An Overview Of Our Solution
The lizard was identified as an economic alternative by the Tacana people when they saw that this resource was illegally hunted by third parties to the TCO. For this reason, the Matusha Aidha Association (which in the Tacana language means "big lizard") was created. Its purpose is to generate economic benefits for the most isolated Tacana communities and exercise, at the same time, effective control of the bodies of water in their territory, avoiding the illegal hunting of the species is based on objectives of environmental, social and economic sustainability: 1) maintenance of viable populations of alligators and protection of wetlands; 2) development of actions focused on community livelihoods; and 3) commercialization of products in markets that value management actions by indigenous communities.
- Population Impacted: 123 people directly and the Tacana communities of the TCO Tacana
- Continent: South America
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Context Analysis
In order to make use of the alligator within the Tacana I Community Land of Origin (TCO Tacana I), population studies were carried out to find out if there was a potential for use and to have a strategy to guide its management. In 2007, the plan for management in accordance with the provisions of the National Program for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of the Lizard, which establishes that only adult males are used, with a minimum capture size of 180 cm in total length (snout-tail), the hunting period is carried out at the end of the dry season, in October, so as not to interfere with the reproduction period, thus protecting females, reproducers and juvenile individuals.
The area of use of the alligator in the Community Land of Origin Tacana I (TCO Tacana I) has a surface of 1,298 km2 (34% of the territory), including sectors of the Beni river, streams and lagoons. The allowed extraction quota is 630 individuals. This activity contributes to the control of bodies of water, avoiding the illegal hunting of the lizard and the black caiman ( Melanosuchus niger ), a species that is in a vulnerable situation.
The Matusha Aidha Association is made up of 27 members from four communities of the Tacana I TCO, located on the banks of the Beni River: Copacabana, Cachichira, San Antonio del Tequeje and Carmen del Emero. Between 2007 and 2022, fifteen alligator harvests were carried out, in accordance with the quota established in Bolivian regulations and the management plans for the use of the alligator, benefiting a total of 103 families.
The main product used was leather, managing to commercialize in the domestic market and then export to Europe between 2014, 2015 and 2016. In 2017, the national and international demand for leather decreased, while the demand for meat grew on the other hand. The Matusha Aidha association decided to make the use and processing of alligator meat including the participation of the woman
Describe the technical solution you wanted the target audience to adopt
Matusha Aidha, in view of the fall in the price of leather, implements the use of alligator meat with technical support from WCS and financial support from the MMNPT , embassies of Denmark and Germany. Based on the experience of the Tacana people, the Ministry of the Environment and SENASAG prepare the Technical Regulations for the Use of Alligator Meat for OECOM'S. Once the SENASAG regulation is issued, the Matusha Aidha association establishes important commercial alliances and significant income for the families and communities involved.
The Matusha Aidha association has been using alligator meat for nine years and is now making inroads into the production of sausages (chorizos), for both cases materials and equipment are needed to obtain higher quality products and reach a market with greater purchasing power, for this it is necessary to develop technical capacities to the partners in topics: hygiene, manufacturing, conservation and transport.
Describe your behavioral intervention.
The partners of Matusha Aidha are committed to the use of alligator meat, they have basic equipment and have basic knowledge about Good Hygiene Practices (GHP's), Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP's), Procedures Standardized Sanitation Operations (POES), Cleaning procedures for utensils and environments, and Fumigation Procedures for the workplace.
However, it is still necessary to have a greater amount of materials and equipment to be able to produce safe and good quality products, suitable for human consumption. In addition, it is necessary to develop administrative, technical and quality control capacities among the partners who participate in the use of this resource in order to contribute to Indigenous Territorial Management.
The Matusha Aidha technical team observed that a large part of the meat (second quality) of hunted animals was discarded, so they saw a way to take advantage of this meat, making sausages. In the 2021 management, the OTA and the Ministry of the Environment 2021 supported Matusha Aidha with the provision of equipment to make alligator meat sausages, this motivated the partners to be trained in the preparation.
