Monitoring | PANORAMA

Creando una visión común del territorio a partir del agua

Para promover una conectividad operativa entre las diversas subcuencas, incluyendo ecosistemas y prácticas productivas, se buscó un hilo conductor que vinculara la dinámica de los diversos territorios y actores de la parte alta y de la parte baja de cada cuenca. El modelado de la provisión superficial de agua y del potencial de retención de sedimentos en las diversas subcuencas permitió identificar las relaciones emisor-receptor-acumulación, y de ahí empezar a conectar las dinámicas entre las zonas que demanda los SE (ej, poblaciones, zonas turísticas y hoteleras) y aquellos que los producen (zonas montañosas con cobertura forestal). A partir de ello, se reunió a los diversos actores para enseñarles las características de los territorios donde estos dos servicios estaban presentes y, sobre todo fomentar, a través de la generación de información clave, a nivel productivo y de servicios hidrológicos, que los actores de gobierno y de asociaciones civiles, se vieran en el territorio y se preguntaran qué se hace, cómo se hace, y por qué.

Contar con una red de ONGs locales con gran experiencia de trabajo en el territorio para poder proporcionar tutorias y acompañamiento a los productores;
Contar con materiales de enseñanza de gran calidad y métodos apropiados para las comunidades
Compromiso e interés de los diversos actores e instituciones locales hacia el proceso entero

La conectividad intrínseca en la metodología de los PAMIC ha probado ser un aspecto que atrae el interés de las instancias de gobierno y por los actores del territorio porque ayudan a identificar con quien trabajar en el territorio para trabajar estrategias productivas (ej. café, caña). Este aspecto permite a los actores locales, autoridades y usuarios del territorio ir entendiendo colectivamente los dinamismos entre las diversas subcuencas. Además, los PAMIC han favorecido el diálogo y el reconocimiento entre autoridades municipales de una misma cuenca sobre el tema del agua.

Gobernanza y arreglos inter-instituciones a diferentes niveles

Para la creación y desarrollo de los PAMIC, diversas instancias de gobierno pertenecientes al sector ambiental unieron esfuerzos y diseñaron un proyecto muy vanguardista e innovador que surge de la sincronía de tres instituciones de gobierno federal y de un fondo privado. El INECC coordina la construcción de los planes (PAMIC); la CONANP consolida la gestión y operación en ANPs, y la CONAFOR implementa el esquema de Pago por Servicios Ambientales (PSA) del fondo de biodiversidad. Por su parte, el FMCN contribuye con su experiencia en el manejo de esquemas de financiamiento; mediante dichos arreglos interinstitucionales, se formaron dos fondos más para detonar efectos. Además, el diseño de gobernanza y coordinación interinstitucional incluye un Comité Técnico del Proyecto que supervisa y dirige la operación del C6; una Unidad Coordinadora del Proyecto y dos Unidades Regionales de Proyecto, las cuales tienen la responsabilidad de la coordinación diaria en temas técnicos y logísticos. Este diseño de coordinación interinstitucional es parte esencial para generar mayores alcances en el ordenamiento del territorio buscando impactos colectivos.

Trabajo muy coordinado entre las instituciones con una visión clara sobre el uso de los instrumentos de financiamiento y gestión;
Interés de las instituciones por participar y contribuir con su experiencia y el apoyo que ellas brindan a través de sus programas de asistencia social, de subsidios, dirigidos a ciertos lugares;
Recursos financieros e institucionales suficientes.

Los esfuerzos de coordinación interinstitucional se vieron beneficiados por la creación de un esquema de gobernanza policéntrica, entre niveles y actores.Dicho esquema, respaldado por acuerdos formales entre las instituciones participantes, ha establecido de manera transparente las “reglas del juego” para todos los demás actores involucrados en el proyecto a nivel regional y local.Este aspecto de formalidad institucional ha derivado, en la práctica, en un instrumento de planeación muy dinámico que fortalece la toma de decisiones y que ayuda a cada actor, desde el nivel en donde está trabajando, a aprovechar los diversos elementos de planeación y de manejo del territorio. Así también, se ha visto que incrementa la confianza de las instituciones en los procesos territoriales a escala local. Por ejemplo, al mejorar las decisiones de las instancias gubernamentales para aterrizar recursos de sus programas. CONAFOR inició ya este camino incluyendo en sus criterios de prelación,favoreciendo a aquellas zonas que cuentan un PAMIC. Este criterio es tener capital para esquemas de conservación.

