Monitoring | PANORAMA

Management for the identification of biodiversity and participatory and motivational management for the restoration of Protected Areas.

Secretariat of Environment and Agricultural Development Envigado

SILAPE participation

Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo Agropecuario Envigado

In addition to the formality and territorial planning related to the Local System of Protected Areas, the municipality, based on environmental management, developed the following components as a highly important strategy:

- Promotion of incentives for community and landowner participation to restore natural protective vegetation that improves ecological connectivity and functionality.

- Awareness-raising and education actions to promote knowledge of the biodiversity of municipal ecosystems and the importance of SILAPE as a strategy to conserve this functionality and strategic ecosystems.

- Identifying the biodiversity of the different groups as fundamental knowledge to take actions for their conservation and encourage participation in conservation and conservation decisions in land use planning.

- Actions to protect endangered fauna in sites of connectivity disruption and vulnerability of highly important fauna species. Includes implementation of aerial wildlife crossings (61 installed).

- The knowledge of local biodiversity based on technological tools that generated videos and clear images made it possible to see the important and abundant biodiversity of species, thus allowing unusual conservation decisions to be made in a territory that is part of a Metropolitan Area with high urban growth.

- The environmental management of the Secretariat of Environment in the different periods of governance has included the issue of Protected Areas as a component of high importance.

- Ecosystem conservation depends on local enthusiasm and identification of the importance of biodiversity and strategic ecosystems.

- Management plans and conservation proposals must be included in land use plans.

- Protected area management should be approached from a regional perspective so that each municipality takes the model and implements it in its own municipality with a logic of connectivity and ecosystem globality.

- The participation of research institutions in the biodiversity identification process and in the formulation of protected area projects is of great importance; it avoids doubts about the importance and certainty of the proposals.

- Community participation motivated by the evidence of biodiversity and the functionality of ecosystems is of great importance to keep alive the enthusiasm for its dissemination and knowledge.

Documentation and dissemination of results

Review phase

Entirety

Local

Agreement 009 whereby the Local System of Protected Areas is adopted and implemented.

The Municipal Council of Envigado adopted Agreement 009 which aims to contribute to the identification, conservation, management and proper management of strategic ecosystems and protected areas in the jurisdiction of the municipality, articulating these actions to departmental, regional and national management scales that strengthen human sustainability through the effective achievement of conservation objectives.

Inclusion of the Local System of Protected Areas in the Land Management Plan in order to promote land uses that favor the protection and conservation of the associated fauna and flora.

Importance of knowledge of the biodiversity of species to value local ecosystems and make it known by different means to promote the interest and ownership of institutions and the community in conservation.

Local conservation is successful when it is based on internal initiatives that integrate institutions and the community and is supported by knowledge, participation and norms that motivate or encourage the protection of ecosystems.

Land use planning and ecosystem conservation strategies should be closely related in order to define congruent conservation projects and decisions that are supported by national norms.

Documentation and dissemination of results

Review phase

Entirety

Local

acuerdo_no.009_2016_silape_compressed_1.pdf

Sustainable livelihoods

Mbya Guaraní Yerba Mate

Cindy Galeano

The shade-grown yerba mate model generates profitable economic income from the added value of recovering forests while maintaining traditional organic customs and practices around yerba mate. Ancestral Guarani techniques are combined with modern low-impact agroecological management techniques for yerba mate production. The market for organic yerba mate continues to grow annually as a nutritious foodstuff and international markets are in high demand.

There is a culture related to the management of yerba mate in the area; rural communities were already cultivating under the traditional model.

The private yerba mate sector is concentrated in the area where the solution will be implemented, which allows for the establishment of alliances with the national yerba mate association.

There is a commitment from local governments to support the development of the model, as it is a local industry.

For yerba mate production to be successful, it must be combined with other crops that currently contribute to the livelihoods of local people in a diversified organic farm model.

The producers are in the process of forming an Association after 5 years of starting the initiative. Accompaniment and training should be planned over a period of several years to empower and organize rural and indigenous producers to govern the value chain.

Implementation

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local

Subnational

Forest Landscape Sustainability Accelerator

Clear measurable outcomes

Female local from Galapagos loading DNA in minION machine

GSC

Female trainee working in the lab

GSC

Quantifiable outcomes for the participants. We trained 74 locals (naturalist guides, farmers, and fishermen) in research skills, field experience, laboratory (molecular work), and sequencing (DNA) tools.

The number of species sampled. To date, we have produced over 10,000 of DNA sequences from soil and water samples to be analyzed, all produced on the Galapagos by local trainees.

Field trips and samples collected: In total, 15 field seasons were performed on three islands where locals learn field techniques and data collection. We have already collected over 200 samples of soil (microbiome research) and 10 of water (metabarcoding).

Physical space to deploy the technology

Molecular equipment and reagents shipped to the Galapagos (via local collaborators Universidad San Francisco de Quito)

Community acceptance and support. Local agencies (Agencia de Biocontrol y Seguridad) partnership allowed the training of locals on 2 islands synchronously,

Hiring 74 locals for a period of 10 months is an expensive endeavor, but gratifying to know we helped 74 families with income during the pandemic

These past months of work have represented a full-time job for several team leaders managing the grant, finances, and purchasing.

