Challenges lead to stronger inclusive projects: The case of a pot-honey project for the conservation of savannahs in the Colombian Orinco Basin.

Seasonally floodable savannahs are under current pressure by the expansion of rice and oil palm crops. To identify and promote native biodiversity productive alternatives we created an alliance with a local family that sustains traditional pot-honey production by the native stingless bee Melipona favosa, 24 families interested in adopting this practice, researchers from the National University bee lab, a local NGO, and funders. This alliance created a project that combined traditional knowledge with new technologies and ecological research to increase honey quality and production by conserving and restoring natural ecosystems. This involved field research, environmental education and practical trainings with local and external experts, all of which became impossible under the COVID-19 restrictions. However, together we reconfigured the project, reassigned roles and used the available ICTs to fulfill our goals. Here we present our ICT approach to the environmental education and practical trainings, and the citizen science strategy for data collection to identify key plant species in Melipona favosa’s diet. We co-produced and shared 25 5- minute videos through social media that complement our pot-honey production guide and workbook, we also have 9 months of data on flower phenology and pollen samples from pots and flowers. This challenge made the alliance stronger because it broadened the participation of experts, gave a major role to local families, and made communication between allies more frequent. This opened new ways to connect the local with the global and imagine more dynamic multi-stakeholder conservation projects with a stronger participation by local stakeholders.