Covering a Central American regional program to protect endangered aquatic species, the USAID Regional Program for Management of Aquatic Resources and Economic Alternatives (MAREA) program worked at the micro-level with fisherpersons, conservation organizations, and with governments to harmonize approaches to conservation. IBTCI was selected by USAID to lead an evaluation of the MAREA project, including seven nations and four important marine-coastal sites that cross the boundaries between CAFTA-DR member countries: Gulf of Honduras (Belize, Guatemala, Honduras); Mosquito Coast (Honduras, Nicaragua); Cahuita-Bocas del Toro (Costa Rica, Panama); and Gulf of Fonseca (El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua). IBTCI’s field work consisted of field-level surveys, meetings with experts, review of program data, and stakeholder roundtables. Deductive analyses (contribution, trend, barrier) was utilized to test and affirm the authenticity and appropriateness of these findings to the evaluation question. The final evaluation, available on the Development Experience Clearinghouse, documents the success of collaborative efforts among nations to protect species such as sea turtles.
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