Local trainees have shared via our impact team recordings (survey) and high reward and gratification. The measurable metric of well-being shows high values for all participants and increases trust and acceptance of institutions and people behind this project in the community.

Long-lasting effects: Most trainees will return to participate in a similar project if given the opportunity. We are currently assessing the number of participants' economic well-being and engagement in STEM employment.

Regenerative Agriculture

Yerba mate woman

Cindy Galeano

The production of yerba mate under shade is a model in which yerba mate - Ilex paraguariensis - is grown in degraded or totally deforested areas of the Atlantic Forest, during the production cycle it is enriched with other native tree species to generate shade and the ground cover is preserved with biomass, it is replicable in the Atlantic Forest region.Indigenous Mbya Guaraní communities have ancestrally managed yerba mate without greatly disturbing the forest, and this model combines ancestral techniques with modern agroecology.

Yerba mate is traditionally produced extensively, without forest cover and with the use of chemicals that degrade soils. As it is a native species of the Atlantic Forest, its organic production in degraded forests favors the resistance of the species, the quality of the plant, the enrichment with native forest species and makes it possible to rescue and implement ancestral techniques of yerba mate production with a minimum impact on the native forest.

1. Since this is an innovative production model that combines traditional and ancestral yerba mate management techniques, a period of years of technical support is required to install the model and empower producers to continue with the production model.

2. The model should not be implemented in forests in a good state of conservation; it should be expanded in areas with a high degradation index within the Atlantic Forest ecoregion, since the production system seeks to gain areas of organic and agroecological production while recovering forest cover.

2. Climatic conditions are a determining factor for obtaining inputs such as seedlings, seeds and others.

Forest Landscape Sustainability Accelerator

Biochar

Agronomists at a field trial of Akha biochar.

Mahbubul Islam

Biochar Trials in Farmer's Fields

Mahbubul Islam

Biochar in homestead gardens

Mahbubul Islam

Char is carbonized organic matter that is produced by pyrolysis.

Biochar is char used for biotechnology, such as in agriculture.

Charcoal is char used as fuel.

Biochar has some important properties:

Resistance against biological and chemical decomposition, so it lasts in soil for centuries and can be used to store atmospheric carbon.
A high surface area
Negatively charged surfaces and some positive charges with can hold soluble plant nutients such as nitrogen and potassium and other minerals.

In Bangladesh, the soils are often low in soil organic matter, because the warm-humid climate and agricultural tillage promote organic matter breakdown. Soil that are low in organic matter become hard and open pore space. Crop growth can be severely limited.

Given the excellent climate from growing crops, improving the organic matter in Bangladeshi soils can have profound results. Biochar can do this because it doesn't break down. Instead, it combines with manures, composts and soil organic matter to from new, stable humus.

By increasing soil organic matter there is:

An increase in soil crumbs and large pore space
Increased aeration
Increased water penetration
Increased plant-available water
Increased soil life
Increase root growth and crop yield.

There are several key steps in getting biochar into common use:

Scientific knowledge and practical knowledge of the use of biochar in Bangladeshi agriculture.
Desimination of the knowledge to farmers
Farmers' practical experience with biochar, so that they can evaluate what they would be prepared to pay for it.

Farmers get excited about biochar once they witness the effects of biochar in research experiments, agricultural extension field trials, and local farmer trials.

In one case, after a tour of a farmer's field plots, some farmers came back later and carried off baskets of his soil.

Implementation

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

National

Global

The "Akha" Top-Lit Updraft (TLUD) Gasifier Cookstove

Graduation Day

Mahbubul Islam

Milita Mardi-Fazilpur, Pinky Rani Halder, China Halder and their stoves

Mahbubul Islam

Artisans making Akha components

Mahbubul Islam

A TLUD is a simple gasifier that is composed of a vertical tube that is filled with small pieces of wood, or densified biomass like pellets, balls or small briquettes. This is called a 'fuel bed.' It is ignited at the top, and underfed with primary air from a grate at the bottom. The ignition front travels down through the fuel by radiating heat into the raw fuel, drying it, and initiating pyrolysis. Released volatiles are ignited by the flame. The reaction is sometimes called a “migratory flaming pyrolytic front” (MFPF). Residual char is left on top of the fuel bed as the MFPF moves down.

The burning volatiles create an orange gas flame for cooking. Once pyrolysis is completed, the orange flame goes out, and the left-over char is colleded and smothered, or quenched with water.

We needed the "Akha," a culturally-appropriate TLUD for Bangladesh. It had to be made locally, study, and made with with as little (imported) metal as possible. Because of its heavy construction, it has a hinged grate for removing the char. To protect the Akha for free use, an there is an open-access patent. The current version of the Akha is a prototype being evaluated for acceptance, and obvious improvements can be made.

For the Akha to be successful, it has to:

have very low emissions of smoke
be easy to operate and burn reliably without going out
make char for use as biochar or as charcoal.
burn less fuel than a traditional stove (even when the char is unburned)

Making char may be the critical enabling feature for Akha acceptance.

