Human Connection
and Resilience

But resilience varies when viewed from different perspectives. For some, it's about protecting coastlines and fisheries and ensuring access to clean water. For others, it's about preserving cultural traditions. That's why the Initiative puts community voices and local knowledge at the center, recognizing that solutions must be as diverse as the people and places they serve.

"Our lived experiences and connections to our environment create a colorful, mosaic-like portrait of what it means to react, respond, and adapt to change," Spalding adds.

The Initiative also builds capacity, training the next generation of science leaders, forging partnerships across disciplines, and creating a global network of resilience champions. Successful and sustainable conservation can only happen with scientific empowerment and collaboration.

"Everyone wants to take action, but they don't necessarily have the evidence to support it," says STRI Director Joshua Tewksbury. That's where the Smithsonian's unique strengths come in—combining rigorous research with storytelling, education, and policy engagement to turn knowledge into action. By participating in global convenings and sharing scientific findings, the Initiative can support effective solutions to protect and manage natural resources and ecosystems for the benefit of everyone.

It is also part of a broader Smithsonian vision called Life on a Sustainable Planet, which focuses on how people and nature can adapt together. With support from Smithsonian units such as the National Museum of Natural History, the Office of Digital Transformation, and the Smithsonian Science Education Center, the Initiative has focused on four pillars, building resilience research, training the next generation of use-inspired science leaders, engaging the public, and delivering real-world solutions.

In a world that's constantly shifting, resilience isn't just a concept—it's a shared journey, and through it, the Smithsonian is helping chart a path forward, one rooted in collaboration, creativity, and hope.

These practices bring several benefits to farms: trees protect the soil from erosion and attract birds, which in turn provide important ecosystem services, such as pollinating plants, dispersing seeds, and controlling insect populations.

"The more diversity of trees a farm has, the more diversity of birds come to eat insects, including some crop pests such as the borer beetle," says Esteban Botero-Delgadillo, biologist and ecologist, and director of SELVA's conservation science program. "When farmers conserve native trees, they attract biodiversity that provides many economic benefits."

The Bird Friendly® seal especially appeals to importers and roasters in the specialty coffee sector who are looking to capture the audience of wildlife lovers and conscious consumers.

More than other certifications, Bird Friendly uses Smithsonian science to protect bird habitats. Research conducted by Smithsonian scientists and research associates guides conservation efforts in growing regions, in collaboration with coffee and cocoa farmers who want to prevent bird populations from further disappearing.

"Scientific research is at the heart of Bird Friendly® certification," says Ruth Bennett, a research ecologist at the Smithsonian and the director of the Bird Friendly program. "By studying how birds respond to different farming practices and landscapes configurations, we can ensure that the certification continuously evolves to benefit both producers and the ecosystems they steward."

In 2023, the Bird Friendly program opened an extension office at STRI in Panama, to connect more closely with producers in the region and guide them to obtain the Bird Friendly® certification, but mainly to motivate the use of good practices.

"Our extension program connects coffee and cocoa farmers to scientific research that can help them make choices that better protect birds and biodiversity on their land. At the same time, extension work allows us to receive feedback from producers to help guide new research," says Melissa Mazurkewicz, senior manager of the Latin American Bird Friendly program in Panama.

The Bird Friendly program, alongside collaborators such as SELVA, develop trainings and workshops aimed at producers and other members of coffee and cocoa cooperatives, and outreach and educational materials, such as guides to native tree species in each region, and the birds that visit them, to motivate the adoption of good practices and certification.

"Being based in Panama strategically positions us to travel easily in Latin America, strengthening our ability to support both producers and auditors," adds Melissa. "We also participate in coffee and cacao events that help us grow the Bird Friendly community."

Ancestral knowledge

In the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the Serrania del Perija in Colombia, the producer organization ANEI is made up of hundreds of Indigenous and rural families dedicated to the cultivation of coffee and cocoa in harmony with nature. They work with SELVA and Bird Friendly for the protection of birds, such as the Santa Marta sabrewing (Campylopterus phainopeplus), an endemic hummingbird species from the region that was thought to be extinct until it was rediscovered in 2022.

"The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is a unique and incredible place," says Zoraya Buitrago, a biologist and environmental educator who works with SELVA to develop educational projects and initiatives. "It is a mountain in northern Colombia that starts from the level of the Caribbean Sea and reaches the highest snow-capped peaks in the country."

The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is an isolated system of the Andes Mountains with extensive biodiversity and is home to four main groups of Indigenous communities— Arhuaco, Kogui, Wiwa, Kankuamo. According to the worldview of these communities, the Sierra Nevada is the "navel of the world", a sacred place where the world originated. "There are so many unique fauna and flora in the region that it is easy to make the link between that vision and its importance for biodiversity," Esteban says.

