The project invested significantly in capacity building at the local and nation level through awareness raising on EbA/Eco-DRR, hands on field learning activities and training workshops. The project ensured that women were among those trained in all activities.

Local capacity building targeted mainly the five villages where the interventions took place but also involved representatives from villages who were involved in up-scaling the project interventions to a larger area of the wadi in the upstream section.  Awareness raising promote dialogue on dryland ecosystems and disaster risk management issues. 

Farm extension agents (2 in each village) were trained due to limited presence of the Government in the villages to provide agricultural extension support services. Moreover, eight community animal health workers also referred to as “paravets”, were trained on animal husbandry, treatment, animal drugs, feeding, and vaccination, through theoretical and practical sessions. The "paravets" also monitored the re-seeded pasture areas.

A national and a state-level training on Eco-DRR were also undertaken.

Building strong partnerships at the local and national level and working with the local community is essential for the implementation and overall success and sustainability of the project.

Furthermore it was essential to connect the local communities to government bodies and ensure the state takes joint ownership of the activities so that any future support that is needed can be sought from the government.

To support the Government of DRC in its national transition towards IWRM a Roadmap was developed to guide the development of a National Water Policy. The Roadmap outlines the principal orientation and necessary steps in the elaboration of the National Water Policy, the principal stakeholders involved, an initial work plan, and a fund mobilization strategy. DRR is also highlighted in the Roadmap as a priority theme along with capacity building and cross-sectoral coordination. This Roadmap is influenced by the IWRM experience in Lukaya and makes specific reference to DRR and the role of local communities in IWRM.

A National working group on Eco-DRR was also formed at the demand of the Government, who had interest in establishing a National Platform on DRR.

As this was DRC’s first experience in applying both the Eco-DRR, as well as IWRM approach, it was critically important to progressively develop and strengthen capacities over time, which involved:

• Awareness-raising;
• training and workshops;
• Hands-on learning activities in the field demonstration sites;
• Field visits and study tours both in the country and in the region.

There was a total of 71 trainings and workshops. These covered general meetings (inception and presentation); national awareness raising workshops on Eco-DRR and IWRM; workshops related to IWRM, the role of Eco-DRR in IWRM and action planning; trainings on hydro-meteorological monitoring, soil erosion monitoring and flood risk modelling; training on agroforestry and value chain production; and trainings on soil loss monitoring and bioengineering to reduce soil erosion.

This component aimed to promote ecosystem based measures and disaster risk reduction in Afghanistan where such work is budding only nationally. The project therefore identified entry points such as climate change adaptation work and promoted the overall concept of disaster risk reduction in the country with ecosystem-based measures as an integral component of DRR.

The creation of the Yaigojé Apaporis Indigenous Reserve and Natural National Park marked the beginning of a new relationship model between indigenous peoples and the Colombian Government. It was necessary to seek mechanisms to ensure the governance and integral conservation of their life systems, without interfering with their rights to their territorial autonomy and to the cultural management that they have traditionally carried out. Once the park was created, the process of formulating its Special Management Regime (REM) was initiated. This regime was the instrument through which the joint administration of the park was shared by the Colombian Natural National Parks (PNNC) and the Yaigojé Apaporis Indigenous Captains Association (ACIYA). Establishing the REM required an internal (or endogenous) research methodology, proposed by the indigenous communities and supported by the experience of the GAIA Amazonas Foundation. This methodology was based on the guidelines issued by an Amazon Indigenous Congress that identified the topics to be collected in each of the communities, in order to guide the design of the REM. This approach helped promote the participation of indigenous communities with three representatives and a shaman.

The Yaigojé Apaporis Indigenous Reserve was created in 1998 through a request of the indigenous Tanimuca, Yucana, Letuama, Matapí, Cabayari, Macuna, Barazano, and Yujup-Macú peoples. In 2008, through a consensus in an extraordinary session of the Traditional Authorities and the Indigenous Captains (ATCI), these communities decided to request the creation of a National Park overlapping the limits of the Reserve. The request was based on the consideration that this would eliminate the development of mining operations and other natural resources exploitation that might endanger biodiversity, their sacred sites and, as a consequence, their customs, social composition, and environmental context.

The creation of the Yaigojé Apaporis Indigenous Reserve and Natural National Park has a long process of working with the GAIA Amazonas Foundation, which had the technical and financial support of the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation. The decision to move to a Special Management Regime (REM) needed the have full local support, ensure the autonomy of the indigenous communities, and strengthen their traditional systems. In addition, it was necessary for them to have negotiation and coordination skills to establish an agreement with the State.

The National System of Protected Areas Act, enacted in July of 2000, established the Conservation Mosaic Approach. Mosaics are a “set of Conservation Units (UC) of equal or different category that are close, adjoining or overlapping, and other public or private protected areas” that are managed in an integrated manner, according to the goals of each UC.

To address the challenge of managing socio-environmental conflicts and optimizing human, financial, and material resources, the Bajo Río Negro Conservation Mosaic was established in 2010, with a total area of 7,329,220 hectares, and integrated by 11 UC, among them the Jaú National Park and the Unini RESEX. The implementation of this approach prioritizes conservation processes for larger areas, which allows for landscape integrated management of areas along the Jaú and Unini rivers to the north, and the Bajo Río Negro to the south of the mosaic. By viewing the protected areas like parts of a larger unit, functional and interconnected, it was necessary to include a participatory methodology in the design of management plans, that encouraged the participation of multiple actors in the decision-making process related to the administration of the territory and its natural resources.

In 1979, the area presently occupied by the Jaú National Park was proposed as a Biological Reserve, a management category that is restrictive toward exploitation of natural resources in Brazil. In 1980, the Jaú National Park was created, and since then it has the challenge of managing the high level of socio-environmental conflict in the area.

The Vitória Amazônica Foundation (FVA), with presence in the area since 1991, has applied innovative and participatory mapping methodologies for natural resources use, which were the basis for the development of its zoning and Management Plan, between 1996 and 1998, within a co-management contract with the Federal Government of Brazil. Years later, Brazil created the National System of Conservation Units (SNUC) and developed tools for building participatory processes. As a result, the FVA, as the technical collaborating institution of the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) provided support to local communities during the creation of the Unini River Extractive Reserve (RESEX), in a process that lasted until 2006, with the intention of guaranteeing access to natural resources and land tenure for the populations in the Jaú and Unini rivers.

The Amazonian border integration initiative known as the Tri-National Program, was promoted by the Administrators of three protected areas (The La Paya National Park-Colombia, the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve-Ecuador, and the Güeppí National Park-Peru), enabling a management optimization under a regionally coordinated model.

It all started in 2005 as a result of the dialogue efforts carried on by the representatives of the three Protected Areas. In 2006 the initiative was consolidated as the Tri-National Program, since then it has continuously been strengthened over time.

The first important decision towards financial support for the initiative, was sought trough an agreement among the environmental funds available in each of the three participating countries. Afterwards, additional financial support was pursued through several projects that could cover the expenses of priority lines such as protected and buffer area’s management, social participation, organizational capacity improvement and the conservation corridor´s enhancement.

In this context, the Goverments united to seek operational, technical and financial mechanisms to ensure the conservation and sustainable development of the Corridor, with the ambition of becoming a successful pilot experience of transboundary management.