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Strengthening the market based on forest products

The Manuripi National Amazon Wildlife Reserve builds its sustainability based on the management and harvesting of Amazonian fruits within the territory. The measures adopted within the different links of the value chain are very important to achieve benefits for the local population.

The valuation of forest products is maintained or improved to promote these activities and the country and region provide support to improve production.
The prices of these products are stable or rising and promote a profit for the harvesters.
The certification provided by the reserve motivates harvesting activities to continue with a vision of economic benefits, environmental sustainability and social responsibility, which demonstrates a triple impact project.

Financial sustainability is a mitigator of social and environmental conflicts since many of the population requires support in establishing viable alternatives for local progress. Once the forest products have been identified and the productive chain has been analyzed, investments help to improve production and general satisfaction with the conservation of nature through sustainable use.

Youth engagement

Tree Nursery management

Yes

Youth centric approach

Leadership and capacity building of community members and school learners.

Engaging the youths is vital for sustainable development and build back better

Documentation and dissemination of results

Review phase

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Self-help

Capacity building training

Yes

The project used locally available personnel and resources hence ensuring sustainability.

Strong local leadership from the community and primary school was the most important enabling factor.

Future belongs to the organised.

Documentation and dissemination of results

Review phase

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Promote the implementation of benefit-sharing policy

On September 24, 2021, with the consent of the People's Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the Measures for the Administration of Access to Biological Genetic Resources and Related Traditional Knowledge and Benefit Sharing (for Trial Implementation) was promulgated and implemented by the Department of Ecology and Environment of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, which becomes the first provincial regulation on access to biological genetic resources and related traditional knowledge and benefit-sharing in China.

Access to biological genetic resources and related traditional knowledge and benefit-sharing in Guangxi have been standardized and legalized.

The consent of governmental bodies and local communities are necessary to ensure success.

Signing of transitional agreements for Participatory Ecological Restoration (REP)

The agreements are made in order to preserve the integrity of AFIW National Park through the liberation of transformed areas through restoration, rehabilitation, recovery, sustainable use and conservation processes.

The following methodological route was developed for this process:

Socialization of the strategy and the Local Sustainable Development program of the European Union.
Work plan agreement.
Field day and survey of property information.
Socialization of the results and selection of beneficiaries.
Workshops on the content and scope of the agreement and construction of the portfolio of alternatives.
Signing of the REP agreements was framed within the procedures established by the National Natural Parks within the guidelines of Participatory Ecological Restoration and the strategy of Use, Occupation and Tenure.
Process of acquisition and delivery of inputs and materials for good living.
Follow-up and monitoring of REP agreements.

Available funding sources such as budgetary support from the European Union.
Willingness of key stakeholders to sign transitional agreements for Participatory Ecological Restoration.

As a contribution to land use planning and conservation objectives of the protected area, workshops were held to socialize and agree with the prioritized families on a land planning proposal that would contribute to improving their living conditions without altering the natural dynamics of the ecosystems. These workshops considered information corresponding to the PA zoning and its permitted activities, taking into account that the zoning process is proposed by the PA as a proposal presented to them. Based on the above, PA management was identified as a process that should be carried out jointly with the stakeholders involved in the search for sustainable improvement of their production systems.

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

Review phase

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Strengthening of organizational capacity.

Community training

Archivo PNN Alto Fragua Indi Wasi

Create spaces of trust between peasant leaders and the PNN by addressing issues prioritized by them, in order to strengthen their organizational capacity.

To achieve this process, the following activities were carried out:

Identification of key actors and Community Action Boards.
Diagnosis on the organization and participation (it allowed to analyze the roots of the communal processes, their strengths and weaknesses).
Analysis of projects being developed in the area to identify initiatives that could leverage PA management in addressing the situation of use, occupation and tenure.
Design and execution of the cross-cutting agenda for training and capacity building of community leaders. The topics covered were the following: Colombian environmental regulations, conflict management and resolution, mechanisms for citizen and community participation, peace agreements between the FARC-EP and the Government, land use planning with emphasis on Peasant Reserve Zones, project formulation and management, associativity and cooperativism.
Generation of meetings between local and regional peasant organizations as a strategy for the exchange of experiences.

Available funding sources such as budgetary support from the European Union.
Acknowledgement by the farming communities regarding the existence of a protection figure and willingness of key stakeholders to receive training.

Community training exercises on Colombian environmental regulations need to be strengthened.
Strengthening of community organizations in organizational and technical aspects.
Support organizations in identifying institutional or private initiatives that can support local processes in this area.
Take into account the ecotourism approach in the buffer zone as an economic alternative.
Stimulate the strengthening of the Environmental Committees of the Community Action Boards located in the Buffer Zone and linked to social control exercises for conservation.

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Socioeconomic characterization of the families.

Socioeconomic characterization

Archivo PNN Alto Fragua Indi Wasi

With the socioeconomic characterization of the families, the status of the use and tenure situation within the PA has been identified, which in turn has allowed the PNN to orient its governance and land planning actions. In turn, this has allowed the PNN to orient its governance and land planning actions. In order to achieve the socioeconomic characterization of the farming families, several activities were carried out, which are described below.

Surveys to obtain primary information on the following variables:

Population according to gender and age.

Family composition

Educational level by gender

Occupation by gender

Health.

Access to state programs.

Housing characteristics.

Basic sanitation.

Accessibility: access roads, means of transportation and travel time.

Identification of production systems.

Field visits: Visit to the farms and verification of the information provided in the surveys. Also, georeferencing of the boundaries and land use of the property, water intake where the water is taken for family consumption and the site of the house were carried out.

