The goal of this project is to create livelihood opportunities for stakeholders of the Moho River Watershed through skills training and environmental education.

The RBMA has been working for the past ten years only to develop and manage the RBNP. The villages have seen benefits from co-managing the park, however high levels of poverty still exist in the area. The RBMA would like to identify other means for the communities to generate income from the RBNP. In addition, the RBMA has identified community development as a top priority in their strategy as a co-manager and until now it has been completely absent. To achieve this, the RBMA has facilitated the formation of the Rio Blanco Women?s Group (RBWG) and provided the women with a craft room at the RBNP for the group to sell their traditional handicrafts.

The strategy taken to accomplish the goal of this project is to strengthen the capacity of the RBWG to generate income through their increased participation in the development of the RBNP. This will not only increase the opportunities for the women in the villages to generate income at the RBNP, but also serve to mainstream gender issues in the management of the park. This is the RBMA?s program priority and is the basis for this project.

The specific objectives are: To improve the necessary infrastructure for operating a sales outlet at the RBNP; to strengthen the capacity of the RBWG to manage a sales outlet at the RBNP; to establish a two acre Jipi Japa plantation in the buffer zone of the RBNP; to enhance gender equity in the management of the RBNP; to increase environmental awareness about the issues facing the RBNP in Santa Cruz and Santa Elena; and to strengthened the Moho River Watershed Alliance.