In Peru, the cradle of coffee is in the district of Villa Rica, part of the Oxapampa-Ashaninka-Yanesha Biosphere Reserve. Its inhabitants, the Yanesha Indigenous community, Austro-German settlers and settlers from other parts of Peru, are promoters of conservation.

Collaborators such as Zoraya in Colombia and Danitza in Peru are an essential connection between these producers and the researchers at Bird Friendly and SELVA. Their presence maintains trust and feedback with these communities and constantly reinforces conservation principles and practices.

"We seek to train people on the audits and certification evaluation," Zoraya explains. "We have meetings with the community, we talk about good practices, we do exercises to learn to identify birds, and more. We want it to be practical for them, and for them to understand our presence there." Obtaining and maintaining the Bird Friendly certification brings producers other ecological benefits, such as opportunities for developing ecotourism activities, breeding pollinators, and planting edible and medicinal plants.

Challenges and resilience

In addition to environmental changes that affect production, such as longer or shorter rainy seasons, the coffee and cocoa industries face other challenges, such as shortages of people for fieldwork. Many young people from producer families are migrating to the city in search of other job opportunities, leaving the family business without a generational replacement.

"We are the third or fourth generation of coffee producers. Since we were children we have seen our parents and grandparents make an effort in the field and we have been learning along the way, but not many of us have taken the initiative to inherit those lands," says Danitza, whose coffee-growing experience in Peru has helped her connect with producers and understand their needs.

Panama also produces world-renowned specialty coffee. Panamanian Geisha coffee has reached record prices in the market. Despite this, no coffee farm in Panama so far meets the organic management requirement of the Bird Friendly® certification. One reason is that there is still not much research or development of organic practices in the country, which makes it difficult to implement effective pest control of fungi and coffee borer beetles, another global challenge.

However, organic practices are more common on cacao plantations in Panama. The first Smithsonian Bird Friendly® certification was recently achieved in the country: Cacao Cerro La Vieja, organic cocoa produced in the province of Coclé, which obtained its certification through Bird Friendly's forest conservation pathway in 2025.

"For us it is essential to have the validation that the processes we are carrying out— management of organic plantation and forest conservation—are officially recognized and monitored. Especially if there is a market demanding sustainable products and a commitment to biodiversity," says Samuel Valdes, owner of Cacao Cerro La Vieja.

This first certification in Panama highlights the importance of expanding certification opportunities, to help producers position themselves in the market and find new opportunities and connections.

As more coffee and cocoa farms become certified, Bird Friendly extension continues to help producers achieve more sustainable and resilient farms that thrive in harmony with birds and biodiversity, protecting their ecosystems and the connectivity between forest remnants.

"Our research shows that Bird Friendly® coffee and cocoa farms are among the most resilient farming systems in the tropics," says Ruth. "Forest cover, native shade trees, and healthy soils not only conserve biodiversity, but also stabilize yields and strengthen the well-being of farming communities in a changing climate."

As part of the project, the Emberá Indigenous community asked scientists and authorities for support in their efforts to obtain legal status for the territory. This included creating a map with the Emberá names of rivers and important landmarks within their territory that emphasize their cultural and historical value. Thanks to the longstanding collaboration between the communities along the Balsas river and Potvin, the project's field technicians are Emberá and were trained by the ForestGEO long term forest monitoring team on Barro Colorado Island. The Bacurú Drõa technicians established a 15-hectare forest plot that surpasses all other plots in Panama in terms of its biological diversity. The trees on the map were identified by their Spanish, Latin, and Emberá names, which facilitated an intercultural education program with the territory's schools, where children are learning the names of trees in Spanish and Emberá. "One can walk the same path as allies, and that goes a long way because it has the strength of two very powerful knowledge bases," says Potvin, inspired by her surroundings.

Potvin's efforts have also resulted in the integration of 10 Emberá women as part of the project's technical team. These Emberá women study, are trained, and earn a salary, achieving gender equity in communities that usually operate closely according to traditions that have endured for decades.

"They are the co-authors of all this science we are producing," says Potvin.

Relational resilience

"You must be a person before being a scientist," says Ricardo Moreno, research associate at STRI and president of the Fundación Yaguará Panamá. With 27 years of experience working with ranching communities in Darién Province for the conservation of the currently endangered jaguars, he asserts that trust is the foundation of collaborative relationships with communities.

