About Us

Pro Eco Azuero is a grassroots environmental organization working in the Azuero Peninsula of Panama, one of the country’s most deforested and climate-vulnerable regions. Our mission is to restore tropical dry forest ecosystems, protect biodiversity, and empower rural communities to lead environmental stewardship and climate resilience efforts in their own territories.

We believe conservation is only sustainable when local communities are actively involved and benefit from the process. Through ecological restoration, environmental education, women-led community nurseries, regenerative land management, and youth engagement, we help communities restore degraded landscapes while strengthening livelihoods and building resilience to climate change.

Our work reconnects critical wildlife habitat, protects watersheds, and creates long-term environmental awareness in a region heavily impacted by deforestation, soil degradation, water scarcity, and unsustainable land use practices.

At Pro Eco Azuero, we are building a future where people and nature thrive together.

Restoring the Azuero Peninsula Through Community-Led Ecological Restoration

The Azuero Peninsula is one of the most deforested and climate-vulnerable regions in Panama. Decades of deforestation, unsustainable cattle ranching, soil degradation, wildfires, and water scarcity have fragmented critical tropical dry forest habitat and placed immense pressure on both biodiversity and rural communities.

Through this project, Pro Eco Azuero is restoring ecological connectivity across the Azuero Peninsula by establishing wildlife corridors, protecting natural regeneration, and reforesting degraded lands with native tree species. Our work focuses on reconnecting fragmented habitats for endangered wildlife, including the critically endangered Azuero spider monkey, while simultaneously strengthening climate resilience for local communities.

What makes this initiative unique is its community-led approach. Rural communities are not only beneficiaries, but active leaders in the restoration process. Through women-led community nurseries, environmental education, agroforestry systems, biodiversity monitoring, and regenerative land management practices, communities gain the tools and opportunities needed to restore their landscapes while improving livelihoods and reducing pressures that drive deforestation.

Funding from Ma Earth would allow us to expand restoration efforts into strategic ecological corridors, strengthen community nursery networks, increase native tree production, and continue our long-term biodiversity monitoring system, which tracks ecological recovery through georeferenced tree monitoring and baseline biodiversity studies.

By combining ecological restoration with community empowerment, this project is helping build a more resilient and regenerative future for both people and nature in the Azuero Peninsula.

Assessing Impact

At Pro Eco Azuero, we have a comprehensive monitoring system in place to measure the impact of our restoration efforts. Each tree we plant is assigned a GPS point, and its growth and health are tracked over a 5-year period using ARCGIS. This georeferenced data allows us to monitor tree survival rates, canopy cover, and overall forest health as the corridor restoration progresses.

In addition, we conduct biodiversity baseline research before and after our interventions to measure the ecological impact of our work. We establish multiple monitoring points across our restoration sites to track key indicators of biodiversity. These include:

Soil invertebrate surveys to assess soil health,
Camera traps to monitor the presence and movement of wildlife,
Bird counts to track avian biodiversity,
Audioboxes to record and analyze bird and other wildlife sounds,
Mothboxes to measure nocturnal insect biodiversity.

This data is collected before any reforestation and again 5 years after the intervention to assess changes in biodiversity and ecosystem health. By combining quantitative metrics such as tree survival and biodiversity counts with qualitative observations from local communities, we can provide a clear picture of the positive ecological and social impacts of our work.

Previous Initiatives

Pro Eco Azuero has led and collaborated on a wide range of community-based restoration, environmental education, climate resilience, and sustainable development initiatives across the Azuero Peninsula of Panama. These projects have strengthened our experience in ecological restoration, biodiversity conservation, community engagement, environmental governance, and long-term monitoring systems.

Landscape Restoration and Biodiversity Conservation

Reforestation with Banco General, Canopy Venao, and Wedgetail (2024-2025)

Through partnerships with Banco General, Canopy Venao, and Wedgetail, Pro Eco Azuero planted more than 60,000 native trees across the Azuero Peninsula to restore degraded lands, reconnect wildlife corridors, and strengthen biodiversity. These efforts focused on restoring critical habitat for endangered species such as the Azuero spider monkey while improving watershed protection and ecological connectivity. All restoration sites are monitored through our georeferenced monitoring system, which tracks tree survival and ecological recovery over a five-year period.

Ford Environmental Fund (2022)

With support from the Ford Environmental Fund, we implemented a biodiversity conservation and ecological restoration initiative focused on engaging local communities in reforestation and environmental stewardship activities. The project strengthened local participation in conservation while enhancing ecosystem services in degraded landscapes.

Community Nurseries, Climate Resilience, and Gender Equity

Community Nurseries and Seed Banks with the U.S. Forest Service (2024)

Pro Eco Azuero partnered with the U.S. Forest Service to establish community-led nurseries and seed banks across rural communities in Azuero. Led primarily by rural women, this initiative focuses on climate resilience, native tree production, and empowering communities to actively participate in restoration and sustainable land management efforts.

