Seventeenth Quarterly Report: Conservation Landscapes Program

These farmers received incentives that improved the productivity of their farms. In the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, campesinos and indigenous people installed ecological facilities for coffee processing, reducing water pollution in the Los Clavos watershed and other tributaries of the Guatapurí river. Capacity building and communications activities were also completed during the period. Participative diagnostics for three locations selected in the Caribbean to work on tropical dry forest connectivity were finished, and a compilation of results was edited to return the information to the local communities who participated in this work. The participative diagnostic in three of the locations selected for the CLP in the Caribbean was also finished, characterizing the production/conservation corridors with smallholders and identifying the main institutions working on agroecological and related topics. A list of local and regional experts in agroecological topics was compiled, and recommendations were made on the capacity building process to be followed when the grantees begin their work in the selected locations. The program also engaged with the new generations of the kankuamo people, who participated in the diagnostics and emphasized the importance of maintaining the forest in the areas around their homes due to their dependence on hunting for subsistence. The program faced several challenges during the reporting period, including the resignation of the contracts and grants specialist, which affected the timely completion of the grants process and signature for the first three grantees. The specialist's departure also impacted the call for other proposals and some of the contracts for technical assistance. Despite these challenges, the program is expected to issue a call for proposals for the Gaira and Piedras watershed areas and other relevant topics in the next quarter, as well as subscribe to the first agreements for execution in the Caribbean and carry out the first trainings on environmental compliance, monitoring, and administrative aspects.