January 27, 2010
Developing Capacity for Rainforest Conservation in the Amazon Headwaters of Peru: Possible Reflections for the Bulkley Valley
Gail Hochachka, MA, Program Director, Drishti-Centre for Integral Action, Consultant, One Sky - Canadian Institute for Sustainable Living
In sustainable development—whether enacted locally or globally—we attempt to address many interpenetrating challenges—such as, poverty, lack of good governance, and environmental degradation. None of these can be solved on their own—pull on one thread, suddenly the whole ball of yarn tumbles into your hands. We do this work using an array of methods and interventions, of which capacity building is one of the most important. Why? To echo Albert Einstein, “we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” To achieve sustainable living globally, we all have to get creative, think outside the box, and act in ways that can break through the status quo. Through a focus on developing capacity, we foster new skills, perspectives, values, and policies to take solutions to the next level. Since 2007, One Sky has been developing capacity with Peruvian partner organization ACCA (Asociacion para la Conservacion de la Cuenca Amazonica) to enhance effectiveness of conservation efforts and sustainable livelihoods in the headwaters of the Amazon rainforest near Cusco, Peru. This three-year project helped ACCA to develop capacity for community-based conservation resulting in unprecedented results in the region. It also enabled One Sky to practice using an integral approach to capacity development, including both the ‘hardware’ of social change such as new technologies, institutions, and practices, as well as the ‘software’ such as the awareness, worldviews, and thinking that give rise to solutions that stick. Emphasis will be placed on the possible reflections that might be relevant in the Bulkley Valley.