Monitoring | PANORAMA

Hand Holding and support for sustaining the pilots

A crucial element of the strategy was to ensure that participating farmers were constantly hand-held and provided with both technical and material support to achieve what they had started. Each farmer was in constant touch with representatives of the implementing partner agency and this enabled them to address issues that arose along their efforts to ground the pilots.

Deep commitment of representative implementing partner agency
Close networking between the participating farmers increases cross-learning

A constant assistance is required at the initial stages of grounding the demonstration pilots
Due care is required that each and every possible shortcoming is address in order to maintain a high level of confidence

Modelo de desarrollo innovador integral, integrado e integrador

Con este modelo se han implementado sistemas agrarios sostenibles, producción agroecológica de hortalizas, ganadería eficiente con silvopasturas, elaboración de productos regionales ( derivados lácteos, mermeladas), turismo ecológico, etc.

Esto ha sido posible gracias a una estrategia bien diseñada e integradora con el foco puesto en prácticas de conservación y restauración del ecosistema.

Ha sido fundamental también la comercialización asociativa en los mercados locales y en la tienda comunitaria de la Corporación microempresarial Yunguilla.

La lección que hemos aprendido aquí es que para que una propuesta de conservación sea aceptada, implementada y sostenida por la comunidad, es necesario que los resultados obtenidos deban también derivarse en beneficios de tipo económicos y de desarrollo para la población.

Implementation

Monitoring

Local

Gobernanza fortalecida y alto grado de involucramiento

El alto grado de compromiso asumido e involucramiento por parte de la comunidad han sido factores determinantes en el éxito de este caso, es dable mencionar que este proyecto fue impulsado y materializado por personas que son mayormente oriundas de la región, lo que genera un mayor sentido de pertenencia y de compromiso.

Esto ha sido posible gracias a la capacidad de decisión en todo el proceso, la gestión ha sido primordial para alcanzar los niveles de autogestión y consolidación actuales. Específicamente para la gestión del ACUS se ha conformado un comité de gestión ambiental integrado por el DMQ (Distrito Metropolitano Quito) y los actores del territorio logrando una fuerte cohesión de la comunidad regional.

La lección que ha dejado esta herramienta es que a mayor grado de invocramiento, mejores son los resultados y si bien son muchos los obstáculos a sortear, es posible superarlos con ese gran sentido de pertenecia y compromiso con el proyecto y nuestro territorio.

Implementation

Monitoring

Local

Plan de vida, como instrumento de gestión

Este "plan de vida" funciona como una herramienta integral de gestión que toma en consideración la preservación de zonas de vegetación natural, su restauración, la continuidad del paisaje, generando a su vez alternativas productivas sustentables y consensuadas con pobladores locales.

Para lograr la efectiva implementación del Plan de Vida, ha sido clave el establecimiento de acuerdos sociales de uso del suelo para restaurar y promover la regeneración natural del bosque y fortalecer el sistema de control y vigilancia para una buena gestión y mejor gobernanza. Resaltamos que la promoción de la participación comunal ha sido muy importante y ha generado espacios para sensibilizar y educar a la población, y así, lograr la consecución de los objetivos propuestos.

Un aprendizaje que nos deja esta experiencia es que debemos contar con el apoyo de la comunidad y un gran sentido de concientización de todos los actores involucrados para seguir trabajando juntos y educándonos para mejorar las técnicas de producción sostenibles que permiten un menor imparcto negativo en el ecosistema y en nuestro medio ambiente, nuestro hogar.

Implementation

Monitoring

Local

Transforming a scientific monitoring in a social and touristic event

After the restaurant, ready for the census !

Emanuele Perez

Becoming friends, having lunch before the deer census

Emanuele Perez

Explanations by the Park staff

Emanuele Perez

Scientific monitoring tools become multitask tools

Arianna Sanesi

The management of protected areas through conservation activities is normally separated from tourist use activities. Creating a connection between the two activities can be a tool to solve many problems, showing everybody that the Park's activities are part of a single and complex strategy.

The red deer census in Foreste Casentinesi National Park is at the same time an important action of wildlife monitoring and a big touristic event, based on high quality tourism. It directly involves, during four days in low touristic season, local accomodations like mountain huts and "agriturismi" (farms), environmental guides and interpreters, restaurants and other economic enterprises.

The volunteers involved in the census are on average young and obviously take this opportunity also as an opportunity for recreation in nature and meeting people with their same passion. The census activities and the presence of hundreds of voluntueers from many Italian and foreign locations are quite visible to all the local population, also through the media.

Thanks to the deer census, the National Park becomes the venue for a major national event of conservation and this is much appreciated by the local communities.

One of the keys for managing national parks is to use forms of development as conservation tools. The deer census, as organized in the Casentinesi Forests National Park, is an excellent example of this strategy. Thanks to the census, the local people look at the deer and its conservation activities as an opportunity for socio-economic development.

At the same time, the volunteers find a rare opportunity to be protagonists of the park management for a couple of days, feeling themselves being real part of it.

This experience demonstrates how environmental conservation can coincide with opportunities for sustainable socio-economic development.

Improvement of socio-economic conditions through conservation

From the social point of view, the project model achieves reasonably and cost-effectively, in a relatively short time (1-2 years), to generate production conditions that improve the quality of life of the beneficiaries' families in two ways: the incorporation of a more varied diet that includes more vegetables, fruits, and proteins (chickens and eggs) and the diversification of productive activities that in turn increase the economic income received by the families.