Use of Geographic Information Systems: Aimed at processing the information collected in the field and in turn generate maps with the polygons of the farms and the location of the families.

Funding from the European Union, WWF, ACT and other projects such as: Conservation of the Biodiversity of the Colombian Massif, Strengthening of Community Autonomy around Life, Territory, Environment, in Amazonian sub-regions, Moore Foundation Piedemonte Andino Amazónico, Conservation actions in 8 National Parks in the area of influence of the Colombian Massif.
Availability of GIS
Recognition of the existence of a PA by the rural communities and willingness of the inhabitants to provide information.

Strengthening of the trust process with the farming families, in which the park team, through constant rapprochement and implementation of different exercises and actions, is able to maintain and improve a relationship of familiarity and closeness, which they have been working on for some time.
The PNN technical team has acquired expertise in conducting this type of socio-economic characterization.

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One Health Proactive Approach

WAB-Net takes a One Health approach in conducting collaborative research and training programs in West Asia, bringing regional expertise that are otherwise siloed in sectors of human, animal, and environmental health. Samples taken from bats across the region are screened for known and novel coronaviruses; human behaviors that could present a spillover risk are identified. WAB-Net serves as the unifying point of virology, bat ecology, and public health initiatives in the region. By coordinating conversations between experts in diverse fields of study, opportunities for novel research questions, more comprehensive agendas, and better-informed policy recommendations are created and implemented.

EcoHealth Alliance, with experts on global One Health research and policy, serves as WAB-Net’s facilitators and instills a One Health lens on all of its work. Previous experience with bringing together experts from diverse fields and finding commonalities across topics enables them to effectively carry out multi-disciplinary endeavors in a politically volatile region.

As demonstrated by the COVID-19 global crisis, mitigation efforts after a spillover event occurs often are more costly to both public health and the global economies. A proactive approach to pandemic prevention is made possible through WAB-Net’s work of monitoring both potentially zoonotic viruses in bat populations and human behavior. WAB-Net’s focus on both research objectives and training efforts enhances biosafety throughout all steps of the research process. The collaborative nature of the One Health approach creates more comprehensive and effective recommendations for public health, conservation efforts, and disease management.

Design of experiences based on natural, historical and cultural attractions.

Sea Turtle Training

Cristian García

The design of experiences based on natural, historical, and cultural attractions is intended to promote environmental awareness and convey the importance of conservation of the marine protected area. The process for designing these experiences is based on national guidelines and advances in the knowledge of Gorgona NP, including continuous dialogue with visitors and stakeholders in the territory. Subsequently, the information is analyzed in an integrated manner, and interpretation scripts are developed for terrestrial and marine environments that are made viable through operational and logistical support according to the capacities of Gorgona NP. Some experiences that have been identified are: Enchantments of the Deep and Cultural Heritages and the Enchanting Island. Finally, the positive and negative impacts of ecotourism activities are monitored and satisfaction surveys are conducted.

Resolution 1531-1995 regulates activities in the PNNG, for the entry, stay, and permitted and disallowed activities of visitors.
Definition of tourist carrying capacity for the three main beaches of the PNNG, with total average estimates between 80 and 120 people, and restrictions for specific trails. For the 9 main dive sites, total averages are between 27 and 60 divers per day, depending on weather conditions and operational capacity.

Need for updated information on natural attractions based on traditional knowledge, monitoring and research.
Implementation of global, national, regional and local ecotourism priorities, according to the dynamics of the territory.
PNN officials' knowledge of the territory for the educational processes of trail interpretation.
Among the aspects to improve, it is important to provide continuity to the administrative, technical, and operational processes, which should be balanced between the needs and expectations of the communities and the development of the nature tourism sector.

Implementation

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

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Determination of ecotourism in Gorgona NP based on the application of criteria and indicators.

Resolution 531 of 2013 establishes guidelines for the planning and management of ecotourism in the areas administered by the Colombian National Natural Parks System, based on 8 criteria, 2 biophysical and 6 social. The criteria are as follows:(i) areas with over-represented ecosystems in the SPNNC; (ii) PAs with greater anthropic pressures; (iii) PAs with a tendency to increase visitor income; (iv) PAs with work plans involving stakeholders for ecotourism; v) Existence of political and planning conditions for ecotourism development; vi) PAs with greater accessibility; vii) PAs with infrastructure facilities for ecotourism development; and viii) PAs that work together with local communities in productive processes. As a result of the evaluation of the criteria, the PNNG obtained a score that allowed it to identify such management, promoting processes that contribute to the generation of development opportunities for local and regional populations, based on the sustainable use of nature.

Criteria tested in the areas administered by National Parks of Colombia recognizing the main ecological structure that supports ecotourism activities, from values under conservation as the tropical rainforest, marine ecosystems and the richness of fauna and flora that contain the marine protected area.
Geological, fossiliferous and archaeological heritage that keeps the Gorgona Island, along with the cultural connotation that has the operation of a prison on the island until 1984.

Ecotourism vocation (EV) is the set of conditions and characteristics that determine the aptitude of a PA to establish ecotourism as a conservation strategy, contributing to fulfill the environmental and social function of the NNP, promoting the social valuation of nature and the recognition of ecotourism among local, regional and national stakeholders as an alternative that contributes to the conservation of natural and cultural heritage.
The evaluation is carried out not only at the PA level, but also on the basis of a system analysis, in which criteria are evaluated equally for all areas, identifying opportunities and threats to them; in this way, the viability of implementing ecotourism as a conservation strategy is defined. To achieve this vocation, it is necessary to include social participation in the PA; therefore, the park team, together with different community and institutional actors, have worked on the implementation of good ecotourism practices to achieve the 2030 global agenda.

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