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TURNING POINT A presentation by Andy White summarizing the Rights and Resources Initiative’s 2011-2012 Annual Report
Summarizing (1) RRI's 2011-2012 review of the impacts of a newly emerging world order on the future of forest peoples and resources, and (2) a series of reports on the Fate of Customary Tenure in Africa. "Worldwide, the use and management of natural resources and systems of trade and governance have been in flux for years. Yet 2011 may well be remembered as the year of definitive turning points: it was a year when the shift in global political and economic power to emerging economies became clear; it was a year when the conventional economic paradigm recognized the increasing scarcity of natural resources; and it was a year when it became clear that national and global development requires respect for local people and their resources." (Turning Point)
Recognizing traditional tree tenure as part of conservation and REDD+ strategy
Reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation, REDD should focus on places where such emissions occur. Protected Areas (PAs) are, in theory, protected and hence, should have no emissions associated with land use/land cover change. In practice protection is incomplete. Can PAs included in REDD schemes? Can 'paper parks' be included that exist on paper rather than in reality? How concrete should threats be before we call carbon (C) protection 'additional'? The dilemma may be more manageable if protected areas are included in a broader landscape approach to REDD . Some REDD project proponents currently focus on 'buffer zones' where protection is incomplete, but biodiversity co-benefits of additional C protection can be large. The results of a REDD feasibility appraisal in an area surrounding the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia's REDD pilot province illustrate the challenges of finding synergies between sustaining livelihoods for local communities, protecting orangutans and globally appropriate mitigation actions. For feedback and requests for further information. Email us at: asb@cgiar.org
The Threshold of Sustainability for Tourism within Protected Areas Featured February 6, 2012
A Quick Guide for Protected Area Practioners. This Quick Guide, in the style of the series under the Programme of Work on Protected Areas of the Convention on Biological Diversity, introduces a tourism management framework called the “threshold of sustainability.” It is designed to enable managers to take rapid action to mitigate the most critical threats related to tourism, while beginning to lay a solid financial foundation for tourism within protected areas. By improving tourism management, protected area planners will simultaneously achieve many of the actions included in the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Programme of Work on Protected Areas, including preventing and mitigating protected area threats, using protected area benefits to reduce poverty, developing sustainable finance mechanisms, strengthening management capacity, and improving overall management effectiveness.
Lessons about Land Tenure, Forest Governance and REDD+ Featured Jan 10, 2012
This volume of case studies comprises one of two main publications resulting from the Oct. 21-22, 2011 Land Tenure and Forest Carbon Management Workshop hosted by the University of Wisconsin/Madison’s Land Tenure Center (LTC), Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, and Geography Dept. Contributed by an impressive array of researchers, NGOs, and other development partners, these cases are intended to complement a set of research papers being prepared simultaneously for a forthcoming special issue of World Development.
Social and Biodiversity Impact Assessment (SBIA) Manual for REDD+ Projects Featured December 2, 2011
The Climate, Community & Biodiversity (CCB) Standards, used to assess multiple benefits of the majority of forest carbon projects, provide robust standards; however, until now there has been limited guidance on how to undertake credible and cost-effective impact assessment. Forest Trends, the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA), Fauna & Flora International (FFI) and Rainforest Alliance have developed a user-friendly manual that enables land-based carbon project proponents to undertake cost-effective social and biodiversity impact assessment (SBIA). The SBIA Manual and associated document is oriented to the CCB Standards, but the approach described is applicable to other multiple benefit carbon standards, as well as to other types of payments for ecosystem services (PES) projects. This is version 2 of the Manual, released in October and launched via a webinar on November 22.
TransLinks: Case Study: Payments for Biodiversity Conservation in the Context of Weak Institutions Featured November 22, 2011
Implementing any conservation intervention, including Payments for Environmental Services (PES), in the context of weak institutions is challenging. The majority of PES programs have been implemented in situations where the institutional framework and property rights are strong and target the behaviors of private landowners. By contrast, this paper compares three PES programs from a forest landscape in Cambodia, where land and resource rights are poorly defined, governance is poor, species populations are low and threats are high.
Sustainable Tourism Online Learning Featured September 27, 2011
USAID NRM Office launches a set of nine online courses developed to help stakeholders better understand how tourism can be developed sustainably. The courses are the result of compiling the lessons and best practices from the USAID Global Sustainable Tourism Alliance (GSTA) program, and other tourism development experiences.
Ecosystem Management and Livestock A Greener Revolution: Improving Productivity and Increasing Food Security by Enhancing Ecosystem Services Featured July 13, 2011
The second of three presentations in a seminar on "A Greener Revolution: Improving Productivity and Increasing Food Security BY Enhancing Ecosystem Services." For decades, agricultural scientists and fisheries experts have been working with farming and fishing communities to minimize environmental impacts and develop technologies and practices that increase productivity while sustaining or improving ecosystem function over the long term. This seminar addresses the challenge of feeding a growing global population while maintaining the natural resource base upon which food production ultimately depends: water quality, soil fertility, pollination, pest control among other essential services. The seminar will feature experiences with integrated agriculture and environment programming and their ideas for scaling up innovative approaches to meet the food security challenge.
Initiative for Conservation in the Andean Amazon Featured June 18, 2011
This Annual Outlook for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 (October 1, 2010 - September 30, 2011) presents the overall workplan of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) regional project for the Amazon, the Initiative for Conservation in the Andean Amazon (ICAA).This Outlook is organized around ICAA’s Performance Management Plan and its three Intermediate Results: Capacity building, Policy implementation, and Leveraging new resources for conservation ICAA, is a five-year program (FY07-11), includes US $35 million in support from USAID and US $10 million in cost-sharing support from implementing partners. Through ICAA, USAID funds 20 partner organizations organized under four field consortia and a Support Unit. Work is underway in the four countries of the Andean Amazon: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. In addition, ICAA consortia coordinate closely with USAID’s bilateral mission programs in the region, as well as with national governments, universities and other Amazonian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and networks.
