When producing organic cocoa, the Association of Indigenous Women of Talamanca (ACOMUITA) in Costa Rica use an ancestral system that is based on sustainable practices to protect, manage and restore ecosystems. This action allowed the group of 90 Bribris and Cabécar women to receive an award from the Ecological Blue Flag Program, in the Biodiversity category.
“All the activities we have are related to the environment; the work on the farms, be it collective between groups of women or individual families, are lessons of respect for nature while working,” commented ACOMUITA.
The association was founded in 1991 and is dedicated to the processing and marketing of organic cocoa, among other activities. Throughout their 30 years of experience, they have implemented systems that include the production of timber, fruit and medicinal trees.
Biodiversity category is recent
The category in which ACOMUITA received the award is recent and is led by an inter-institutional committee made up of the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE), the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC), the National Commission for the Management of the Biodiversity (CONAGEBIO), the German Cooperation for Development (GIZ), among others.
“Participating in the development of this new category has been a great opportunity, not only because it is part of an environmental program of such significance as the Ecological Blue Flag Program, but also because this category addresses one of the most relevant issues for the GIZ agenda in Costa Rica and the region: the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity”, commented Svenja Paulino, director of the GIZ Biodiversity and Business Program.
The MINAE chief, Andrea Meza, recalled that the category seeks to recognize committees that manage projects or actions to conserve biodiversity, such as the case of the indigenous women of ACOMUITA, whose “their work contributes to guaranteeing balance and sustainability in the use and use of resources”.