The main lesson learned was that the Akha was well accepted by the women who were well trained in its use. We already knew the main limitations of a TLUD:

It does not burn loose biomass, so traditional stoves will be saved for that purpose.
It takes time to size woody fuel into small pieces, however, producing fuel for TLUDs may become some's livilhood.
It does not burn wet fuel.
It is batch-loaded with fuel rather than continuously stoked, to for long cooking times it will have to br reloaded.
Women have to the trained on how to prepare fuel, and operate a TLUD.

Implementation

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

National

Basic Operational Parameters of a Natural Draft TLUD

Akha Patent - Provisional Acceptance

A Preliminary Evaluation of the ‘Akha’ Gasifier Cookstove by Rural Households in Bangladesh

"The Akha" Top-LIt Updraft Gasifier Cookstove for Bangladesh

Monitoring and evaluation (Ecological monitoring and benefit evaluation)

Ecological monitoring: The project continuously monitors and regularly evaluates vegetation restoration and adjusts vegetation management measures on a timely basis based on changes in vegetation growth, soil moisture and other indicators by employing local people as seasonal workers.

Benefit evaluation: Helping the community residents to improve their income by 2,000 yuan on average per household who adopted the new techniques, enabling farmers to directly benefit from the achievements of ecological restoration.

Access to communication with the local farmers at early stage.
Local expertise and the seasonal workers from the local communities enabled the monitoring of ecological restoration progress
Local village councils and the farmers who took part in our community surveys contributed to the evaluation of social and economic benefits.

We replanted more trees where some of the trees didn’t grow properly after we finished planting in the first round. But after monitoring and testing, we realized that there is not enough moisture to support planting this quantity of trees. We adjusted replanting plans by either not planting more or reducing the replanting density. We planted different native tree species in the single tree species area in order to increase the biodiversity and resilience to climate change.

Monitoring

Review phase

Local

Sustainability and replicability

Maintaining and strengthening the established stakeholder’s engagement mechanism with overarching provincial, district and divisional governance bodies with sustainable financing solutions and capacity building is required for sustainability and replicability of the solution. 'The National Policy of the Environmentally Sensitive Areas management' provides the required policy framework for replication of this solution. When the communities identify the potential of resilience building of their livelihood through conservation, it becomes an incentive for their active collaboration on co-management and join monitoring of natural resources. Within given Sri Lankan context, there are many environmentally sensitive seascapes, where it could replicate this model, and this is being factored within National Environment Action Plan 2021-2030 for Sri Lanka. Therefore, there is an evident potential for sustainability and replication of this model.

Partnerships with stakeholders at every level
Continuous awareness raising about the importance of BRMS and community lives associate with it.

During the initial phase of restoring the BRMS, a case study was carried out using methods of unstructured focus groups discussions via cause-problem-impact diagrams and structured key informant interviews, and observations of this initiative revealed that community believes on 'CBNRM and Co-management' over 'regulation driven management' of Department of Wildlife Conservation. This solution was accepted and is currently proposed for replication at ESA national scaleup plan in seascapes.
Co-management of implementation activities to ensure sustainability and active lobbying to influence and implement conservation measures was also considered as a lesson learned.

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

Providing Emergency Aid to Health Centres

Map of PHCs Where Medical Supplies Have Been Delivered (as of 13 July, 2021)

Vinni Jain/CWS

The second wave of COVID-19 in April, 2021 left India in deep distress, with rural and remote communities affected severely. These areas have a huge shortage of essential supplies and medicines, with primary health centre (PHC) workers being short staffed and overworked. Due to CWS’ strong on-ground presence and the implementation of Wild Surakshe workshops in rural Karnataka and Goa, we were able to directly observe the devastating impacts of COVID-19 on people in rural India.

The Wild Surakshe program has enabled us to build a network of several hundred people to act on the ground. Thus, our local field staff are well-equipped to provide support and help curtail the rapid spread of COVID-19 and similar zoonotic diseases in these areas.

We are currently using our resources to support over 500 PHCs across Karnataka and Goa by procuring COVID-19 essentials like face shields, PPE kits, oximeters, thermal scanners, gloves, masks, and medicines. Our field staff are also closely monitoring the state of these PHCs to offer any additional immediate assistance they need. By providing such immediate assistance during emergencies in our project areas, we want to ensure people are getting help when they really need it, and strengthen our ties to local communities and stakeholders.

1. We speak to medical staff and community workers to identify rural PHCs in remote areas without access to COVID-19 relief materials and take note of their patient loads and requirements.

2. We raise funding, source materials and provide medical resources requested by them such as oxygen concentrators, pulse oximeters, BP Monitors, IR thermometers, etc.

3. Our pre-existing relationships with PHCs through Wild Surakshe and other CWS programs help us understand local challenges and effectively meet their requirements.

1. Communities in these remote areas were hit hard by the second wave of COVID-19 in India, and need urgent ongoing support and relief to manage this and future outbreaks.

2. Doctors from primary health centres in these areas have a very strong network. By tapping into this network and forging a long-term relationship with doctors, we can understand local conditions and health requirements better for future interventions and continued support.

Implementation

Monitoring

Subnational