Just a few days ago, the Las Catalinas Agroforestales Team was invited to Barra Honda National Park and Hojancha to participate in the founding of a partnership between MINAE, SINAC, and the Canadian National government to combat forest fires. As part of this partnership, both nations’ firefighters will collaborate during mobilization of forest firefighters, and share training, experience, and research.
Since its founding more than 10 years ago, the Agroforestales Team has allowed zero uncontrolled forest fires in Las Catalinas, and works as a close partner of MINAE (Ministry of Environment and Energy) and SINAC (National System of Conservation Areas) as a model of wildfire-control practices in Guanacaste. The Agroforestales Team and similar independent organizations are important protectors of Costa Rica’s forests, and one of the main aspects of this partnership was to reinforce the key role of grassroots fire prevention.
This morning, the Agroforestales Team and representatives from SINAC’s Incendios Forestales Team hosted an awareness meeting and exhibition down in Potrero-Surfside for members of the community, to share some of this new process and demonstrate how individuals in the area can make a difference.