Implementation of mangrove restoration EbA measures

María Magdalena Del Cid Torres, integrante del Comité de Microcuenca El Aguacate

IUCN @ Paul Aragón

Vigilancia comunitaria en el manglar (comunidad Garita Palmera)

IUCN @ Paul Aragón

Under the leadership of the Istatén Association and the El Aguacate Microbasin Committee, the following EbA measures were implemented in favour of local livelihoods and their resilience to climate change.

Hereby, communities implemented their own solutions to the problems they identified, under the motto: Paz River: Life, Refuge and Food.

The measures included:

Unblocking and eliminating sediments from mangrove channels to allow fresh water to enter and restore optimum salinity levels.
Reforestation of degraded mangrove areas (as a result of indiscriminate felling /livestock grazing).
Community surveillance of key sites, with persons responsible assigned rotationally, in order to prevent mangrove felling and excessive species extraction, and ensure the protection of newly planted seedlings in reforested areas.
Design and implementation of a Local Plan for Sustainable Use (PLAS) that regulates the extraction from the mangrove of fish, crustaceans (crabs and shrimp) and mammals (periods, quantities and practices), for sustainable species management.

These measures seek to increase and manage the breeding area of those species of greatest economic interest and relevance for food. In addition, mangrove restoration has improved protection against storms and waves.

Joint implementation together with community development associations facilitate decision-making and collective mangrove actions.

Istatén Association comprises 3 communities (Garita Palmera, El Tamarindo, y Bola de Monte). It was created in 2011 with the purpose of community mangrove surveillance.
Aguacate river Micro watershed Committee, created in 2012, works on environmental challenges with a basin approach. The group comprises 40 local representatives.

It is key to support restoration efforts with biophysical studies that provide inputs for monitoring and evaluation and better decision-making regarding the intervention sites or the measures adopted, particularly the channel dredging and reforestation actions. It is also key to complement this with the empirical knowledge of the communities, generating a base of technical-scientific-social evidence that is pertinent and sustainable.

Implementation

Monitoring

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Asociación Istaten abriendo canales para la restauración de manglares

La vigilante de los manglares

Community based mangrove restoration

Pescadores se convierten en vigilantes del manglar

"Action learning" and monitoring to increase capacities and knowledge

Comité de Microcuenca El Aguacate trabajando en el desazolve de canales (comunidad El Tamarindo)

IUCN @ Paul Aragón

Manos a la obra en los manglares de la comunidad El Tamarindo

IUCN @ Paul Aragón

Action learning is a process that involves the implementation of EbA activities, coupled with a practical capacity building program for scaling up results. The process, in addition to enhance local communities' capacities and skills, generates evidence on EbA benefits through the implementation of a monitoring system aiming at policy makers. Some elements and steps in the process are:

Participatory assessment of communities’ socio-environmental vulnerability.
Prioritization of mangrove restoration sites, as an EbA measure, based on assessment and in complementation to traditional knowledge.
Participatory monitoring and evaluation of EbA effectiveness to food security. The research (22 families sample) aims to understand the benefits of restoration on their livelihoods.
Capacity building process to strengthen natural resource management, local advocacy and adaptive capacities, through:

Trainings and exchanges of experience on adaptation to climate change, watershed and water management, and sustainable mangrove management.
Technical support provided to the communities, to jointly undertake mangrove forest restoration.
Joint monitoring activities. With tangible evidence, communities are able to raise awareness and gain political advocacy capacities and access to financial resources.

Due to a weak governmental presence locally, the communities have promoted their own self-organization through Development Associations and other local structures (e.g. Environmental Committees), making room also for leadership and mobilization by women, all of which result in increased social capital.

Working with both with formal community's (e.g. through Development Associations) and other local civil society groups (e.g. Microbasin Committee) is key, as these entities have a direct interest in the success of the EbA measures to be implemented.
Local stakeholders can facilitate dissemination of the measures, and with it, their replication, as occurred with upstream communities in the Aguacate River basin, where takeholders became interested in the measures implemented downstream and proposed the creation of a broader forum (a 'Mangrove Alliance') for the entire Salvadoran coast.

