Indigenous Community Partnership

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS

Formation of the Comcaac Leaders group to create space for a dialog focused on the creation of an integrated community development plan

Coordination and support for 7 community projects

Community organization for Ramsar site workshop

Comcaac author and historian Alberto Mallado facilitating field-based lessons

The Center’s collaborative work with the indigenous Comcaac communities this season focused on development, implementation, and support of ecological monitoring, field-based biocultural knowledge transmission, education, and community leadership projects. In addition, all of the Center’s programs integrated their work in the Comcaac territory toward updating the Ramsar site information. The Indigenous Community Partnership Program interfaced with external researchers, visiting groups, and networks to promote equitable collaborations with community groups in Comcaac territory.

Equitable Collaboration

• Support for 5 external researchers collaborating with the

Comcaac communities

• Updated collaborative agreement between the Center and the Comcaac Traditional Government

Community Leadership

• 8 meetings of the Comcaac Leaders group establishing a space for dialog on issues ranging from socio-environmental threats to quality of life

• Reactivation of the Desemboque “Grupo Tortuguero” to focus on monitoring in feeding areas • Facilitation and support for 5 collaborative community projects in Punta Chueca and Desemboque

• Contributions to 5 workshops to collect socio-cultural and environmental information for the updating of the Ramsar site

Comcaac Leader group meeting in Punta Chueca

Biocultural field school students

Networks and Collaborations Collaborative Learning

• Community organization for the Biocultural Fieldschool activities

•10 classes and field trips facilitated with 3 external groups and 3 Prescott College classes

Visiting school learning about the Comcaac culture and cultural context

• Participation as the regional coordinator for the Mexican Biocultural Patrimony Network • Collaboration in a National Strategic Project (PRONACE) proposal for water resource security • Participation in 4 meetings of the Network for Territories Conserved by Indigenous Groups and Local Communities (TICCA) • Participation in the “Ethnobotany of Seas and Coasts” lecture for the “Colegio de Michoacán”

Impact: Involvement of Comcaac leaders, youth, and women in collaborative projects promotes knowledge transmission and increases community leadership, interest, and support for protecting the resources of their territory.