Preserving central American agricultural landscapes
The Corridor project was a support action that coordinated activities and enabled building capacity amongst central American countries for the development of a research strategy to define thresholds for tree cover. Progress in this area is significant for balancing productivity and biodiversity conservation in agricultural landscapes along the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor (MBC). Building on and combining existing information from related projects, the EU-funded initiative was able to collate and synthesise pertinent information so as to unfold a regional R&D strategy. Two core working groups gathered information concerning tree cover on pastures and coffee as well as their impact on productivity and biodiversity. Findings were discussed at workshops also attended by key regional players. At the events, key gaps in knowledge were identified and protocols were developed for collecting and interpreting data on tree cover, productivity and biodiversity as related to pastures and coffee.