Behavioral Levers Utilized
As needed, please explain how you utilized the lever(s) in more detail.
The Matusha Aidha association, having a sanitary registry issued by the National Agricultural Health and Food Safety Service (SENASAG), opens up the opportunity to market vacuum-packed frozen alligator meat and generate long-term agreements with the supermarket chain Hypermaxi nationwide and recognized restaurants in the city of La Paz such as Gustu Gastronomia and Jardines de Asia, in the city of Santa Cruz Sacha Huasca and in the city of Sucre with Chifa Thai.
The nationwide marketing price established by the National Program for the Sustainable Use of the alligator is 26 Bs/kg, the Matusha Aidha association was able to market this at a price of 70 Bs/kg due to the sanitary registry, thus generating important economic benefits in favor of the Tacana indigenous communities.
Describe your implementation
The acquisition of materials and equipment, in addition to training on the aforementioned topics, will allow partners to develop technical skills and knowledge that will translate into a high-quality product that is optimal for human consumption, which will generate economic benefits not only for the partners, but also for the Tacana communities and CIPTA, which is the parent organization of the Tacana people through a benefit distribution system that generates direct income for the communities and ensures social support for the initiative to exploit the alligator.
The Matusha Aidha association makes use of alligator meat in the southern management area, where the Cachichira community is located. In this community, a mobile alligator meat slaughterer is installed every year (with SENASAG sanitary registration) that has with the conditions to extract the alligator meat in an innocuous way, however, last year the filter of the water intake broke down, which is used for all this use.
Once the use of alligator meat in the Cachichira community has been completed, the partners transfer the second-quality alligator meat from the Cachichira community to the town of San Buenaventura where the collection center is located in the Eyiyoquibo community. . This collection center has the necessary conditions for the preparation of sausages, however, it is still necessary to have a water filter and other materials to process the alligator meat and produce good quality sausages suitable for human consumption.
Describe the leadership for your solution. Who is leading the implementation?
The implementation of this proposal will be led by the board of directors of the Matusha Aidha Alligator Handlers Association, made up of four people, a President: Eduardo Cavinas Camaconi (young), Vice President: Armando Yarari (adult), Secretary of Finance: Eduardo Cavinas Cartagena (adult ): Recording Secretary: Yolanda Cavinas (young woman) supervised by her parent entity, which is the board of directors of the Indigenous Council of the Tacana People (CIPTA), made up of five people (3 young men and 2 adult women).
Share some of the key partners or stakeholders engaged in your solution development and implementation.
The activities of management of the lizard by communities of the TCO Tacana I, began in 2001 with studies on the distribution, abundance and population structure of the species in water bodies of the TCO Tacana I, carried out by WCS in coordination with the Indigenous Council of the Tacana People (CIPTA). Based on this information, a management plan was prepared that was approved in 2007 by the General Directorate of Biodiversity and Protected Areas (DGBAP) of the Ministry of Environment and Water (MMAyA), with an initial annual extraction quota of 524 individuals. (2007, 2008, 2010 and 2011) and 630 individuals (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022).
Matusha Aidha achieved the commercialization of salted leather in 2007, 2008, 2012 and 2013 at the D`addario and Moxos tanneries . In 2010 and 2011, tanned leather was sold to the Walisuma, Sayari and Cocro Hides leather goods companies .
Likewise, with the support of WCS, the association established direct contact with a buyer in Italy for the sale of salted leather in 2014, 2015 and 2016 whose prices were significantly higher than any other offer in the national market. For export, the Matusha Aidha association registered with FUNDAEMPRESA , Internal Taxes (NIT), National Export Verification Service (SENAVEX) and registration with National Customs.
In 2017 and 2018, the General Directorate of Biodiversity (DGB) recognized the experience of the Matusha Aidha Association in the use of alligator meat. In this sense, the DGB convened the National Agricultural Health and Food Safety Service (SENASAG) to work in technical tables the Technical Regulation for the use of alligator meat (Mobile Slaughterer) for OECOM'S which was approved with administrative resolution No. 017 / 2019.
