The year 2008 produced important advances in the effectiveness of the ANAI Stream Biomonitoring Program, most notably in the educational and extension components. Perhaps our single most important achievement was the development, together with APPTA (The Talamanca Small Producers’ Association), of simple biomonitoring tools which permit the incorporation of an aquatic component in their farm certification program. We successfully trained 21 local APPTA inspectors to evaluate on‐farm aquatic systems, and such inspection is now a routine part of certification inspections in Talamanca, with prospects of extending it to Bocas del Toro, Panama soon. We believe this is the first time that streams anywhere in the world have been specifically protected as part of an agricultural organic and Fair Trade certification program.