UNES y UICN diagnosticaron las condiciones ecológicas y sociales del manglar de…

La vigilante de los manglares

Intercambio de experiencias para aprender sobre el manejo en Garita Palmera

Capacity building to ensure the ecosystem approach

Reforestación para protección de fuentes de agua

Plan Trifinio @ Miguel Arévalo

Conservación de agua y suelos por medio de acequias de ladera

IUCN @ Paul Aragón

Bosque de aguacate

Plan Trifinio @ Miguel Arévalo

To improve local governance in the Sumpul River, it was crucial to mainstream the ecosystem approach into land management, and train accordingly water local governance structures, local authorities, and farmers. Together they implement EbA measures to face drought and variability such as: soil conservation practices, protected spring water and implemented agroforestry systems.

Capacity building was delivered to:

>100 farmers through a "learning by doing" approach to attain demonstrative results in the field. The EbA measures implemented focused on the ecosystem services of water and soil, on productive diversification and on mitigating the impacts of climate change and variability (winds and extreme rainfall) on crops and goods and improve water infiltration and availability in the area.
Water Committes on organizational and management skills as well as on integral water management, in order to influence their understanding of the importance of water ecosystem services.
Leader and farmer women were trained on communication skills.
Municipal officers were part of a regional climate change adaptation training and exchange of experience with other 30 local governements of Mesoamerica.

Synergies with existing projects and local organizations such as Plan Trifinio were crutial.

Exchanges of experience contribute to training processes and to motivate participants to take part in water governance, and recognize the learning value of actions that are carried out.
Ensuring the capacities of local organization is key to ensure the provision of water ecosystem services, and will always be a good investment.

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

Implementación de los proyectos AVE-BRIDGE

Panama hosted Meeting of local governments on climate change

Community Leaders Train to Become Better Communicators

Developing flexible governance frameworks for adaptation

Asamblea de la ADESCO Los Alvarados

Plan Trifinio @ Miguel Arévalo

Día de Campo: Aprendiendo sobre el beneficio de los bosques

Plan Trifinio @ Miguel Arévalo

Governance for adaptation requires flexible policy and legal frameworks. Therefore, the upper sub-basin’s governance platforms required management instruments that would enable those adaptation options and forms of governance that brought about the greatest socio-environmental benefits to be valued and institutionalized. The Internal Regulations of several ADESCO Water Committees and the sub-basin’s Binational Community Committee were drafted, with the latter also updating its Strategic Plan (five-year plan) and Annual Operating Plan.

The process took into account new dynamics and trends in the sub-basin, as well as the EbA approach. The formulation of municipal policies was also supported (Local Adaptation Plans for La Palma and San Ignacio, El Salvador). Given that adaptation to climate change is immersed in a series of uncertainties about future climate impacts and development trajectories, these frameworks and instruments must be constantly evolving, always taking into account lessons derived from field and governance experiences. In this way, adaptation to climate change can move forward under a flexible approach, and through iterative cycles, generate short-term strategies in view of long-term uncertainties.

The continuous presence and the rooting in the territory of Plan Trifinio is a powerful enabling factor that provides flexibility in decision making and also vertical scaling. This trinational entity works closely with communities and knows the territory well, yet also has political weight and leverage with authorities, as it is part of the Central American Integration System and is chaired by the Vice Presidents and Presidential Delegate of three countries (El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras).

The Sumpul sub-basin has an Integral Management Plan, the implementation of which falls on all sub-basin stakeholders, and which could be revitalized based on the progress made with EbA and the strengthening of governance for adaptation. Flexible governance should contemplate the monitoring, evaluation and updating of this Integral Management Plan based on lessons of implementes projects.
The new management instruments prepared by the sub-basin’s governance platforms should in future be evaluated to determine how effective they were as adaptation responses. Any adjustments that result from this analysis will be a sign of flexible governance.

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

“Soluciones Naturales y Gobernanza de la Adaptación al Cambio Climático”

Community and community institutions

At the village level, project planning, implementation and monitoring is driven by a Community Based Institution (CBI). The CSOs sensitize the communities and mobilize them to form CBIs. The CSOs prioritize reviving existing CBIs rather than forming new institutions.

