About the Jiquilisco Bay Alliance

The Jiquilisco Bay Alliance (JBA) stands on a long history of international solidarity to support community-led initiatives in the Jiquilisco Bay region of El Salvador. Building from decades of friendship and success, JBA works to provide financial and technical support to projects in sustainable fishing, agroecology, mangrove reforestation, public space design, and organizational capacity building. These projects are primarily managed by two local non-profit organizations, Asociación Mangle and Asociación Cincahuite, that work to advance community goals in the region.

After the Salvadoran Civil War, which ended with the signing of the Peace Accords in January of 1992, local communities were left with minimal governmental support for basic infrastructure and services in the region. In response to this, community members began to organize a social movement known as the Coordinadora de Comunidades del Bajo Lempa to meet community needs in the absence of national and municipal support. Asociación Mangle was incorporated in 1998 to serve as the administrative body to oversee the financing and management of the projects put forward by La Coordinadora.

Similarly, in the area around Puerto Parada, La Coordinadora de las Comunidades del Puerto Parada was founded in 2001 in the wake of devastating floods to support the ecological and economic well-being of the communities around Puerto Parada. The Asociación Cincahuite was officially incorporated in 2013 to support the organizing work of these communities.

Through the work of our community partners in the Bajo Lempa and Puerto Parada, residents are directly organizing and managing the projects that affect their daily lives.

Since the mid 1990’s, these community based organizations have partnered with larger international solidarity networks to elevate and amplify their initiatives. One of the earliest in this region was the Foundation for Self Sufficiency in Central America. Their work developed into the organization EcoViva, who for nearly 25 years supported the communities of the Bay of Jiquilisco.

Among many projects and initiatives, EcoViva organized service learning programs for undergraduate and graduate students outside of El Salvador. This led to the creation of Team El Salvador at Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, where from 2007 to 2015, students from the California-based graduate school traveled to the Jiquilisco Bay region to volunteer on community projects and apply their developing skills. This led to a new generation becoming invested in the success of the Bajo Lempa and Puerto Parada communities.

When Team El Salvador was disbanded due to increased violence in the region, program organizers established a new nonprofit, ECOPA: Intersections for Sustainable Living. The goal of ECOPA was to carry the momentum of Team El Salvador forward by engaging Middlebury Institute students while also coordinating an international effort to bring technical support to community projects.

Following a years-long spate of gang violence combined with the Covid-19 pandemic travel restrictions, many international solidarity efforts stalled in the Jiquilisco Bay region. EcoViva disbanded in 2022 after more than 20 years of working in the Bajo Lempa and Puerto Parada to support the development of sustainable fishing, agroecology, and community empowerment projects. The nonprofit left Asociación Mangle and their other partner organizations in a strong position with an international donor base. Yet their absence has been felt, especially with international organizations who relied on EcoViva’s relationships and infrastructure to work in the region.

ECOPA began to re-engage with volunteers on-the-ground in the Jiquilisco Bay region in 2022. But, it became clear that ECOPA too was at a crossroads. Post-pandemic the nonprofit had to change direction and find new ways to stand in solidarity with Jiquilisco Bay residents or disband. ECOPA answered the call and in 2023 provided more than $33,000 in direct support for mangrove reforestation, public space, and organizational capacity building.

With new leadership, programmatic initiatives, and community connections, ECOPA reorganized and emerged as the Jiquilisco Bay Alliance in 2024.

JBA prioritizes sending unrestricted funds directly to the local organizations that know best their own communities needs as well as the most appropriate interventions. The Jiquilisco Bay Alliance also provides targeted technical support for specific collaborative projects, including strategic planning, project design, general administration, and monitoring and evaluation.