Spending time in Darién and speaking extensively with local people, he has learned to understand the economic losses posed by jaguar predation on livestock. Predation often leads farmers to retaliate by hunting jaguars.

Most farms border forests where jaguars roam are now cattle pastures. As a result, Yaguará Panamá works in collaboration with cattle owners to improve their livestock management plans and thereby prevent predation. This practice, in turn, facilitates the work of scientists who monitor jaguars.

After spending much effort and time with the community, Moreno feels like he is achieving his mission when people trust him enough to call him to report livestock predation as a potential monitoring site, rather than to call him after the jaguar has been killed in response. The trust that Moreno has established for Yaguará Panamá also facilitates communication between the community and the Panamanian government.

Precisely this close communication he has achieved with the community is raising awareness about the conservation of the jaguar and its habitat. "Let them know that we are allies," says Moreno, "We make them [the community] the most important actors in this."

Humans, after all

Catherine Potvin says there was a "before" and an "after" her first encounter with the Emberá community in Darién, so much so that it changed her perspective on doing science. "My focus was forest conservation, but after living with the Emberá for the first time, I realized that we can't preserve the forest, if we don't protect the people who live, depend on, and care for the forest," reflects Potvin, originally from Canada, about her first trip to Darién in 1993. Since then, she has built a bond with the Emberá that goes beyond data collection and reporting.

That first trip was thanks to Rogelio Cansari, then a young Emberá who helped Potvin coordinate the expedition, and who would later become her master's student at McGill University. Potvin traveled with her three children, ages eight, seven, and five at the time.

"No one perceived me as a scientist; the first encounter was truly from mother to mother. So, it was a soul-to-soul, human-to-human relationship. Science didn't get in the way, and this humanity is what I tried to maintain the entire time."

Ana Spalding, STRI scientist and director of the Adrienne Arsht Community-Based Resilience Solutions Initiative, had a similar experience when she was pregnant with her first daughter. Spalding travelled to Bocas del Toro Province to collect data for her doctoral dissertation on marine policy and sustainable development in the Archipelago. During her first year in the field, she established relationships and developed trust with some island communities. Being Panamanian but not Indigenous, Spalding directly connected with women from one of the island communities inhabited primarily by Indigenous Ngäbe Buglé, when she arrived visibly pregnant.

"I felt less like an outsider in their community. It was a super basic understanding: you are a woman, and you are a mother," Spalding says, affirming that with this openness, she gained a new perspective on the research process. She was able to delve deeper into the daily lives of women, who, due to gender or power dynamics, tend to be quieter. "If they were in the kitchen, I would go to the kitchen, and they would receive me in a totally different way."

For Indigenous women to participate, the data collection methodology must be strategically designed, as they are not typically interviewed individually. Interviews are conducted in community meetings where leaders, who are generally men, are the ones who respond. Although gender was not part of her research thesis, understanding women and the dynamics of the community helped her improve her methodology and understand the sociocultural context of the Archipelago.

"It is very important to know who you are when you enter a space, what you bring to the conversation, and how that influences information retrieval," Spalding comments. As director of the Arsht Resilience Initiative, the projects she focuses on consist on working with communities, understanding the different drivers of social, environmental, and political change, understanding what makes them resilient, and highlighting the power of the social sciences.

Towards a sustainable and resilient future

Thriving scientific fieldwork with communities is one in which relationships of trust between researchers and local communities are often the main characteristic. Even in the face of climate and social adversity, a bond of trust built on respect and reciprocity can strengthen the capacity for resilience and keep collaboration alive when other aspects fail.

Resilience, as the capacity for adaptation for both communities and ecosystems, and also for the researcher, is not only an ecological outcome, but a form of relationship and human engagement. "How can we be resilient in times of crisis?" reflects Spalding. "Things must change to be more inclusive and to be able to respond better to constant threats." Without resilient communities, projects lack sustainability, and without researchers capable of adapting and sustaining human connections, science struggles to take root in the land.

Being resilient involves cultivating the ability to listen, transform, and support one another in times of change. Being consistent with our actions and assuming responsibility strengthens our awareness of our interdependence with the environment; no one and nothing exists in isolation.

"We must understand the world as an interconnected social-ecological system," says Spalding. "By understanding this, the questions we ask and the research processes will be different, and the results will be more inclusive of both the human and environmental aspects." Science that cultivates strong relationships takes root and endures through time.