Nested Approaches to REDD+ An Overview of Issues and Options Featured May 4, 2011
Interest in “nested” approaches to REDD+ has grown steadily as policy makers, practitioners and investors seek to reconcile approaches to reducing, and rewarding, emissions reductions at different scales – national, subnational and project. The 16th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in Cancun marked the UNFCCC’s formal acknowledgement of subnational approaches to REDD+ accounting and monitoring. National “readiness” processes for REDD+ in many countries explicitly seek to incorporate nested projects or demonstration activities, as do state or provincial mechanisms under the Governors´ Task Force on Climate and Forests.
GreenCOM Global Leadership and Technical Field Support in Environmental Education and Communication Featured March 23, 2011
GreenCOM I and GreenCOM II (1993 – 2006), provided global leadership and technical field support in Environmental Education and Communication (EE&C). GreenCOM developed new information technologies to more effectively communicate and disseminate environmental information and messages, shape public opinion, and increase learning.
Wildlife Conservation and Natural Resource Management in Southern Sudan Featured March 8, 2011
Wildlife Conservation and Natural Resource Management in Southern Sudan. Featured Mar 08, 2011 in News: USAID RM Portal Featured Stories.
Global Conservation Program-Closeout Reports, Achievements, and Lessons Learned Featured February 22, 2011
The Global Conservation Program (GCP) was a partnership between USAID and six leading nongovernmental organizations that aimed to conserve globally significant areas of biodiversity through site-based activities and policy programs around the world.
Sustaining Security Featured December 16, 2010
In the 21st century, the security of nations will depend increasingly on the security of natural resources, or “natural security.” The global economy, developing countries and local economies throughout the world all rely on the availability of potable water, arable land, fish stocks, biodiversity, energy, minerals and other renewable and nonrenewable resources to meet the rising expectations of a growing world population.
Management Expenses of Environmental Funds Featured November 17, 2010
Through two Congressionally-authorized innovative debt relief programs, the 1991 Enterprises for the Americas Initiative (EAI) and the 1998 Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA), USAID and the Departments of State and Treasury have jointly overseen the creation and operation of dedicated “Funds” designed to collect and distribute debt relief proceeds as grants in support of environmental protection, child survival and child development, and tropical forest conservation activities. To date, twenty-three Fund accounts have been created in 17 countries. Direct management of each “Fund” is entrusted to an expressly created or previously existing private, non-profit entity. Direct oversight is assured by a dedicated governing body, which can be a Board, Council or “Oversight Committee” (OC).
Conservation Certification and Product Branding-The Case of Wildlife Friendly Certification Featured November 7, 2010
Combined panel presentation in the USAID Biodiversity and Forestry Seminar Series, by members of the Wildlife Friendly Enterprise Network (WFEN) and partners of the USAID-WCS-led TransLinks Leader-with-Associates program.
Landscape-Scale-Conservation in the Congo Basin Featured October 26, 2010
This publication is the second volume of CARPE Lessons Learned. The first volume was based on early experiences and constituted a preliminary assessment of the state of the environment in the region. Now, after more than ten years of CARPE implementation, it seemed timely to provide the conservation community with lessons learned concerning CARPE’s applied conservation approaches.
Melting Glaciers: Current Status and Future Concerns Featured October 19, 2010
USAID Asia Glacier Melt Project: expert summary of science regarding glacier melt/retreat in the Himalaya, Hindu Kush, Karakoram, Pamir, and Tien Shan mountain ranges. This summary will provide the scientific basis for related studies that will evaluate the impacts of glacier melt/retreat. This will support an integrated analysis that will determine appropriate interventions to mitigate or adapt to such impacts and will serve as the evidence base for future USAID glacier melt-related activities.
The Development of Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration Featured September 22, 2010
Arguably one of the most successful land regeneration projects in the world, Farmer Managed Natural Regeneraton (FMNR), beginning in Niger during the 1980s, has revegetated three million hectares of arid land in that country alone – bringing back biodiversity in flora and fauna, increasing soil humus (and thus carbon) content, improving water retention and microclimates, and dramatically improving the health and viability of local communities. It is now practiced on over 30,000 km² of land in the Niger Republic as well as Chad, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Mali.
Ecosystem Marketplace-State of Watershed Payments Featured September 7, 2010
How can we as a society address the many problems that plague the waterfront? How do we get people to be more mindful about their water use? How do we regulate pollution flowing into our waterways? How do we put a stop to the growing number of dead zones around the world? And how do we ensure that humans – and the plants and animals on which we depend – have access to the quantity and quality of water that they need to survive? This question – at its core – is what this publication is about. It is about one of the tools that can (and will increasingly) be used to resolve our water problems: Payments for Watershed Services (PWS). While PWS may not be the only solution, this document shows that in some parts of the world it can be part of the solution. In some cases it can help change the way we value water, and it can generate the resources needed to remediate and protect our watersheds. Here, for the first time ever, we have an attempt at cataloguing the use of PWS across the world connected to the amount of money being transacted. The emphasis here is on the word “attempt.” By its own admission this catalogue is not exhaustive. By means of online searches, interviews, questionnaires, emails, and phone calls, the Ecosystem Marketplace (EM) team has tried to get a sense of how this tool is being utilized: what is out there, who is doing what, and how much money is changing hands. But some pieces of the story were likely missed due to lack of or inconsistently reported information or oversight. Like all pioneering works, or better yet, like a first draft, this report (this story) is a work in progress.
