Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of El Salvador and CATIE develop a virtual workshop aimed at strengthening capacities to implement the Ecological Condition Metric

• The Ecological Condition Metric and the CEBA-Calc tool, developed by CATIE, make it possible to assess the status of ecosystems and agroecosystems through standardized data analysis, facilitating decision-making for their conservation, restoration, and sustainable management.

Within the framework of the project “Implementation of the Ecological Condition Metric of Ecosystems and Agroecosystems in El Salvador,” a virtual workshop aimed at strengthening technical capacities for the application of this metric was held on February 12.

The project has the technical leadership of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of El Salvador (MARN), funding from the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF), administered by the Ministry of Economy (MINEC) of El Salvador, and is implemented by the Forests and Biodiversity in Productive Landscapes Unit (UBBPP) of CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center).

The activity was led by CATIE researchers and was directed at technical staff from the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, the Salvadoran Coffee Institute, non-governmental organizations, academia, members of the Somos Río Lempa Program, and other key stakeholders. This training space provided continuity to and complemented the in-person workshops held on November 25, 26, and 27, 2025, in San Salvador.

Workshop contents

During the session, the origin, objectives, and structure of the Environmental Compensation Metric were presented by Erick Ortiz, researcher at the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources. Likewise, the composition, evaluation methodology, and interpretation of the Ecological Condition Metric were addressed in detail by Marcella Sarti, researcher at CATIE’s UBBPP.

Data analysis tool: CEBA-Calc

A central component of the workshop was the analysis of data from field plots evaluated during 2025 by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and CATIE using a methodology that enabled the collection of the variables necessary to calculate the Ecological Condition Metric.

For this analysis, led by Sergio Vilchez, CATIE’s Biostatistics Coordinator, the CEBA-Calc tool, developed by CATIE, was used. This tool enables the automated estimation of the Ecological Condition Metric.

CEBA-Calc is an open-access platform that facilitates data processing and interpretation of results, providing reports at the indicator, component, and index levels, and promoting a more practical and efficient analysis.

Next Steps

This training process represents a significant step toward the effective implementation of both metrics, strengthening national capacities and contributing to the sustainable management of ecosystems and agroecosystems in El Salvador.

As part of the next steps, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and CATIE are working on the development of a joint publication that systematizes the methodological steps for the creation of the Ecological Condition Metric, with the aim of facilitating its understanding, strengthening its dissemination, and promoting its application in different contexts.

 Likewise, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources will promote its adoption beyond the institutional sphere, fostering coordination with various key stakeholders interested in its implementation. In parallel, the scope of the Metric is expected to be expanded to other priority ecosystems, such as gallery forests, cacao and staple grain agroecosystems, as well as silvopastoral systems, thus contributing to its consolidation as a comprehensive tool for landscape evaluation and sustainable management.