Transcript Sustaining livelihoods and protecting biodiversity

Choco-Andes Corridor
Conserving biodiversity and
livelihoods in two globally important
“hotspots” of biodiversity, the
lowland choco and the western Andes
slopes
C. Ronald Carroll, Univ. of Georgia
Rebeca Justicia, Univ. of Georgia and
Fundacion Maquipucuna
Maquipucuna lodge
Buildings constructed from local
sustainable material
• Majority construction is with native bamboo
(reputation as “poor man’s wood”)
• Two international awards for eco-tourism
and community development
Choco-Andes Corridor
Conserving biodiversity and
livelihoods in two globally important
“hotspots” of biodiversity, the
lowland choco and the western Andes
slopes
C. Ronald Carroll, Univ. of Georgia
Rebeca Justicia, Univ. of Georgia and
Fundacion Maquipucuna
Buildings constructed from local
sustainable material
• Majority construction is with native bamboo
(reputation as “poor man’s wood”)
• Two international awards for eco-tourism
and community development
Young sunlit leaves are favored. Riders may ward off
phorid fly parasites
Fungus mycelia with new leaves (left)
Mature Atta nest at San Luis, UGA Costa Rica site
The worst parts are the hairs !
Dendrobatid frog
Docile…as long as you don’t make a fist. Worst parts
are the hairs.
Emerald tree boa
Male Saberwing Hummingbird at defense
Quetzals, toucans, and many other fruiteating birds are major dispersers of tree
seeds. Their ecosystem service maintains
the forest. This Quetzal is holding a fruit of a
wild relative of the avocado.
Choco-Andes Corridor
Conserving biodiversity and
livelihoods in two globally important
“hotspots” of biodiversity, the
lowland choco and the western Andes
slopes
C. Ronald Carroll, Univ. of Georgia
Rebeca Justicia, Univ. of Georgia and
Fundacion Maquipucuna
Buildings constructed from local
sustainable material
• Majority construction is with native bamboo
(reputation as “poor man’s wood”)
• Two international awards for eco-tourism
and community development
Ancient Incan and Yumbo trails extend between mountains and
lowlands. Known as coluncos, they are worn deep by centuries of use.
Class for ecotourism guides
Chonta palm
Tagua palm
Carvings from tagua nuts
Shade-grown organic coffee
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260 family coffee growers in project
Direct marketing
Maintain highest quality beans
Profit to grower is four times more
“Dancing goats” discovery of coffee in Ethiopia mountains
Rainforest
Shade-grown coffee
Coffee summary
• Direct marketing, brand naming and premium
quality brings 4X profit to grower
(Choco-Andes Coffee under 1000 Faces brand)
• Surrogate forest overstory in bird-friendly shadegrown organic coffee shelters forest birds
• Growers’ alliance receives advice and information
but not direction
Chocolate
Food of the gods
Cacao growers in our project are afro-ecuadorianos and
indigenous chachis.
Cacao was the drink of the Mayan nobility and the
beans were monetary currency
Aztec nobility with cacao drink. Note serpent god.
Chocolate introduced into 18th Century Europe
remained a luxury drink
The alkaloids in chocolate are mildly addictive and
induce the release of endorphins. Besides behaving
as a pain regulator, endorphins are also thought to be
connected to physiological processes including
euphoric feelings, appetite modulation, and the
release of sex hormones.
Hand sorting for quality important
for premium quality chocolate
Small cacao flowers are pollinated by a midge whose
larvae live in forest litter.
Monillia pod disease.
Black Cocoa Ant controls several major cacao pests
Indonesian cacao farmer
carrying bags with palm
leaves and ant colonies.
Bags will be suspended
in cacao trees.
Chocolate processing
• Fat (cocoa butter) is extracted
• Remaining liquid or powder is the base
• Small amounts of cocoa butter and sugar are
added to reduce bitterness
• Milk added to make milk chocolate
• White chocolate made from cocoa butter
Benefits of dark chocolate?
• Dark chocolate contains flavenoids,
polyphenols, and releases nitric oxide in
blood
• Relaxes blood vessels and reduces blood
pressure
• No benefit from white chocolate
• Am J Clin Nutr 2005 vol 81
Major producers and consumers of chocolate
Note that the world price of cacao beans has
declined steadily since a peak in the mid-1970s.
Generally cost of living has increased steadily over
this period.
Bamboo used for…
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Low-cost renewable housing
Source of farmer income
Reduce pasture erosion
Increase biodiversity
Reduce deforestation
Sale of carbon credits
Maquipucuna lodge
Constructed mainly with palm and bamboo
Large amounts of carbon are stored in bamboo roots. Our
bamboo has a clumping habit and this has important
ecological consequences.
Carbon stock storage
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Bamboo soil 60.8-123 Mg/ha
Pasture soil 33.4-75.3 Mg/ha
Bamboo biomass 51.8-95.6 Mg/ha
Pasture biomass 3.53-8.14 Mg/ha
Lower C/N under bamboo
Lower bulk density under bamboo
Deeper C storage under bamboo??
Mg=1000kg of carbon
Carbon sequestration: the newest
initiative
• RICOH corporation in Japan purchased one
million dollars in carbon credits
• In return we reforest 640 hectares of
degraded pasture with native trees that will
sequester carbon (above and below ground)
• 150 hectares are designed (we hope) as
tropical equivalent of Temperate Zone
FACE forests
Degraded pasture conversion
Guadua or forest?
• ChoCO2 CDM project over 20 years
• 523 ha of degraded pasture
• 165,997 tCO2 reforestation with CDM
guidelines
• 1,263,000 tCO2 from harvested Guadua
• 7.6X more CO2 stored with Guadua
Pasture conversion con’t
• Each 100 ha of Guadua after 5 years
generates approximately $106,000 USD
annual gross revenue from harvest sales
plus carbon credits and…
• Reduces demand on timber from forest
lands.
• Rate of deforestation in bamboo project
area is now approximately 0%
Site suitability for Guadua in the Choco-Andes
Corridor. Red has highest suitability.
Environmental education is
fundamentally important to longterm sustainability
Coffee, chocolate,
birds, and people
“migrate” between
the forested
environments of
Ecuador and
Georgia. Therefore,
we think of this
connection as “Our
Shared Forest”.
Our Shared Forest
• The forests of Ecuador and the US are
linked by several processes
1. Bird migration
2. Coffee and Chocolate trade
3. Exchange of students and faculty
4. Exchange of environmental education
programs