Sustainable agricultural practices: The transition from unsustainable activities to sustainable activities provides noticeable positive results regarding production.
Knowledge exchange: The project connects traditional and scientific knowledge, thereby, providing more integral approaches (different ways of knowing, value of water beyond the tangible, social, economic, ecological, and spiritual).
Understanding the community: The project staff is from the region and are farmers, ensuring that the project's ideas and objectives align with the community's needs, such as, dietary needs, ecotourism interests, etc. The number of families interested in participating in the project is growing, which attests to its success.

Monitoring: The comparison of the project's pre- and post-implementation situation provides evidence of this building block's importance. These data are complemented by information and figures on post-phase production, which allow us to account for the magnitude of the change achieved in terms of improvement in the beneficiaries' quality of life.

Implementation

Monitoring

Local

Reconstruction of the social fabric as a catalyst element

This project has helped to rebuild the social fabric, allowing neighbors and members of the villages to get to know each other and work together through training (Agroforestry Field Schools) and the implementation of productive group activities such as beekeeping, community conservation areas and demonstrations plots in the villages, allowing the recovery of values such as trust, credibility, friendship and the definition of rules of the game and co-responsibilities. One of the most important elements of the project is to achieve the union between the people of the villages and the institutions and organizations dedicated to promoting sustainable development.

Mutual cooperation
As local as possible: Project staff come from the region and are farmers themselves. Selecting staff as locally as possible has ensured that challenges are addressed appropriately and in a timely manner and has increased confidence in the project process and outcomes.
Willingness to be flexible to the community's needs: Each farm cohort (vereda) has unique challenges and needs, and adapting to them with flexibility has ensured that the veredas can strengthen and enhance their opportunities based on their interests.

Connection to the territory: The project has strengthened the opportunities for families to return and stay longer on the farms to carry out planned activities, especially women and children who were displaced to the urban center during the years of violence.

Implementation

Monitoring

Local

Internal and external financial sustainability

The financial resources for developing policies and actions aimed at environmental recovery, protection, and conservation come from both national and international aid from public and private institutions.

The initiative is part of the 2019-2023 Action Plan of the Local System of Protected Areas Committee (SILAP, Sistema Local de Áreas Protegidas) of the Municipality of San Juan Nepomuceno and the strategies of the Los Colorados Flora and Fauna Sanctuary Management Plan to guarantee its biological viability, which is why long-term continuity of the activities is expected.

Roles: Articulation of stakeholders' roles and investment of long-term resources.
Trust: Trust in the partnership, both from an institutional and stakeholder point of view, which bridges times of financial difficulties.

Playing to your strengths: Several organizations work on nature conservation in the region; therefore, leveraging each organization's strengths opens up more funding opportunities.
Trust: The project has led to the construction of trust around the relevance of sustainable resources management on different public and private scales (governance), which increases the likelihood of continuity and funding.

Implementation

Monitoring

Local

Monitoring nature mixing people and cultures.

Hunters, students, rangers togheter

Gloria Grillanda

Becoming friends in the middle of the forest

Arianna Sanesi

One of the most important recipe for the success of the deer census is that each couple of operators has to be composed of people from different categories: beginners with experts, hunters with animal activists, rangers with students, people from different regions, etc.

Every night the couples composition is different, so all the participants have the opportunity to meet different people and different areas of the National Park.

Also the social and scientific events are organized to emphasize the occasions of experience exchange between all different kinds of participants.

The entire organization is focused on mixing participants of different categories as an important rule for the succes of the project.

The registration and logistics organization software created and managed by the Park agency do not allow the participants to express rigid preferences on accomodation and on pairing with specific persons during the official activities.

All participants are being informed why these rules are so important.

Combining people of different categories is an important rule for this monitoring activity, mainly for three reasons:

operators of the same category could have an interest in altering the data on the censed number of deer: if hunters declare more deer they could be called to reduce that number; for the same reason animal activists could have the interest in declaring a reduced number.
in the past, it happened that couples of operators of the same category (expecially hunters, that are obliged to partecipate to have the hunting permission) decided to rest in the forest instead of counting deer in a proper way. Mixed couples are controlling each others.
mixed couples are the best opportunity to exchange experiences and to break down cultural barriers.

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

Subnational

National

To create a model of integrated development of the scenic and the urban areas and raise local communities’ living standards

Er’dao Baihe Town

Rongjie Zhang

In order to reduce the pressures on the environmental capacity of Changbai Mountain Scenic Area, a total of RMB6 billion has been invested since 2010 to build 32 new scenic sites and 10 squares at and near Er’dao Baihe Town, a town neighbouring the northern part of Changbai Mountain Scenic Area. In 2019, Er’dao Baihe Town was rated as an AAAA Scenic Area, one of the national exemplary areas for integrated tourism, and accredited as an international Cittaslow town by Cittaslow International. Er’dao Baihe Town has become an open and free-of-charge scenic area and aims to offer high standard services for tourism, leisure and recreation. While providing high-quality and well-managed leisure space for local residents, it also help stimulate the development of accommodation and catering businesses in Changbai Mountain’s neighbouring communities. A new development model of sharing and co-building that serves tourists and brings happiness to local residents is hence achieved.

1. Thorough data analysis was conducted on recent years’ tourism in Changbai Mountain and the ecological carrying capacity of Changbai Scenic Area is hence determined based on science.

2. A scientific and sound tourism plan was formulated based on statistics. 3. Secured sufficient funding ensured the implementation of the planned projects.

Special attention should be given to localisation during the urbanisation process of the scenic area. Native ecology should still be the underpinning foundation and preserved as most as possible. The emphasis should be put on maintaining and highlighting local distinctive features instead of the sheer scale of urban development. It should be avoided that the authenticity of local landscapes or characteristics are destroyed only to copy a model of other places or cities.

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results