Gender Equity and Climate Change Initiative with WRI (2025)

In collaboration with the World Resources Institute (WRI) and national stakeholders, Pro Eco Azuero supported initiatives focused on gender equity and climate change in Panama. This work included stakeholder engagement, facilitation processes, environmental governance support, and the development of recommendations to strengthen women’s participation and leadership in climate resilience and environmental decision-making processes.

Environmental Education and Youth Leadership

LATA Foundation Youth Programs in Sustainable Tourism and Conservation (2025)

With support from the LATA Foundation, Pro Eco Azuero developed youth leadership programs focused on sustainable tourism, environmental education, conservation, first aid, and community engagement near Cerro Hoya National Park. These initiatives trained young people as environmental ambassadors while promoting sustainable economic opportunities linked to conservation and ecotourism.

UNDP Small Grant Program - Nature-Based River Erosion Control (2020)

Through the UNDP Small Grant Program, Pro Eco Azuero implemented a nature-based river erosion control project at a local technical school. The initiative combined ecological restoration with environmental education and resulted in the creation of an eco-youth club where 23 young environmental leaders graduated with practical conservation and leadership skills.

UNESCO-Japan Prize on Education for Sustainable Development (2025)

Pro Eco Azuero was recognized through the UNESCO-Japan Prize on Education for Sustainable Development for its long-term commitment to environmental education, youth engagement, and community-based sustainability initiatives in the Azuero Peninsula.

Water, Waste, and Circular Economy Initiatives

Rainwater Collection Systems for Vulnerable Communities (2021)

To address increasing water scarcity in rural communities, Pro Eco Azuero installed rainwater harvesting systems in vulnerable areas of Azuero. These systems improved water access while strengthening local resilience to climate change and prolonged dry seasons.

Recycling and Composting Diagnostic with the Ministry of Environment (2025)

In partnership with Panama’s Ministry of Environment, Pro Eco Azuero conducted a regional diagnostic study on recycling and composting systems across the Azuero Peninsula. The project included community engagement, route analysis, waste management assessments, environmental education activities, and the development of strategic recommendations to strengthen circular economy initiatives and sustainable waste management practices in the region.

Sustainable Livelihoods and Eco-Artisan Initiatives

Eco-Artisans and Vegetable Silk Initiative (2023)

Through this initiative, Pro Eco Azuero trained local eco-artisans in the production of vegetable silk using Ceiba pentandra, a native species of the tropical dry forest. The project promoted sustainable livelihoods while supporting environmental restoration efforts, including the planting of more than 2,000 native trees.

National Geographic Eco-Artisan Association Project (2020)

With support from National Geographic, Pro Eco Azuero established an eco-artisan association focused on empowering rural women through sustainable craft production using environmentally responsible materials. The initiative strengthened local livelihoods while promoting environmental awareness, conservation, and community leadership.

Each of these initiatives has contributed valuable lessons in community-led restoration, climate resilience, environmental governance, youth leadership, and long-term ecological monitoring. Together, they have helped shape Pro Eco Azuero’s holistic approach to restoring ecosystems while empowering communities to build a more resilient and regenerative future.

How We Operate

Pro Eco Azuero is a grassroots, woman-led environmental organization rooted in the Azuero Peninsula of Panama. Our organization is led by local professionals and community members who have spent years working directly in conservation, ecological restoration, environmental education, and rural community development throughout the region.

Both our Board President and Executive Director are women, and our team includes biologists, forest engineers, environmental educators, restoration practitioners, and local field leaders with extensive experience working in the tropical dry forest ecosystems of Azuero. Many members of our team come directly from the communities where we work, giving us deep knowledge of the environmental and social realities of the region.

Our approach is highly collaborative and community-centered. We work closely with public school teachers, rural women leaders, environmental committees, landowners, youth groups, universities, researchers, local governments, and national and international partners to implement long-term restoration and conservation initiatives.

Rather than imposing external solutions, we focus on empowering local leadership and building local capacity. Through environmental education, women-led community nurseries, agroforestry systems, biodiversity monitoring, and restoration programs, we help communities become active participants and long-term stewards of their own landscapes.

Community engagement is one of the foundations of our work. Every year, more than 1,200 volunteers participate in our initiatives, supporting activities such as reforestation, environmental education, biodiversity monitoring, community outreach, and conservation events. This volunteer network includes local families, students, national and international volunteers, private companies, and academic institutions, creating a broad movement for environmental restoration and climate resilience across the Azuero Peninsula.

By combining scientific knowledge, local experience, and strong community partnerships, Pro Eco Azuero has built a restoration model that is deeply rooted in the territory and designed for long-term environmental and social impact.