“Action learning” and monitoring to increase capacities and knowledge

In addition to training and supporting communities to implement EbA measures through their productive practices, the aim is to generate evidence on the benefits of these measures and create conditions for their sustainability and up scaling.

  • The socio-environmental vulnerability of 7 communities in the Sixaola River basin is examined in order to then identify and prioritize EbA measures.
  • Diagnoses are made (productive, socioeconomic and agro-ecological) to identify families with a commitment to transform their farms and select those with the greatest potential to become integral farms.
  • Technical support is provided to communities, complemented with traditional knowledge, to ensure that EbA measures contribute to food and water security.
  • Exchanges and training are organized for producers (men and women), indigenous authorities, youth and municipalities on climate change, food security, natural resource management, organic fertilizers and soil conservation.
  • Monitoring and evaluation is carried out to understand the benefits of EbA measures, and inform horizontal and vertical up-scaling.
  • Activities, such as the Agrobiodiversity Fair and binational reforestation events, are carried out collaboratively with local actors.
  • IUCN’s and ACBTC’s years of previous work with the local communities were a key enabling factor to ensure effective and inclusive participation processes, achieve a high level of ownership of EbA measures, and empower stakeholders (in this case, producers, community groups, municipalities and Ministries).
  • The binational agreement between Costa Rica and Panama (from 1979 and renewed in 1995) facilitates work at the binational level and inter-sectorial coordination, and endorses the Binational Commission for Sixaola that operates since 2011.
  • Self-diagnosis of vulnerabilities in the face of climate change (in this case, through the CRiSTAL methodology) is a powerful tool that allows communities to jointly prioritize what is most urgent and important and achieves greater collective benefits.
  • Applying the "action learning" approach at the community level allows for a better understanding of multiple concepts related to EbA and creates a community of practice that values and takes ownership of adaptation measures.
  • It is important to recognize the complementarity between scientific and traditional knowledge for the implementation of EbA measures.
Building an Endowment for Sustainable Community Protected Area Management

Financial sustainability is an overarching aim for YUS landscape management. Woodland Park Zoo, with the help of Conservation International’s Global Conservation Fund and other donors, established a two million dollar endowment for the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program and the YUS Conservation Area in 2011. The non-sinking endowment is managed by Woodland Park Zoo (WPZ) and follows procedures outlined in WPZ’s Operations Manual. Four percent of the interest earned by the endowment is to be disbursed annually by WPZ in accordance with TKCP-PNG annual plans and budget formulated in December of each year, and is designed to provide partial funding for core landscape programs in perpetuity. 

  • Partnership with organization that has expertise in establishing protected area endowments.
  • Long-term institutional support for endowment fund management (Woodland Park Zoo).
  • It is important to link the allocation of endowment funds to clear outcomes in TKCP-PNG annual plans, and to the long-term targets of the YUS Landscape Plan.
  • It is necessary to continue to attract additional funding streams for the rest of the core programs, non-core programs, and operational costs not covered by the endowment fund disbursements (WPZ and TKCP continue to submit funding proposals to donors for this purpose).

 

Improving Community Livelihoods through Sustainable, Wildlife-Friendly Products

To ensure the long-term sustainability of the YUS CA, local communities must participate in and benefit from its protection. To encourage community engagement and sustainable development, TKCP builds partnerships to address local needs for livelihoods, health, education and skills training. 

 

The YUS Conservation Coffee program is an integrated approach to optimizing supply for a sustainable crop, while building connections to international markets. By selling farm-direct to Caffé Vita and other buyers, YUS coffee farmers earn revenues more than 35% higher than local market rates. Adequately covering production and transport costs, premium coffee export has become an economically viable industry for YUS communities. TKCP is now working to replicate this success among cocoa farmers by working with the PNG Cocoa Board and chocolatiers to improve local cocoa quality and to identify new markets. In addition, TKCP is facilitating the establishment of a YUS Conservation Coffee and Cocoa Cooperative to strengthen the management and marketing of the two crops.

 

TKCP's community livelihoods programs have fostered community buy-in for conservation, which is further bolstered by environmental education and community health efforts, ensuring the social and cultural sustainability of TKCP. 

