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What is a Mangrove?
A mangrove commonly refers to two different things: a tidal swamp ecosystem found in tropical deltas, estuaries, lagoons or islands, and the characteristic tree species populating this ecosystem.
Photo Credit: Barbara Vallarino
What is a Landscape?
A “landscape-level conservation” approach is about protecting and restoring natural systems across various types of land use including in and around protected areas at a regional level. EcoLogic maintains its community-by-community approach which is centered on local voices and priorities, while also looking for new ways to build regional partnerships, and connecting initiatives and impacts across regions. Because our work takes place in regions rich in biodiversity, preserving corridors for nature and wildlife is also a key priority in our landscape-level approach.
Photo Credit: Barbara Vallarino
Where We Work
EcoLogic works in Central America and Mexico because it is one of the most biologically diverse areas in the world, but also because its people struggle with great social and economic inequality. The region is vulnerable to the devastating impacts of climate change. Yet even in the face of these challenges, communities choose to protect nature when they have the opportunity, time and time again.
Project Sites in Mesoamerica
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Important Concepts
Central America and Mexico
EcoLogic works in Central America and Mexico because its ecosystems are some of the most biologically diverse in the world, and because it is a rich tapestry of many Indigenous and rural communities who have been stewards of their land for years. However, there is also great social and economic inequality and the region is extremely vulnerable to the dire impacts of climate change. These factors motivate EcoLogic to partner with local communities to support their efforts to protect and restore their local ecosystems.
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Photo Credit: Barbara Vallarino
Territories of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities
EcoLogic partners with rural and Indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica to help them sustainably manage the ecosystems in which they live. Many indigenous communities live within some of the most biologically diverse and also most ecologically threatened ecosystems on Earth. These communities often feel the consequences of environmental threats more acutely due to poverty and marginalization. EcoLogic is committed to working with indigenous communities because their lives are deeply rooted in the local ecosystems and they hold traditional knowledge of how to manage them, thus making them best-positioned to protect them.
Tropical Forest Ecosystems
EcoLogic works in a variety of tropical forest ecosystems across Central America and Mexico, which are habitats to thousands of different species of plants and animals and play an important role in the fight to slow climate change. Forests also provide natural resources for the communities living nearby, and these peoples often have deep spiritual and practical connections to their land dating back many generations. However, these forests are extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and are rapidly being depleted due to human activity, which drives EcoLogic’s mission and work.
Areas of High Biodiversity
EcoLogic works in some of the most biologically diverse ecosystems in the world which are also some of the most threatened due to climate change and ecosystem degradation due to human activity. Our project sites are located throughout the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, a landscape classified as a biodiversity “hotspot” for conservation priority. EcoLogic works with communities and partner organizations to address biodiversity loss, protect threatened species, preserve corridors for wildlife, and raise awareness of threatened species through educational initiatives.
