAN) is a non-profit institution founded in 2000 by research professors and graduate students of the Federal University of Pernambuco. CEPAN's mission is to generate and disseminate strategic solutions for biodiversity conservation through science, human resource training and dialogue with society. CEPAN operates in the planning, coordination and implementation of biodiversity conservation projects in the area of the Northeast Biodiversity Corridor (known by the Portuguese acronym CBNE) in partnership with national and international institutions, public and private. The CBNE is a region of the Atlantic forest located in the states of Alagoas, Pernambuco, Paraíba and Rio Grande do Norte.
Living Forest Institute (IFV)
The Living Forest Institute (Instituto Floresta Viva, known by the Portuguese acronym IFV) is a Brazilian institution that focuses on promoting sustainability, especially in Southern Bahia. Their mission is to ally nature conservation with human development. They have contributed to the design of a long-term agenda for sustainable development, taking into account the region's high level of biodiversity and protected areas and the potenital for ecotourism, tropical silviculture, and an agroforestry-based economy. They focus specifically on the Serra Grande region, which is a district of Uruçuca with four million inhabitants, located between Ilhéus and Itacaré. The goal of IFV is to generate a culture of landscape planning, sustainable economics, multiculturalism, education, and the production of regional nature knowledge through the Escola da Floresta (Forest School), a capacity building program for "mateiros" (parataxonomists or woodsmen). The program focuses on the research of native tree species and forest restoration strategies, including tropical silviculture.
State University of Santa Cruz (UESC)
The State University of Santa Cruz (Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz), referred to by the Portuguese acronym UESC, is located in state of Bahia, Brazil. Situated within an agricultural region, UESC has evolved to become a regional leader in higher education. They implement various research activities related to agriculture, and they also focus on the impacts of farming on the environment and on projects to preserve the Atlantic Forest. The University has three farms within its domains that function as experimental laboratories. Also, the institution tries to create interactive programs with entrepreneurs, civil associations and agricultural producers, which aim to find alternatives to regional development and to solve issues that are important to local communities.
Laboratory of Ecology and Forestry Restoration (LERF) at the University of Sao Paulo (USP)
The Laboratory of Ecology and Forestry Restoration (known by the Portuguese acronym LERF) aims to gather, develop and disseminate knowledge about the composition, structure and function of the Brazilian forests, especially in São Paulo. Based on this knowledge, they seek to define indicators of diversity and study the processes of forest dynamics that sustain new forest restoration methods of monitoring the remaining and restored forests. Through research projects and extension and teaching activities, as well as the work of its researchers, staff and students, LERF seeks to expand and disseminate knowledge about the ecology of remaining, restored and managed forests.
Philippines
Institute of Tropical Ecology and Environmental Management (ITEEM) at Visayas State University (VSU)
The Institute of Tropical Ecology and Environmental Management (ITEEM) at Visayas State University (VSU) in Baybay, Leyte, the Philippines, was established in 1998 to sustain the ecological research and development activities of the University. In partnership with the Deutsche Gesselschaft fuer Technische Zuzammenarbeit (GTZ), it conceptualized and established “Rainforestation Farming” in the early 1990s as a way to integrate sustainable food production with biodiversity protection and balanced ecosystem functions. The Institute continues to play a major role in developing and further refining Rainforestation (RF) through ongoing research and extension activities. It also promotes the dissemination and implementation of RF throughout the Philippines through trainings, cross visits, and by providing technical assistance to RF implementers.
Indonesia
Blue Forests
Blue Forests began its work in Indonesia in 2000, initially named Yayasan Akar Rumput Laut. It was later renamed Mangrove Action Project – Indonesia before becoming Yayasan Hutan Biru (Blue Forests) in 2011. Blue Forests employs an action-research and problem-solving approach that follows a "local to global to local" framework. Their goal is to enhance the socio-economic and ecological resilience of critical watershed systems, spanning from mountains to seas. One of Blue Forests' strategies for mangrove rehabilitation and sustainable land conservation is the implementation of Ecological Mangrove Rehabilitation (EMR). This approach involves rehabilitating mangroves by mimicking natural regeneration and taking natural features into account.
The Mangrove Center Balikpapan
The Mangrove Center comprises 150 hectares of mangrove forest located just outside Balikpapan city center. This area provides a habitat for the Proboscis Monkey (Nasalis larvatus), an endemic species of Kalimantan, along with other important wildlife. Established by Agus Bei in 2001, the mangrove center began as a local effort to restore the mangroves in his neighborhood, Graha Indah. Agus learned about mangrove propagation and, together with his neighbors, started restoring the surrounding areas. He also developed an eco-tourism center where visitors can explore the mangroves by boat and learn about their importance and restoration efforts.