 

  • Holistic approach to responding to the needs of people and the ecosystems on which they depend.
  • A wide range of national and international partnerships (government, private sector, academia and the NGO sector) to address economic and social needs of local communities.
  • Long-term time commitment to working with local communities (TKCP has been in existence since 1996).

 

  • Recognition that YUS is a living landscape where human well-being is the result of environmental protection. 
  • Understanding that the tree kangaroo is a special species for YUS. The Matchie’s tree kangaroo is endangered, mainly due to pressures from hunting, a complex and important cultural practice in YUS. The guarantee of its long-term survival is what prompted YUS landowners to create a protected landscape. 
  • Recognition of the need to make a long-term commitment to achieve success with sustainable livelihood initiatives.  
  • Commitment to having the YUS people take a leadership role in creating a vision of what is needed to create a place where wildlife can thrive and where people benefit from looking after the land and sea that supports them.
Community Management of a Protected Area

PNG is one of the most diverse places on Earth — a country with over 850 languages and numerous mountain ranges that have historically limited contact between clans. These clans traditionally manage their own land their own way. Yet over the past two decades, communities scattered across the Huon Peninsula have defied tradition, joining hands to create a community-based group that collectively manages what in 2009 became known as the YUS Conservation Area (YUS CA), the first legally protected area of its kind in PNG.  Stretching over 75,000 hectares, YUS encompasses cloud forest peaks towering 4,000 meters high, coral reef on the coast below and tropical rainforest in between. The YUS CA protects not only the Matschie’s tree kangaroo, TKCP’s flagship species, but also a host of threatened species, as well as critical habitat that local communities depend upon for subsistence agriculture, clean water and hunting.

The YUS Conservation Area is managed in partnership among TKCP, the YUS community and the PNG government. TKCP manages the YUS conservation ranger team and the Ecological Monitoring Program conducts community awareness-raising, mapping and facilitates the YUS Conservation Area Management Committee.

 

 

 

  • A wide range of national and international partnerships (government, private sector, academia and the NGO sector).
  • Long-term time commitment to working with local landowners to understand community needs.
  • Working in partnership with local landowners and their families in conservation efforts;
  • On-going efforts to raise community awareness about the importance of YUS conservation;
  • Creation of the YUS Conservation Ranger Team;
  • Creation of YUS Ecological Monitoring Program; and
  • Establishment of a YUS Conservation Area Management Committee.

Fostering the design, establishment, and long-term management of a protected area in Papua New Guinea requires action appropriate to unique local conditions. Lessons learned for wildlife conservation include:

 

  • Significant planning and analysis should precede commitment to a site for conservation work. 
  • Long-term success requires a long-term investment of time  (it took more than a decade to establish the YUS Conservation Area). 
  • It is essential to build a trusting and respectful relationship with landowners. 
  • Community needs must be incorporated into conservation goals.
  • There is a need to build relationships with all levels of PNG government as project stakeholders.
Reforestation activities by Non Governmental Organisations

FORENA alongside Friends of the Environment(FOE) are currently running the 'Restoration and Valorisation of the Citadel of Port Louis' project, under the Tourism Authority, with a team of experts comprised of architects, historians, archaeologists, and ecologists of the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation (MWF), that envisages the historical restoration and valorisation of the Citadel heritage to be used for tourism, education and leisure purposes.

FOE  has been active in the organisation of environmentally important conferences and seminars. They have renovated and now assume management of the Martello Tower Museum and, through the Heritage Trust, continue the rehabilitation of cemeteries. Members have been participating on many committees for the environment over the years. 

MWF works for the conservation and preservation of the nation's endangered plant and animal species. They collaborate with local and international partners, with the long-term aim of recreating lost ecosystems by saving some of the rarest species from extinction and restoring the native forests. 

Proper communication between both teams (FORENA and FOE) since we are both working on the same project but on different assigned areas of Citadel.
 

The same technique is to be applied for tree planting. If one team has changed their methodology and use a more efficient one, then they pass on the information so that the other team can use the same method.
 

We share the same gardener but each team has their own equipments.

