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AZUERO EARTH PROJECT

Pedasi, Panama
Association of Livestock and Agro-Silvopastoral Producers of Pedasi






Panama's Azuero Peninsula has been cultivated for over 10,000 years, which has resulted in massive deforestation and a man-made dry zone in the northeastern peninsula. Ranching was introduced by Spanish colonizers in the 1500s, and has dominated the western area of the peninsula for hundreds of years. The western area of the peninsula is the site of the Azuero Earth Project, a community and scientist-driven initiative to introduce silvopasture to the peninsula. Silvopasture is an agroforestry technique that also sequesters carbon through rotational grazing, but requires significantly more labor to rotate cattle between sections to prevent overgrazing and to plant and protect trees as they establish, a technique that challenges centuries of land clearing for grazing. The project was started to reduce soil erosion and nutrient runoff, recharge groundwater and yield greater cattle productivity on the peninsula, and has established a tree seedling nursery, an organic garden and a seed bank through volunteer efforts. The non-profit organization works directly with local landowners to support collaboration and collective action to build capacity within communities, who retain management of their lands and reforestation efforts. While the Azuero Earth Project focuses on reforestation, the project must be profitable for ranchers and farmers to continue, so there is an emphasis on profitability and sharing resources, from native plant species to GIS data that can assist local landowners through the Azuero Resource Center.

2010 - ongoing
 62000 acres
 3068 feet above sea level
http://azueroearthproject.org/





tags: agriculture by climate, farmland restoration, agroforestry, silvopasture, agribusiness, regenerative agriculture, low irrigation, mitigation, carbon drawdown, risk reduction, community-driven, NGO-driven, training program, deforestation, food security, poverty, indigenous rights, famine, South America, Neotropical, Tropical Rainforest


References:


Jose, Shibu and Jeanne Dollinger. “Silvopasture: a sustainable livestock production system.” Agroforestry Systems 93 (2019):1-9.
Havlik, Petr, Hugo Valin, Mario Herrero, Michael Obersteiner, Erwin Schmid et al. “Climate change mitigation through livestock system transitions.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111, no. 10 (2014): 3709-3714.


Links:


http://azueroearthproject.org/
https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/in-panama-agroforestry-technique-of-silvopasture-improves-ranching-traditions/