Tacuba, El Salvador

Tacuba is located in a mountainous region of El Salvador that is especially unique because much of the farmland borders the El Imposible National Park. Tacuba is also in a region that is part of the Meso-American Biological Corridor, a network of rainforests rich in diverse plant and animal life that stretches throughout Central and South America. Because of the rich diversity of trees in Tacuba, the landscape is perfect for producing coffee, which grows best in shaded areas.

CAN's partner organization in El Salvador is a local non-profit, Advising and Interdisciplinary Research for Local Development and Conservation (ASINDEC). ASINDEC was born out of the participatory action research process of founder Ernesto Mendez's dissertation work. ASINDEC hosts visiting researchers and interns to work on action research and community development projects ranging from on-farm biodiversity surveys to agro-ecotourism and improving direct market access. The ASINDEC board is made up of local researchers Cecilia Carranza, Doribel Herrador, Tily Perdano, Patricia Mendez, and Dr. Ernesto Mendez, now at the University of Vermont and co-director of the Community Agroecology Network. ASINDEC primarily works with small coffee growers' cooperatives near the town of Tacuba. Researchers at ASINDEC have been associated with the Kew Botanic Gardens in London, the Yale School of Forestry, UC Santa Cruz Department of Environmental Studies and the University of Vermont.