 

 

All the mentioned non-governmental organisations share the same aim which is to be able to have the full re scale restoration at Citadel and to be able to have a proper monitoring of the native forest of Petrin. Forena acts as the link between those organisations and stakeholders to allow continous collaboration for the nature of Mauritius.

 

There are several techniques which Forena has adopted from Friend of the Environment since they had the expertise of ecologists. For example we have started using gel which allows water and nutrients to be retained around the root base of the plants and also the water bottle technique which allows efficient watering.

 

There is always a good coordination mechanism between the organisations when there is a case of vandalism or fire outbreak.

 

Long-term Commitments and Partnerships

The long-term plan of OMY is embodied not merely by one private developer but jointly initiated by a group of public-private stakeholders across the local business districts. Indeed, the Council for Area Development and Management of OMY, being comprised of 68 landowners, 12 observers, and 8 special members in 2016, established the Advisory Committee on OMY Area Development in 1996 together with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Chiyoda Ward, and East Japan Railway Company. As the first area management initiative in the country, the Committee regularly updates the guidelines for redevelopment activities since 1998. These guidelines set out 8 development goals, key functions of zones, axes, and hubs, district design standards, and local operation rules for coordinating cityscape, networking public open spaces, and transferring FARs. Furthermore, the committee has introduced a variety of area management and place-making initiatives such as free loop bus service, car-free public spaces, establishment of a district-level association, and various city events.

  • Council for Area Development and Management of OMY (comprised of 68 landowners, 12 observers, and 8 special members)
  • Coordination across the local govenrment, the ward government, and the railway company
  • Legalization of the Area Management Initiative

Large-scale redevelopment projects generally require the complex and painstaking coordination of property rights among various stakeholders. The long-term commitment of major developers and the establishment of horizontal partnerships are essential for intergenerational redevelopments and sustainable area management. Many details of urban design, operation, and place-making efforts must be initiated and guided in local specific ways.

Cooperative networking

Association Las Huacas has developed a Cooperative networking with different allies from private and public sectors. Partnership agreement with GEOGES C.Ltda. (environmental consultancy agency), wich has been interested into cooperate with ancient populations in order to preserve the culture and traditions, as well as to recover the optimal conditions for mangrove development and conservation.
The agreement brings to the association the technical capabilities of the Agency, in order to get the assistance to design- implement- and follow up of the management plan. The agreement has also served as a framework for cooperation at different levels – community, asociation – in order to enforce the organizational aspects of both institutions, as well as to propose and to develop alternative initiatives of production or self-employment, and the critical analysis of thrird parties cooperation initiatives.

To find the right partner, relative objectives and vision (apply to bothsides).

Total commitment to cooperation, with full involvement of the members into the planned activities.

Long-term follow-up, in order to create and to register data that will allow future decission making.

 

 

 

Active participation in identifiying issues and planning process will allow better understanding of the issues and more realistic paths to deal with it.

Try and failure process is also necessary in order to understand different dynamics working at the time, and to develop successful next steps.

Developing a honey export value chain

Honey export value chains have been developed according to the following stepwise approach:

  1. Selection of cooperatives
  2. Training model farmers in pre-and post-harvesting quality management, organic certification and internal controlling system, traceability system to fulfill EU-quality parameters
  3. Provision of food grade and quality improving equipment (packaging & processing equipment, solar lamps, food grade honey bags, presses etc.)
  4. Provide technical expertise from Germany to smallholders, their cooperatives and unions in honey processing and fulfilling the export requirements (e.g. honey water content control)
  5. Support the unions to acquire an export license, organic certificate and risk management certificate plus other necessary requirements from the Ethiopian government in order to implement the export process
  6. Communication to veterinarians and other inspection authorities on EU-level by German partners to allow future import of Ethiopian honey
  7. Constantly monitor and guide honey unions, laboratories and authorities during the export procedure
  8. Establish a contact to the shipping line by German partners and prepare honey export logistics
  • Trust between local farmer unions and international companies and advisors
  • Clear demand for high quality honey by business sector in Germany
  • Higher demand for organic honey in Europe due to lower export rates from Latin America & Asia as honey production is increasingly meeting domestic demands
  • Use restrictions of BR buffer zones according to UNESCO
  • Local smallholders engaged in participatory forest management (PFM) groups receive official forest user rights & direct access to products
  • The interplay between local expertise and international know how resulted in a successful set up of value chains. It was crucial to conduct very detailed trainings with producers especially on post-processing to achieve high quality honey
  • Local prices for honey are high which made the price negotiations difficult for the international buyer
  • The ownership of the whole “value-chain” from the grass root producer up to the loading the coffee bags onto a vessel for the overseas market is owned by the producers and their representative umbrella structures. This is a unique example where grass roots structures have become global business partners 
  • Meeting the EU quality standards needs constant checks of honey producing methods. Producers mostly achieved fulfilling the quality standards and delivered 42 Mt of honey. The rest of the honey has been sold to local traders for the local market or other purposes resulting in additional but lower revenues as exported honey
Developing a wild coffee value chain

