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Stretching from southern Costa Rica into western Panamá is the Cordillera de Talamanca mountain range, a global biodiversity hotspot that has been stewarded for over 12,000 years by generations of Naso, Bribri, Buglé, and Ngäbe communities. Forty years ago, this region of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Transboundary Protected Area to be managed by both States as a symbol of peace and friendship. Primary factors affecting La Amistad International Park and its surrounding Biosphere Reserves, Buffer and Transition Zones, and semi-autonomous Indigenous territories are monoculture encroachment and multinational extractivist projects. Through community-based research practices, my proposed postdoctoral research will collaborate with agroecological Ngäbe farmers to co-create and mobilize knowledge in support of Indigenous Food Sovereignty, rural economies, and cooperative governance that enable biocultural diversity and sustainable development.

In this talk, Chelsea Rozanski will seek insights from FSIRG members to further develop her postdoctoral research proposal.

Chelsea Rozanski is a community-based researcher and Ph.D. Candidate in Anthropology at the University of Calgary. Her doctoral work-funded by a SSHRC Vanier Award-explores the pathways, pitfalls, and politics of regenerative agriculture in Canada. She has conducted ethnographic studies in Peru and Panama and has been involved in agroecological projects across Asia, Africa, Europe, North and South America. When she's not on the farm, Chelsea serves as a Co-Convener of the Calgary Institute for the Humanities (CIH) Food Studies Interdisciplinary Research Group, and member of the Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning Teaching Academy.

Suggested readings:

Connelly, A., & Shapiro, E. N. (2006). Smallholder Agricultural Expansion in La Amistad Biosphere Reserve: Perceived vs. Real Impacts of Cacao and Cattle. Journal of Sustainable Forestry 22(1-2), 115-141. https://doi.org/10.1300/J091v22n01_07 

McLarney, W. O. (2006). History Repeats? Hydro Dams and the Riverine Ecosystems of Mesoamerica: The Case of La Amistad Biosphere Reserve, Panama, and its Implications. The George Wright Forum, 23(4), 6-12. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43598944 

Learn more about the University of Saskatchewan UNESCO Chair in Biocultural Diversity, Sustainability, Reconciliation, & Renewal

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