Who adopted the desired behavior(s) and to what degree? Include an explanation of how you measured a change in behavior.
CIPTA and the board of directors of the Matusha Aidha association requested through a note to the leaders of the community of Bella Vista in the department of Beni, they can carry out a knowledge transfer on the extraction of alligator meat. A SENASAG official was present at the same event, who gave a workshop on Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP's) and Good Hygiene Practices (GHP's) for handling meat products.
Once the Matusha Aidha partners assimilated the practical and theoretical knowledge, they also reviewed the administrative resolutions of SENASAG that give the guidelines for the handling, conservation, and transportation of food. This to put them into practice and achieve a good quality product optimal for human consumption and achieves its commercialization. Thus, Matusha Aidha begins with the experience of using alligator meat.
How did you impact the environment (biodiversity conservation, ecosystems, etc.)? Please be specific and include measurement methodology where relevant.
The alligator resource (Caiman yacare) is valued by the riverside communities where it is present, the community members take care that people outside their territory do not enter the bodies of water where the alligator resource and other species that inhabit the bodies of water are present. . In this sense, no other activity is allowed. The presence of the lizard in water bodies is an indicator of water quality.
How has your solution impacted equity challenges (including race, ethnicity, social class/income, indigenous communities, or others)?
The use of the alligator within the Tacana Indigenous Territory carried out by the Matusha Aidha association, was initially focused on the extraction of leather, an activity that was carried out mostly only by men with a very low participation of women. Once the Matusha Aidha association made the decision to start using alligator meat, it was the women who trained and developed skills to undertake this activity, achieving valuable results and experiences, as well as interesting economic benefits for the members and partners and communities.
What were some sustainable development co-benefits?
The Matusha Aidha association has four management plans executed:
a) 2007 -2010
b) 2011 -2014
c) 2016 -2020
d) 2021 -2024
These management plans are the technical tool that guides the extraction of the resource in the different bodies of water within the Tacana I TCO.
To support that the extraction of the annual hunting quota does not negatively affect the lizard populations, population assessments are carried out every 2-4 years within the TCO water bodies.
Sustainability: Describe the economic sustainability of your solution.
The Matusha Aidha association has a profit distribution system established by the partners, where the net profit is distributed as follows:
73% of the profits are distributed among the partners
20% of profits are for reinvestment (following crop year)
3% of the profits are for CIPTA
2% of the profits are for the Association
2% of the profits are for the leaders
During the activity of the use of the alligator, the equipment and materials usually deteriorate and/or appear unforeseen that make the reinvestment amount exceed the percentage set aside, in this sense, external support is necessary to carry out the use activity.
Return on investment: How much did it cost to implement these activities? How do your results above compare to this investment?
The Matusha Aidha association had an investment of approximately $us 50,000, for the implementation of the mobile artisan slaughterer for alligator meat (Caiman yacare) that consists of 4 isolated, differentiated and equipped environments complying with the established hygiene and manufacturing standards, this investment It was carried out progressively from 2014 to 2022.
How could we successfully replicate this solution in Latin America?
In Bolivia there are several Community Lands of Origin (TCO) that are part of the National Program for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of the Alligator (PNCASL). Among them are: Joaquiniana, Moré, Movima I, Movima II, Cayubaba, Sirionó, Itonama, Canichana, Tacana III, Baures, Cavineño, Chacobo Pacahuara, Tacana Cavineño, Tsimane, TIMI and TIM, they have the alligator resource ( Caiman yacare ) within their territories.
All the mentioned TCOs already make use of alligator meat in a traditional (rustic) way, however, none of these TCOs have an implemented hunting monitoring system, nor do they have equipment or materials that allow replicating the experience of using alligator meat in a safe way so that they can obtain their sanitary registration issued by SENASAG.