Internationally backed project aims to build resilience and support sustainable livelihoods in El Salvador

A comprehensive diagnosis to assess landscape quality and climate change impacts is underway in La Unión Sur, El Salvador, as part of the Peace, Action, Resilience, and Sustainability in Landscapes of Latin America (PARES) project. This initiative seeks to evaluate the effects of environmental changes on ecosystems and local livelihoods, while empowering communities to implement nature-based solutions.

The project is funded by the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), with technical support from the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) of Costa Rica. It is locally executed by the Local Economic Development Agency (ADEL) of La Unión.

“This project seeks to strengthen the local capacities of organizations in issues of resilience and adaptation to climate change. It aims to identify threats to the different ecosystems in the landscapes where we are working and seek nature-based solutions,” explained Horacio Narváez, PARES project consultant.

The diagnosis process includes a series of workshops involving local stakeholders such as farmers, ranchers, producers, and fishermen. These participatory sessions are essential to gather accurate, community-driven insights into the current condition of La Unión Sur’s landscapes and to identify specific climate threats affecting them.

Sandra Campos, project coordinator, emphasized the importance of local participation: “Those affected by climate change within the landscape are the communities, because everything that happens in the ecosystems impacts the livelihoods that are in the landscape. That is why their participation is very important. Following the diagnosis, a pilot project will be implemented depending on the results and the participatory evaluation we are conducting in this workshop.”

The PARES project spans across Latin America, from Mexico to Ecuador, and involves 12 regional organizations selected through a competitive funding process. La Unión Sur was chosen as one of the winning proposals, highlighting the region’s strategic importance in addressing climate challenges and advancing sustainable development goals.