Each village CBI comprises representatives/ leaders from the village community. To ensure equitable representation, the community undertakes a village wealth ranking exercise, with help from the CSO partners. This exercise categorizes the village families into four strata – prosperous, semi-prosperous, poor, and poorest. Representatives from all strata are included in the CBI.

The wealth ranking also forms the basis of implementing all household level project interventions. A landless family which is categorized ‘poorest’ will be given first preference for livelihood development activities in the village. This structure ensures that the most vulnerable are supported through the project. The CBIs and CSOs also create village level plans or vision documents.

These plans are the guiding documents for the villages and are created to address the prevalent issues in each village. These plans also help the project to adopt a bottoms-up approach of implementation and address the most pressing issues of the village

Setting the right expectations with community

Participatory and transparent approach: bottoms-up mode of planning and implementation

Selection of the most vulnerable communities

Community contribution and ownership in all project interventions

Each CBI has a nominated President, secretary and treasurer who carry the joint responsibility to initiate preparation of village level development plans, overlook its implementation and monitoring at the village level. This structure can vary depending on the existing institutions and community preference.

Essential to involve community is all aspects of planning and take their inputs before finalizing activities

Before the project was initiated the proponents undertook a detailed vulnerability assessment. After project initiation, the project team spent a great deal of time in identifying village level issues with each community.

Building rapport with the community takes a lot of time (as much as a year). This has to be considered before initiating implementaiton of activities within a village.

Community institutions need time to be functional. It is worth spending time to build a strong foundation before initiating intensive work on livelihood/ conservation initiatives. Robust institutions were deemed important towards achieving project sustainability. There are instances where CBIs in project villages (without the intervention of the CSO) took a lead to solve village level issues/ conflicts and initiate development conservation measures.

Implementation

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RBS Foundation India - leading the KPC initiative

RBS FI mission is to build resilience of India’s ecologically critical landscapes and the vulnerable communities which reside within these. With this view, RBS FI has been supporting its partner CSO – FES since 2010 in the KPC landscape.

Overtime, RBS FI recognized that KPC is facing threats that hamper its functionality as a wildlife corridor, carbon sink, watershed, and livelihood source. These threats are multi-dimensional and to address these there is a need to get relevant stakeholders together and working towards a common goal. (esp. in absense of a single leading legal framework)

Multiiple stakeholders with varying interests and orientations exist and influence a landscape, including the community that resides within. It is thus critical to create a balance within these stakeholders. Getting stakeholders together requires a driving force - it can be an individual/ group /organisation/a set of organisations - they can be a public/private or a civil society.

RBS FI took a lead role in getting all the stakeholders together, including Forest Department, CSOs and other government agencies. Contributed self funds of USD 2.12 million and leveraged another USD 2.56 from UN Climate Adaptation Fund. RBS FI continues to contribute with time and resources towards the well being of KPC

- Long term engagement with the landscape, RBS FI has been working in the KPC since 2010.

- Continuous flow of financing for the project interventions. RBS FI, CSOs and government agencies have ensured that efforts are ongoing in the landscape through provision of sustainable financing

- Having a flexible approach

- Encouraging CSOs and government agencies with strong ideologies to work together requires having a flexible approach and engaging with the agencies involved regularly.

Continuous engagement, especially with government agencies is required, especially since corridors don’t enjoy a special legal framework. While they do get covered under a combination of them corridors comprise of protected areas, territorial divisions, revenue and private lands where there are multiple legal systems at work including Forest Department, Revenue Department and others.

Another challenge is that government officers keep getting transfered to other roles in the system, and we have to start rapport and context building with them from scratch.

Thus, creating institutions like the PSC and ensuring that they become robust is essential in initiatives like these. Such institutions put the onus on the government and its representations to ensure continuity of one streamlined approach in the landscape to address the most pressing issues.

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Civil Society Organisations - Thematic experts and driving implementation

The project is being implemented by four CSOs.

FES

Core expertise/ issues addressed: Commons governance

Institutional Development; Eco Restoration; Invasive species management

7,500 families in 87 villages in Mandla and Balaghat Districts

www.fes.org.in/

PRADAN

Core expertise/ issues addressed: Gender issues; Women self-help groups; Women centric livelihoods; Small enterprises – poultry, goat rearing.

