Hi ENVS friends!
As you start to change mental gears from summer mode back into another great year at LC, consider coming to the casual talk advertised below. Matt Clark served as the Director of the Johnson Creek Watershed Council, and some of you may recall his guest lecture in ENVS-330 in 2014. It promises to be a fun and engaging talk in a hip venue. Hope you can come!
Improving Water Supplies, Saving Forests:
The Example of Southern Ecuador´s Regional Water Fund
A Presentation by Matt Clark
Sun. August 23rd @ 6pm
Dig A Pony — 736 SE Grand, Portland, 97214
Questions / RSVP: mclark@naturalezaycultura.org
Summary:
The Regional Water Fund of Southern Ecuador (FORAGUA) represents a model of how municipalities of varying size and capacity can act together to form an integrated water fund as a mechanism to finance and manage water resources while conserving southern Ecuador´s magnificently biodiverse ecosystems. Since FORAGUA´s creation in 2009, 11 municipalities have joined the fund, and have generated an average of $388,651 annually to be invested in improving watersheds that supply water for more than 430,000 people. 174,000 acres have been legally protected as municipal reserves, including forests in the buffer zone of Podocarpus National Park (which has the highest levels of plant endemism of any protected area in Ecuador) and in the endangered and highly diverse Tumbesian Dry Forests (of which only 5% remain).
About the presenter:
Matt Clark served as Executive Director of Portland´s Johnson Creek Watershed Council for seven years. In February 2015, he and his family moved to Loja in the southern Ecuadorian Andes where Matt now works as Senior Advisor for the tropical conservation non-profit, Nature and Culture International. During his first months in Ecuador, Matt has collaborated closely with the FORAGUA Water Fund. He will share insights about their innovative model and their achievements to date as well as some of the challenges that remain. An enthusiastic bird watcher and photographer, the presentation will include slides of Ecuador´s stunning landscapes, flora and fauna. See attached.