NCA Public Affairs Consultant Francisco Jimenez recently took part in a workshop that holds the promise of increasing the free flow of ideas between Costa Rican organizations dedicated to natural resource conservation, such as NCA.

Organized by the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC), the workshop brought together representatives of SINAC’s local councils for the first time. The councils were created to increase citizen participation in local and national government. SINAC is part of the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) that administers the national parks, conversation areas, and other protected areas, such as the Ostional Wildlife Refuge.

“The idea was to bring together people with common interests but from different groups,” Jimenez said. More than 50 people attended, representing about 20 nongovernmental organizations. The workshop took place in San Isidro de Rivas, Pérez Zeledón, August 3-5.

Jimenez said the most valuable part of the workshop was the interchange of ideas, both formally and informally. The group said they need help in improving organizational capacity so that they can function more smoothly and consistently. Equally important, they want to involve more people, especially young people, in their work.

Participants visited small businesses prospering with the help of local councils: organic farms, an artisanal chocolate factory, a trash-to-cash waste facility, and a consortium that fostered initiatives to create good local jobs.

Jimenez said he is optimistic about the outcomes, particularly in creating new channels of communication among the local councils and between the councils and SINAC headquarters.

NCA stands to benefit from these new channels as it works with two local council groups: the Rio Nosara Biological Corridor and CIMACO (the Ostional Wildlife Refuge Inter-Institutional Advisory Council). CIMACO is in charge of administration of the Ostional Wildlife Refuge, including the creation of new regulations and technical support.

SINAC plans to make the workshop an annual event.