SPVS has nearly a decade of experience and a respected track record working with local communities in the area. While sustainable development activities will vary according to the interests and needs of the local people, some possibilities include ecotourism, forest management, organic agriculture, ornamental and medicinal plant production and craft production for the burgeoning tourism trade. Other direct economic opportunities for community members include jobs as park wardens, in reforestation efforts, in carbon monitoring and in infrastructure development. An ethno-biologic survey of the historical uses and benefits (such as medicinal values) of the ecosystem’s resources has already begun.

For those buffalo ranchers who wish to remain on their land to raise water buffalo, the  project will help them conduct their operations in a more sustainable – i.e., intensive rather than extensive – manner. By teaching the rotation of herds through small, fenced pastures, milk and meat productivity is increased dramatically on a fraction of the land space, resulting in much less impact on the remaining forest and reducing the need for additional clearing.