Transcending Boundaries: Peace Parks and Wild Women

Speakers:

Sara Canals, Documentary Fellow, International Peace Park Expeditions

Elizabeth Carrera, Peace & Conflict Impact Assessment Fellow, International Peace Park Expeditions

Maggie Lemere, Co-founder, Wild Women: Stories from Women on the Forefront of Wildlife Conservation

Moderator:

Meaghan Parker, Senior Writer/Editor, Environmental Change and Security Program, Wilson Center

Film: Transcending Boundaries: Perspectives from Parque Internacional La Amistad

Transcending Boundaries: Perspectives from Parque Internacional la Amistad reports on the main environmental threats to the communities surrounding the largest protected area in Central America: Parque Internacional la Amistad. Located on the border between Panama and Costa Rica, the transboundary park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Indigenous communities—including the Ngobe-Buglé and Bribri tribes—local non-profit organizations, and park rangers on both sides of the border are collaborating to protect the park through innovative ecotourism projects, organic farming, and environmental education. But their efforts are challenged by hydroelectric power plants, overuse of agrochemicals, hunting, deforestation, poor waste management, and forest fires.

A discussion will follow with Transcending Boundaries filmmakers Sara Canals and Elizabeth Carrera. Joining them will be Maggie Lemere, a filmmaker and oral historian whose projects focus on issues of social and environmental concern. Maggie’s current work includes leading storytelling initiatives on social entrepreneurship and changemaking as well as conducting oral histories for the Smithsonian's Natural Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, and for climate movement organization 350.org. Her personal project with her creative partner Cindy Choung (Wild Women) is an illustrated documentary series for kids that pairs the unexpected and inspiring stories of how female wildlife conservationists became who they are today along with the science of the wildlife they work to protect. Maggie will share some of this work in progress with the audience.

The Transcending Boundaries trailer is available here.

Related Content:

Forests on Film: New Stories From Nepal and the Congo Basin

Peace Park Expedition to Balkans Reveals Tensions Over Development, Rule of Law for New Governments

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