About Us

The past few years have seen an increasing awareness, both within and outside of NRCS, of the unique and important conservation needs in US affiliated tropical areas in both the Pacific and Caribbean Basins. There is a national recognition that NRCS is a leader in natural resource conservation throughout the world and that conservation technologies developed in the United States can and will have application globally. An important component of NRCS’ leadership is to support the development and dissemination of appropriate tools and technologies to address tropical conservation issues. The existing NRCS Institutes and Centers located within the conterminous United States primarily support agricultural production systems and technology development for mainland situations. Their emphasis, operational perspectives and funding generally are focused on the soils, agroecosystems, and concerns of their respective disciplines and localities.

Tropical natural and renewable resources, soils, and ecosystem management concerns are vastly different from those of temperate areas. The peoples, distinct attributes, quality determinants, fragility, protection, conservation, restoration, and management requirements of tropical ecosystems are geographically, ecologically and socio-economically distant from nearly all of the conterminous United States. To properly address tropical issues requires a concerted and well-coordinated effort with dedicated and specifically focused institutional and financial resources. The effectiveness of natural resource conservation planners and practitioners in the US affiliated tropics and their success in meeting people's needs will be best supported through the dedication of resources specific to their unique needs and situations. Some of the reasons why tropical conditions often require different resource management and conservation approaches are listed below:

Tropical conditions that affect resource management:

• Highest rainfall erosion potentials in the US
• Agricultural operations on steeper slopes than on the mainland
• Year round high temperatures which have a dramatic affect on decomposition rates, biomass accumulation, nutrient mineralization and leaching, and pesticide degradation rates
• Dominance of oxidic and amorphous constituents in many soils which cause higher cation leaching rates, high fixation of phosphates and organic matter, and altered nitrate leaching and runoff rates
• Smaller watersheds result in shorter distance "flashy" stream systems
• Moderate to strong trade winds induce wind erosion
• Highest number of endangered species
• Highest diversity of minority ethnic groups
• Small farm holdings and socioeconomic constraints as a result of farm size
• Limited overall land area, which makes conservation crucial and urgent
• Comparatively large areas of land requiring restoration
• Short-distance changes in resource characteristics make prescribed methods of national assessment, such as NRI, less meaningful.

Although there are major differences between tropical and temperate conditions, natural resource conservation efforts in the US affiliated tropics, can benefit greatly from experiences gained elsewhere. For example, the development of quantitative process-based hydrologic and soil erosion prediction models, their use for conservation planning, understanding and quantifying soil quality determinants and indicators, and the adoption of plant residue recycling and conservation tillage systems in these areas lag behind those in the rest of the country.

In addition to being an important part of the nation in need of conservation assistance, these areas are our nation's "window to the tropics." They encompass a substantial diversity of peoples, climates, geology, soils, biota, landscapes, and ecological settings. There is an increasing need for networking and information exchange between Florida, Hawaii, the US affiliated Pacific Islands Area territories and nations, and the Caribbean Basin area to address the needs of an impressive array of tropical settings, including those prevailing in many developing countries with similar climatic and edaphic conditions.

Ongoing discussions of these issues both within and outside of NRCS have led to the conclusion that a consortium of excellence formed by NRCS and universities working in the American Tropics is the most appropriate way to facilitate this cooperation. The Tropical Natural Resources Technology Consortium (TTC) was officially formed in June, 2000 with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) by NRCS offices in the Caribbean Area, Florida, Hawaii and the Pacific Islands Area along with the University of Florida, the University of Guam, the University of Hawaii at Manoa and the University of Puerto Rico – Mayaguez Campus.