Monitoring sustainable development. Reports from the field -- Latin America.

The Fundacion Pro-Sierra Nevada (FPSN) has sponsored environmental and development projects in the Sierra Nevada mountains in Colombia for 10 years. This region an acknowledged ecological treasure has been plagued with armed conflict and deforestation. FPSN believed their efforts were having a positive impact on the environment but through their participation in the field-testing of a new research methodology they now have valuable new information upon which to base their projects and increase the likelihood of project success. The new methodology used by FPSN since 1994 is participatory and reflective analytical mapping (PRAM) and is based on Map Maker a computer software program that creates simple maps of any geographic area from complex environmental and social information. PRAM methodology is based on the idea that sustainable development depends on both environmental and social factors. The FPSN field-testing involved identification of the six social and environmental indicators that would have the greatest impact on sustainability. Environmental data came from FPSNs files and social data came from community leaders and experts. The data were used to rate each of the 11 municipalities in the region and to generate color-coded maps. This analysis revealed that three regions previously ignored by FPSN were home to the weakest economies and the highest level of social despair. This field work allowed FPSN to understand that sustainability requires social as well as environmental improvements and that FPSN needs to develop links with appropriate agencies to effect social changes.