The landholders and their family members also actively participate in this initiative, helping with bee censuses and informing scientists about the location of stingless bee nests, in exchange for payment for their local knowledge and work time. The goal is to use repeatable methods to establish a baseline of bee species' richness and abundance at select reforestation plots, long before any of the planted seedlings produce flowers. In the future, bee diversity could be reassessed using the same methods. Scientists will also begin documenting plant-bee interactions by analyzing pollen collected from bees in traps, to identify which plant species are visited by bees, whether those plants are inside the plots or nearby crops that local families rely on.

"This project is also conducting environmental education activities to teach schoolchildren about the diversity of bees in the comarca and their ecological importance," explains Gabriel Santo, a Ngäbe intern in this project. Gabriel also translated a children's coloring book about the importance of bees into Ngäbe, one of the local Indigenous languages spoken in the comarca. The trilingual book was written in Spanish by Danny Hernández Cuadra and William Wcislo and translated into Buglé, another local language, by a participant in the project, León Santos. Damond Kyllo designed and drew the coloring book and helped with writing and ideas. Some students in local schools in the Ñürüm district received a copy of the book and a box of colored pencils during educational outreach programs.

Thanks to the Ngäbe-Buglé community and their generosity in opening their lands and collaborating with Smithsonian researchers, science is taking root here — offering an opportunity to show how local and scientific knowledge can come together to transform the future of ecosystems and their surrounding communities. From studying native trees for over 100 years on Barro Colorado Island in the Panama Canal, to studying plots with different land uses in the Canal watershed near the city, and now beginning to understand the interactions among reforestation, bees and local communities, science bridges life in the countryside and life in the city.

Funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, this blue carbon workshop hosted participants from diverse sectors, including Panama's Ministry of Environment (MiAmbiente), conservation groups, Indigenous groups, fishers, researchers, and more.

"There was a vision to use mangroves' natural function of storing carbon as a long-term conservation tool," Romero explains. "And also, to promote the conservation of mangroves as tools of climate mitigation and adaptation, because they protect coastal zones and are a source of food for many communities."

During a talk at the National Congress on Science and Technology APANAC 2025, in Panama City, Romero shared the findings of a study on carbon storage in different species of mangroves in Panama, and explained that long-term monitoring is necessary to better understand the dynamics of mangroves, especially how they cope and recover after disturbances like deforestation, and how to better protect them.

Although the blue carbon workshop ended, Panama still has commitments to fulfill, in order to put the well-being of mangrove ecosystems at the forefront of the decision-making process for coastal protected areas and mangrove management practices.

"A natural mangrove forest stores a lot of carbon, so if you cut it down, you're not just losing the trees, but the carbon from the soil that probably took thousands of years to accumulate goes up into the atmosphere," states Rachel Collin, STRI staff scientist leading the Collin Lab in Naos Laboratories, and director of the STRI Bocas del Toro Research Station, as well as a Simons Foundation Pivot Fellow.

While reforesting mangroves may seem like an effective conservation practice, how much carbon can small trees capture as they grow? And what about all the carbon that gets released back into the atmosphere?

"You lose so much more carbon by destroying an existing mangrove," Collin adds. "If you plant a new one, the small trees take decades before they start to really store carbon. Reforestation is not replacing the mature mangrove forest that you killed. The best method is to preserve what you already have."

Community roots

While blue carbon is rising in popularity as a driver to protect these coastal ecosystems, there is more to mangroves than the quantifiable services and economic benefits they provide.

"These multi-dimensional ecosystem have a lot of different values. The total value is higher than if you only view it as carbon storage or for fisheries," says Collin.

A study published in 2024 in the journal Human Ecology examined the Cultural Ecosystem Services (CES) of mangroves in Bocas del Toro, in the western Caribbean coast of Panama; Cultural Ecosystem Services refer to the benefits ecosystems provide that have non-monetary value, but are intrinsic to the identity and values of the communities that interact with them, in terms of cultural importance, mental health benefits, emotional connection, Indigenous ecological knowledge, and more.

"After years of looking underwater at mangroves, and their habitat complexity, one day I looked above the water while I was snorkeling, and thought, if all of these mangroves suddenly weren't here, how would people feel and how would they manage?" said Cinda Scott, Co-Director of Ocean Nexus, who co-authored the paper when she was Director of the School for Field Studies in Bocas del Toro. "We depend so much on mangroves in more ways than imaginable."

During this study, researchers interviewed people who live close to mangroves in Bocas del Toro: some respondents said that mangroves provide a place for community, camaraderie and to escape from depression and other troubles.

As local stakeholders, coastal communities are essential for managing mangroves effectively, designating protected areas, and establishing conservation policies.

Scott adds about the results: "Much is written about the economic value of mangroves, but not much is understood about how much people value mangroves, how important they are for their identity."