Global Brigades is the world’s largest student-led global health and sustainable development organization. Since 2004, Global Brigades has mobilized thousands of university students and professionals through nine skill-based service programs to improve quality of life in under resourced communities.
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Mission
Global Environmental Brigades (GEB) projects promote environmental health and education in at-risk communities. GEB projects will focus on empowering and educating people to take action in order to reduce their environmental impact, preserve their natural ecosystems, and improve their personal health.
History
Panama's main environmental problems stem from the lack of an environmental dimension to economic and social planning, and development. Nowadays, however, the civil society, Panamanians and international NGOs are working to develop initiatives that can tackle the current non-environmental practices of the Panamanian society.
“…changing old habits is not an automatic process, especially because, Panama lacks an “environmental culture” and education, which I believe is where GB can truly make a difference… The first environmental brigade was certainly an experience that allowed me to see the big picture and understand how everything fits together.!”
Anna Pasternak, Former Environmental Brigades Director
Anna Pasternak, Former Environmental Brigades Director
During the first environmental brigade in 2009, our team saw that including a capacity building component related to the projects being built and the community investment fund was a sustainable method of implementing the projects with brigades.
“… we were not there as tourists but as brigaders who came onto their land with the priority of making culturally sensitive and sustainable positive change…”
Brigader from UC San Diego, 2009
Environmental Brigades was conceived under three principles:
1. Eco-system services such as water-purifying mangroves and carbon-absorbing rainforests, are invaluable resources that sustain all life forms and are an irreplaceable platform for human development and longevity. Environmental Brigades work to support life-sustaining ecosystem services by preserving natural systems, protecting biodiversity, and recuperating degraded environments.
2. Human health and development challenges, such as epidemics and poverty that arise out of the mismanagement or indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources must be addressed through environmentally-sustainable strategies. Environmental Brigades support medical, dental, water, law, architecture and business brigades to develop solutions that also protect natural resources.
3. Local communities and organizations are central players in Brigade efforts to promote environmental health. Environmental Brigades work alongside community members and network with Central American organizations to promote environmentally sustainable practices that are culturally appropriate, community-based and participatory.
Community Needs
Panama is home to some of the poorest communities and richest ecosystems in the world. Without environmentally sustainable development initiatives, the balance between environmental conservation and exploitation leans dangerously in favor of the latter. Environmental degradation also negatively affects the health of our own species. Unfortunately, occurrences such as improper waste management, water and air pollution, a lack of environmental education, and a 66% of global forest cover loss occurring in Latin America affect rural and impoverished communities most directly. However, several efforts to change this are happening right now.
- Panama loses more than 1 percent of its primary forest cover every year. Deforestation directly threatens one of the country's most important sources of income, the Panama Canal. The tropical cloud forest of the canal watershed ensures the flow of billions of gallons of clean water necessary to operate the canal locks (roughly two billion gallons per day).
- The clearing for agriculture and pasture land, fuelwood collection, road construction and logging—especially illegal logging—which has increased in Panama are the main factors that affect the forest in Panama and are the type of issues that national and international organizations and the Panamanian government want to tackle.
- The cutting of one tree can destroy an entire ecosystem. Conversely, there is a robustness of life and an awesome capacity to regenerate. The Panama Canal Zone is one of the richest biotic reserves in the world—yet it was completely deforested only 80 years ago!
Panama needs trees!
Historically, Panama rainforest had been seriously affected by the Panama Canal construction at the beginning of the 1900s. Large swathes of the rainforest had been flooded for the purposes of the canal’s construction, and, as a result, the country sustained significant losses of biodiversity and forest cover. Ironically, nowadays deforestation, is threatening the Panama Canal. The Canal depends on the tropical cloud forest to maintain the canal watershed and ensure sufficient water to operate the canal locks (roughly two billion gallons per day). . As forest cover is reduced, soil erosion silts up the canal and locks.
Global Brigades Solutions
Brigade participants serve as volunteers, populating existing projects with both hands-on work alongside community members and specialized labor on a specific project during their visits.
Environmental Brigades will include hands-on projects such as reforestation, waste management, and the construction of composting latrines, eco-stoves, and water filters. As part of our commitment to the capacity building of the communities, the brigade will also provide environmental education about a diverse range of topics. Moreover, we will guarantee that each brigade empowers the community to keep promoting good practices and to become leaders within their communities. We will provide a platform in which community members can discuss ideas, concerns and goals for the community in an interactive manner. We will empower the communities to build confidence in themselves to develop new solutions through their creativity and determination.
An important feature of the brigade is the ability to leave behind both immediate and long-term impacts. After each brigade, you leave knowing you have implemented both short-term solutions (the trees you planted, the service you provided) and long-term support (the educational workshop you conducted, the study you set up). Volunteers work in a variety of landscapes, ranging from virgin rainforests to urban beaches, each presenting different challenges for the survival of the environment and future generations.
An important feature of the brigade is the ability to leave behind both immediate and long-term impacts. After each brigade, you leave knowing you have implemented both short-term solutions (the trees you planted, the service you provided) and long-term support (the educational workshop you conducted, the study you set up). Volunteers work in a variety of landscapes, ranging from virgin rainforests to urban beaches, each presenting different challenges for the survival of the environment and future generations.
Sources: http://www.biomuseopanama.org, http://earthtrends.wri.org/text/biodiversity-protected/country-profile-141.html, http://www.ciampanama.org/, the Lonely Planet Guide to Panama.
