International Work

We are privileged to partner with southern organizations who are working to restore the landscape and the societies within their respective countries. We are building on these partnerships through two-way sharing of knowledge, skills and means to work at the community level for sustainable change. Our current projects are summarized below.

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Cuba

Biodiversity Restoration & Community Development – Guantanamo, Cuba
Analog Forestry techniques have been used in degraded forest areas that are ecologically important in the region. The success of the project has prompted the Cuban government to declare Analog forestry as a national forestry technique.

Click here to read an article on FBC Cuban project’s progress: FBC Cuban project 2011

Visit the Cuban Analog Forestry Network’s page (in Spanish): http://renafac.wordpress.com/

Costa Rica

FBC has partnered with the IA-Model Forest Network to establish a train-the-trainer program on analog forestry in model forests in Honduras, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.

Honduras

Mangrove restoration using Analog Forestry in the Cuero y Salado estuary of northern Honduras is underway.

Mangroves are a critical ecosystem in the protection of marine resources. Approximately 75% of salt water species such as fish, crabs and shrimp live, in at least one stage of its life, within the mangrove ecosystem. Worldwide, mangrove ecosystems are disappearing to make way for coastal development, livestock, and shrimp farms. Restoring these areas is key to increasing the strength of our coastal communities and to protect our marine resources.

The mangrove restoration project in the Cuero y Salado wildlife refuge works with local community members to reforest degraded areas using Analog Forestry methodologies. Key components include establishment of a community nursery where red, white, and black mangroves are grown, as well as other species associated with mangroves, such as Santa Maria, Zapoton, and River Almonds.

Click here to read an article on FBC’s Honduran project: Using Analog Forestry for Mangrove Restoration_Honduras

Para leer una versión en español, haz clic en el enlace siguiente: Proyecto hondureno_2011

Food Security and Sustainable Livelihoods through Wetlands Restoration Using Analog Forestry in Honduras: Overview of project and current activities, 2010

Mangrove Restoration and Analog Forestry Workshop:
The second international workshop on mangrove restoration using Analog Forestry was held March 24 to 26, 2010. The workshop was attended by experts and beginners from Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Canada and was led by Dr. Ranil Senanayake of Sri Lanka, an expert in restoration of mangrove systems and the founder of the Analog Forestry methodology.
Download the Workshop Agenda 2010

Honduras Kitchen Gardens Project: Developing kitchen gardens with individual and groups of women in rural and remote communities on the Northern coast of Honduras. Read the 2010 Honduras Kitchen Garden Report

Salado Barra’s Biodiversity Sampling: For a complete report on the Salado Barra Analog Forestry Site biodiversity information, download Salado Barra’s Biodiversity Report from Fundacion Madera Verde

Mexico

Mexican Network of Organic Markets
FBC has partnered with the Mexican Network of Organic Markets since 2004 to promote the growth of a nation-wide network of community-scale marketplaces specializing in locally grown, organic produce. Since the start of our project, the network has grown to comprise 30 local, organic markets, many of which are successfully implementing Participatory Guarantee Systems to make organic certification a possibility for all producers.

Analog Forestry

Analog Forestry is a system which seeks to establish analog ecosystems with architectural structures and ecological functions similar to the original climax or sub climax vegetation. It also seeks to strengthen rural communities, socially as much as economically, through the use of species that provide commercial products.

Analog forestry is a complex and holistic form of agroforestry that seeks to maintain a functioning tree-dominated ecosystem while providing marketable products that can sustain rural communities, both socially and economically. Refer to the Gran Guia 2010 for further instructions on the methodology.

Visit the International Analog Forestry Website (IAFN-RIFA) for more information.

From 2008-2010, the regional project Biodiversity Restoration and Community Development through Analog Forestry took place in Reventazon Model Forest (Costa Rica), Atlantida Model Forest (Honduras), and Colinas Bajas proposed Model Forest (Dominican Republic). Read the following material resulting from this regional Analog Forestry project: