Azuero Earth Project

One of three possible destinations for the 2012-13 Bird Fellowship. See also Bali and Malaysia.

Background

The Azuero Earth Project (www.azueroearthproject.org) is a United States tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization operating in Panama as the Proyecto Ecológico Azuero. The organization is dedicated to local education, reforestation and sustainable land stewardship on the Azuero Peninsula, on the Pacific Coast of Panama, about 100 km west of Panama City.

“The mission of the Azuero Earth Project is to preserve the ecosystem of the Azuero Peninsula, protect biodiversity, and promote healthy communities by helping people to make informed decisions, take sustainable actions, and share knowledge.”

The Azuero Earth Project facilitates connections among scientists, educators, students, planners and designers and local communities to explore advanced concepts for appropriate land use with a focus on developing simple, sustainable models for architecture, agriculture and development.

Bird Fellowship opportunity

This fellowship is ideal for a fellow interested in contributing to the Azuero Earth Project’s goal to promote sustainable living and land management in the dry forest ecosystem along Panama’s Pacific coast. The fellow will be someone interested in working with a small high-energy team dedicated to researching and communicating ecological and environmental issues in an international setting.

Depending on the interest and qualifications of the candidate, the David Bird Fellow may focus on either of the following two projects with the Azuero Earth Project:

1. Food Supply Streams and Food Security on the Azuero Peninsula. The Azuero peninsula is a region that has been traditionally associated with extensive cattle ranching and subsistence agriculture. However, the source of many of the staple foods on which peninsula residents currently depend is unknown. The Azuero Earth Project is interested in understanding how diets have changed in response to changing land uses, how communities obtain their food sources, and what health problems might arise from peninsular food production methods. This fellowship project would conduct research into food sources and food security on the peninsula to determine how the Azuero Earth Project can address local dietary, health, and environmental issues.

 

2.  Community Planning Solutions for the Town of Pedasí. Pedasí is a coastal community that is currently undergoing many changes in the pace and nature of its development. This fellowship project would involve work within the community to understand the greatest challenges that Pedasí faces at this stage of town development, and then find environmentally sustainable solutions to these challenges that have been successful in other parts of the world. Finding successful solutions to these development challenges will lead the fellow to conduct research on a variety of town planning and design topics, ranging from transportation logistics and pollution reduction to open space preservation and maintenance of cultural traditions.

Both projects will culminate in a written report and an oral presentation to interested groups within the local community.

Timing

The best time of year for the Fellow to be in residence is anytime between September and April.  For the food security/streams theme, although it is not essential, a wet season fellowship (Sept-Dec.) would be desirable, as the crops will be in the ground during that time and so the Fellow may be able to participate in some part of the cultivation process to get a sense of what that is like.

Qualifications

The Azuero Earth Project seeks an individual with the following qualifications:

• A passionate personal and professional commitment to the environment
• Demonstrated interest in sustainable design and the environmental issues mentioned above
• Ability to take initiative, problem-solve, be technologically creative, and assume responsibility
• Working-fluent knowledge of Spanish
• Willingness to live in Pedasí, Los Santos, Panama for the period of the fellowship
• Ability to adapt to a diverse work environment and a rural lifestyle, willingness to work and live with a team
• Patience and persistence

Living in Pedasí:

• The Azuero Earth Project (AEP) has a room for rent at its Pedasí office, which is equipped with wireless Internet, a kitchen, bathrooms, an environmental resource center and a peninsular GIS database. The rate is US$15.00 per night. AEP room renters are subject to the AEP’s guest rules and rental requests are subject to room availability.
• Cost of lunch at a local restaurant in Pedasí ranges from US$2.00-5.00. Food costs are estimated at about US$15.00/day
• The Azuero Earth Project sometimes offers the use of its vehicles to visiting researchers. This depends on the qualifications of the researcher, the availability of the vehicles and the nature of the project. Renting a car from a car rental agency is also possible. The necessity of a vehicle will depend on the specific interests and project conducted by the David Bird Fellow. Depending on distances between towns, inter-city bus rides on the peninsula cost approximately US$2.00-3.00 each way.

Panama Projects Host

Ruth Metzel is Azuero Earth Project’s program director. Ruth has an undergraduate degree in ecology and evolutionary biology from Princeton University. Her thesis “From Finca to Forest: Forest Cover Change and Land Use Management in Los Santos, Panama,” allowed her to combine her passion for the Latin American region, environmental issues, and public policy with her love of biological field research. Her environmental research experience includes work with the Smithsonian Institute in Panama, as well as projects in Honduras, Guatemala, Venezuela, and the United States.