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In June 2014, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Organization of American States (OAS) Department of Sustainable Development (DSD) launched MESOAMERICA 2020. The goal is to ensure the conservation of the last remaining biodiversity-rich landscapes of Mesoamerica through strategic partnerships and effective-on-the-ground conservation actions at both a local and regional level. In 2015, the USFWS launched a dedicated small grants program focused on supporting local institutions to reduce key threats to Central America’s species and ecosystems. A five-year partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society was created to secure protections for Mesoamerica’s five largest, most intact transboundary protected areas by 2020.

Within this context, the USFWS, the OAS/DSD and WCS are convening the working meeting entitled “Salvaguardando el futuro de las áreas silvestres más grandes de Mesoamérica y sus habitantes” as part of the MESOAMERICA 2020 Conservation Initiative. The meeting will gather Mesoamerican governmental protected area directors and wildlife officials as well as representatives from non-governmental organizations and international donor institutions interested in regional dialogue and cooperation on this issue.

The goal of this meeting is to address the most important threats facing Mesoamerica’s largest forest landscapes and their inhabitants, with a specific focus on the Maya Forest, Moskitia, La Amistad, Indio-Maiz-Tortuguero, and the Darien Gap. Key objectives include: sharing findings of the “Huella humana” analysis, identifying strategies and actions to reduce the impact of illegal cattle ranching on protected areas, including effective community forest management, and identifying strategies and actions to protect local people and forest managers. The meeting will be followed by a technical training on the use of SMART (Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool) to improve law enforcement monitoring.