CSF economists Susan Seehusen, Aaron Bruner and John Reid joined the German technical support agency, GiZ, and the Mexican Protected Areas Commission, CONANP, to support two big efforts to leverage the economic value of protected areas. Over weekend of October 18-19, Aaron and Susan joined GiZ and parks officials from a handful of Latin American countries to provide technical guidance for the newly launched ValuES program. Yes, that's an upper-case ES for Ecosystem Services; the program focuses on highlighting the values protected ecosystems deliver to human communities in focus countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Vietnam and India, among others. The event was followed by a major conference on the launch of the program, The Value of Ecosystem Services in Mexico's Protected Areas. At the invitation of recent CSF course graduate Mariana Bellot, CONANP's Director General for Institutional Development, Aaron and John made presentations on practical lessons on the uses of economics most useful to support parks and reserves. Our staff came away deeply impressed by the progress Mexico and other countries attending have made in this area and are eager to help push the Mexican and global initiatives forward. Photos: CSF Senior Economist Aaron Bruner at the Seminario el Valor dos Servicios Ecosistémicos de las Áreal Naturales Protegidas de México, Fernando Leon and CSF President John Reid on the Espiral TV program, together with the head of CONANP, Mexico's park service, and recent CSF international course graduate Mariana Bellot, CONANP's Director General for Institutional Development