November 2008

New and Notable on www.eco-index.org: Conservation Dialogues in Northern Mesoamerica

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Managing NGO, country: Rainforest Alliance, Regional

Project directors: Melissa Normann, Nuria Bolaños

Summary: The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund contracted the Rainforest Alliance's Neotropics Communications program to organize a series of Conservation Dialogues for CEPF grantees in the Northern Mesoamerica hotspot -- Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras. The first meeting took place from September 8 - 11, 2008, in Antigua, Guatemala and was titled Conservation Dialogues in the Northern Mesoamerica Hotspot I: Lessons Learned and Advances from CEPF-Funded Projects. In order to compile the principal lessons learned by CEPF partners in Northern Mesoamerica and to analyze progress made by those projects, a series of themes central to CEPF's strategic goals for the hotspot were identified: creating alliances, threats, and sustainability.

Annual budget and donors: $14,000 from the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund

Principal accomplishments: Reviewed the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund project portfolio in the Northern Mesoamerica hotspot and developed an appropriate agenda; produced a working guide organized by themes; invited CEPF partners, staff, Conservation International representatives, government officials from Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala, and other key stakeholders; sent a participant questionnaire to collect pertinent information; coordinated transportation logistics; held the first Conservation Dialogue for Northern Mesoamerica took place on September 8 - 10, 2008, in the Hotel Villa Colonial in Antigua, Guatemala; participants included 33 representatives of conservation organizations, research institutions, government institutions, and staff from Conservation International and CEPF; developed a final workshop report (in Spanish) that contains detailed information about each working group.

Anticipated accomplishments: Hold a second workshop that will provide information to an analysis of CEPF's investment in Northern Mesoamerica and a final report that CEPF will write and present to partners and donors; continue developing events of this kind in order to promote synergies among projects and to facilitate communication between donor agencies and their grantees with the goal of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of conservation and sustainable development initiatives throughout the region.

Contacts: Melissa Normann, Rainforest Alliance, 665 Broadway Suite 500, New York, NY 10012. mnormann@ra.org. Nuria Bolaños, Alianza para Bosques, Apartado Postal 11029-1000, San José, Costa Rica. nbolanos@ra.org. www.rainforest-alliance.org, www.eco-index.org.