Description

Critical elements of integrated conservation and development (ICD) projects include protecting the environmental integrity of a geographic area over the long term, improving the economic security of local people, and assuring the sustainability of project activities (Ack 1991). Our project has recognized sustainability as a multi-faceted concept that includes four distinct realms: the technical, economic, institutional, and social.

ICD Projects require strategic alliances in order to obtain project objectives (Larson et al., 1998). One of the essential elements of these alliances is the strengthening of local organizations to ensure the long-term success and sustainability of project interventions. A typical model of ICD Project management has been that of financing project implementation via international organizations, which in turn work with local partners in the execution of project activities (Larson et al. 1998).

The Sustainable Uses of Biological Resources (SUBIR) Project has been working simultaneously at two levels: strengthening local partners and executing project activities in partnership with the same NGOs. This double task will be dealt with in this document. One SUBIR partner, EcoCiencia (Ecuadorian Foundation for Ecological Studies), has been particularly successful in strengthening local organizations and for that reason is highlighted as a model in this paper