Mission

EcoViva supports community-led social justice movements in Central America implementing innovative solutions to poverty, environmental degradation, and climate change.

 

Vision

Healthy ecosystems and thriving communities that offer a model for living well and in harmony with the earth.

 

Unique Approach

Since their founding in 1996, they have supported a democratic movement for peace, justice and environmental sustainability in the Lower Lempa River Estuary and the nearby Bay of Jiquilisco Biosphere Reserve of El Salvador. With their continual and focused support, this grassroots movement has grown to include over 100 villages with a population of approximately 35,000 people. Together, their partner communities in El Salvador have created a model for grassroots participation in integrated and sustainable community development that may be unparalleled in Central America. They are building a green rural economy, addressing the effects of climate change, and empowering young people with information and education while protecting the largest mangrove forest left in the region.

In El Salvador, they offer direct financial support to their local partner organizations and provide them with ongoing technical assistance with program planning and policy advocacy. They help them build strategic alliances locally and internationally, and recruit skilled volunteers to support their efforts. They bring over 100 people from the United States a year to El Salvador on Community Empowerment Tours to learn about what’s happening and build grassroots support for their work in the United States. They also connect their partners with national policy initiatives and major international funding streams from which they would otherwise be typically excluded.

In addition to their ongoing work in El Salvador, for the last five years they have begun to channel funding to similar community-led initiatives in Honduras and Panama. Over time, they seek to grow those relationships into strong and successful partnerships that replicate the success of their work in El Salvador.