When El Salvador's armed conflict ended in 1992, thousands of ex-combatants and refugees returned to settle in agricultural communities as a part of a nationally brokered and internationally monitored "National Land Transfer Program" (PTT). In 1993, the PTT deeded 136 beneficiaries and their families a total of 503 hectares at the apex of a national "soil protection zone" to form the new community: "La Montañona". The land is largely unsuitable for traditional agricultural production and is within the infiltration zone of the nation's largest reservoir, the Cerron Grande. To guarantee community food security without destroying some of the last remaining forests in El Salvador, the inhabitants of La Montañona, in collaboration with FUNDE, a national NGO, have forged a series of village and regional plans based on agroecological, economic and community strategies that meet local goals: food security, social stability and sustainable land management. The plans describe household, village, and regional agriculture and forest management strategies adapted to local ecological and economic realities, including a shift from grain to vegetable production, development of local trade and market networks, and medium-term credits to develop a value-added micro-industry in wood products. Furthermore, the community is working with five municipalities toward a national initiative requiring El Salvador's water company to pay farmers for water conserved by improved soil protection practices on-farm. The Montañona community has identified obstacles to sustainability at scales ranging from the household to the nation, and from the technical and financial, to broader legal, political, and economic concerns. Strategies to overcome these obstacles are being developed based on community and council participation. 

The Montañona case demonstrates that an agroecological approach can support the creation of sustainable local development strategies in newly settled areas. In addition to improving livelihoods, adoption of sustainable practices at the household and village level can mitigate ecological degradation at larger scales (regional, watershed, national), especially when settlement is undertaken in marginal areas. Montañona's experience is an example of how researchers, NGOs and communites can form alliances that facilitate exchange of information, knowledge and power to promote environmental and social well-being rather than operating under a top-down development model. In Montañona, the community sought consultation and financial support from national and international governmental and non-governmental organizations, but they were particularly careful to insure that the decision-making processes remained within their control. When development objectives are firmly rooted in locally-identified priorities for improving livelihoods and environmental quality, communities can coordinate outside assistance in such a way to insure that development is appropriate in socio-economic and ecological terms. When people who are commonly the objects of the development process have access to tools and systems of knowledge-- ranging from local knowledge of soil fertility to GIS, better-informed decisions on land and livelihood are made, and concerns for ecological integrity can be better represented. 

Minimize Toxics

After identifying the desire to reduce pesticide use, the community contracted with a national NGO for periodic pest managment training sessions and to help farmers to experiment with managing pests, diseases and weeds as an alternative to controlling them with toxic pesticides. Because the community has set goals to reduce pesticide use, external programs (national or international) that focus heavily on the use of pesticide and seed packages for agricultural improvement have been reoriented, reformulated or, if too inflexible, rejected by the Community.

Conserve Resources

By formulating a national initiative that rewards adoption of soil protection practices by small farmers, farmers and community members are helping to minimize erosion and conserving water and forest resources.

Adjust to Local Environments

Rather than transfer traditional lowland corn and bean cultivation systems to high elevation settlement lands, the Montañona community is shifting to vegetable crops that are better adapted to local climate and ecological conditions.

Diversify

By cultivating and harvesting epiphytes from forest areas as cash crops, the economic system is diversified.

Empower People

By controlling their decision making processes, Montañona's people remain in control of their development. Montañona's Community Development Plan promotes multi-directional transfer of knowledge in the development process: knowlege is communicated to development organizations about how development should proceed, while technical assistance and ecological knowledge are communicated to community decision-makers, enriching the knowledge-base upon which local decisions are made.

Manage Whole Systems

Montañona's management goals are derived by a community planning process that includes many different scales within the system. For example, soil and water conservation is undertaken at field and household scales, but measures to insure that practices are economically sustainable are pursued at regional and national scales as well. Practices for management of soil and water are thus designed to benefit the entire watershed.

Maximize Long-Term Benefits

By developing plans that can be adjusted and reevaluated through time, the Montañona Community has created a tool for short and long term planning to maximize livelihoods and quality of life in rural areas that incorporates long-term sustainability into overall agroecosystem design and management.

Value Health

Montañona's Community Development Plan is based on a committment to preserve the well-being of all it's settlers and to sustaining the quality of the land that they have inherited. Therefore, all developments are considered in terms of the degree to which they sustain the overall health of agroecosystems and humans. For example, there are strict rules concerning forest product harvest so as not to over-use forest resources, and the use of toxic pesticides has been reduced.