10,000 families in 136 villages in Balaghat District.

www.pradan.net/

WOTR

Core expertise/ issues addressed: Watershed treatment; Agricultural development; Agro advisories using local weather stations; disaster risk reduction, Knowledge Management

4,000 families in 132 villages in Seoni District.

www.wotr.org/

BAIF

Core expertise/ issues addressed:- Livestock management; Selective breed improvement; Feed and disease management; Dairy value chains

BAIF has livestock expertize, working in all three districts and supporting all 3 partner CSOs on livestock management.

www.baif.org.in/

The CSO partners work in tandem. They undertake regular cross-learning & best practices sharing to ensure that the threats to KPC are addressed holistically. The CSOs form an important building block of the larger "working together" concept.

Enabling factors include - adopting a transparent and participative approach.

Recognizing and appreciating the efforts and expertise of each CSO working in the landscape.

Identifying their core skills and helping them adopt core skills of other CSOs

A catalyst is required - to get the CSOs working together and build relationships/partnerships. This takes a lot of time and effort. Requires the stakeholders involved to be flexible and make joint efforts for the greater good of the landscape.

Having a set of partners working in the same landscape with a set of diverse core skills made RBS FI recognize the need to help these CSOs in identifying areas of improvement to achieve one common goal.

With this view cross learning and best practice sharing was established. This helped all the CSOs working together appreciate efforts of one other and incorporate others CORE skills into their project too.

PRADAN learnt from FES, started appreciating the important role commons play and started incorporating conservation efforts in their plan of activities. They initiated a dialogue in their villages to conserve and use natural resources sustainably.

FES from PRADAN, recognized the role women plan in conservation and started gender focussed activities and started encouraging women partcipation in the village institutions

WOTR learnt from FES, recognized the importance of invasive species eradication and techniques of eradication. FES learnt from WOTR the benefits of watershed development and so on.

These CSOs are now regularly adopting best practices from one another

Implementation

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local

Project Steering Committee to institutionalise partnerships

The project includes a multi layered - governing and implementing framework. The Project Steering Committee forms the highest level of this framework. The PSC is chaired by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Madhya Pradesh Forest Department, and co- chaired by the Head, RBS FI. Other members of the PSC include:

Representatives from the Indian Forest Services; ( the Field Director of Kanha Tiger Reserve, the Field Director of Pench Tiger Reserve, and the Chief Conservator of Forests of the Mandla, Balaghat and Seoni Districts);

A representative of the National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development, Government of India;

Concerned government agencies from the State Govt. of Madhya Pradesh comprising the Farmer welfare and Agriculture Department, the New and Renewable Energy Department and the Animal Husbandry Department;

The Regional General Manager of the Forest Development Corporation;

The Chief Functionary/ representatives of Implementing CSO partners as well as the Civil Society Organisations (including the ones implementing the project)

The PSC meets every 6 months. It provides supervision for the implementation of the project activities. It facilitates collaboration among its diverse membership for intensifying project impacts. It resolves any challenges.

The PSC brings the concerned government agencies, with their respective mandates, manpower and government funding, together with the Civil Society Organizations, who bring specialized technical skills in natural resource management and other fields. This requires the willingness on behalf of the senior government officials to participate in such a forum. It requires a high level of technical expertise from the participating Civil Society Organizations to provide valuable inputs into the multi-stakeholder forum.

The multi-stakeholder membership of the PSC provides an important institutional platform for ensuring sustainablity of the interventions. Chairmanship of the PSC is provided by a senior government official (the Chief Wildlife Warden of the State of Madhya Pradesh - a senior Indian Forest Service officer), which ensures excellent coordination among concerned government agencies, and collabration with other stakeholders who are working in the Kanha Pench Corridor.

The diverse membership, and mix of stakeholders, with different knowledge and perspectives, share lessons learned and experiences with each other. The CSOs can interact directly with the Government agency representatives which ensures that their respective livelihood schemes are implemented effectively. The PSC also allows the project team to have a dialogue with relevant government agencies and ensures that viable on-going government schemes are leveraged for the project area.

Implementation

Monitoring

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