The business model is based on trading, value adding and promoting specialty wild coffee on the European market, which is handpicked from the original coffee forests. Value chain development involved the following steps:

  1. Build up and strengthen collaboration with local farmers
  2. Identification of suitable collection areas based on resource availability, forest coffee conservation needs & accessibility. 
  3. Training on a) harvesting (picking + separation); b) post harvest handling (separation, drying, sorting and spreading on drying beds
  4. Training on the use of central drying station on cooperative level, site selection and training on the setting up of raised beds
  5. Training on certification requirements (organic wild collection and fair trade certifications) and setup of an internal control system
  6. Advise and support cooperatives and unions to fulfil certification standards
  • Clear demand for high quality wild coffee by consumers and business sector
  • Growing demand of specialty coffee approaching 10% of world consumption, gaining market share rapidly
  • Reliable partnership between unions and Orignal Food
  • Successful examples of strong and exporting coffee trade unions in Ethiopia bringing benefits to their members
  • Use restrictions of BR buffer zones according to UNESCO
  • Local smallholders engaged in PFM groups receive official user rights over the forest areas & direct access to forest products
  • Limited finance sources are the major problem for producing and exporting higher quantities of wild coffee. Local banks are limited in giving loans to unions and producers.
  • Using central drying stations allows successful separation of wild forest coffee from semi-forest and garden coffee and a considerable quality improvement
  • The whole value-chain is owned by producers and their umbrella structures. This is a unique example where grass roots organizations have become global business partners 
  • More and more smallholders are involved in the trade and the export volume of certified wild coffee keeps increasing;
Importance of conservation

Scientists, who have been monitoring the area before it was closed, estimate a 500% increase in biomass within the area since the closure. The area, previously covered with sea urchins, is now a thriving biodiversity hotspot with the balance restored. The elders report new species in the MPA that have not been seen in living memory. The coral, previously destroyed by human feet, has recovered quickly and the lagoon area is now known as one of the best snorkelling destinations on the Kenyan coast. Local and international students come and learn in our living marine classroom. Turtles feed on the seagrass beds undisturbed, and the number of nests has increased significantly. The area has returned from being a marine desert to a marine paradise and a critical model globally that shows how a poor community can help conserve nature and benefit from it too. Bigger and better catches outside the MPA has ensured support for the permanent closure.

 

The MPA could not have gone a head without the belief and forsight of the fisherfolk in the area and the acceptance to beleive that positive change was possible even in difficult circumstances. Local knowledge from the elders ensured a suitable site for the closure was chosen. Scientific research also supported the choice as having the most potential for long term improvement. Regular updates on improvements within the MPA has helped sure up the belief that it is successful as a breeding area.

That nature is resilient and can recover amazingly quickly if left alone to do so. Identifying needs and fostering willingness to embrace change can improve livelihoods. The importance of undertaking an environmental impact assessment on the area, underpinned by research and local knowledge, before the project started has been a critical factor towards the success of the MPA. Constant awareness and updates of the improvement in the MPA need to be communicated back to the community. Analysing the information can be used to put into perspective in the socio-economic impact. The importance of communication of our progress back to the community has been something we have had to improve. When the community understands and sees the benefits from change they are, understandably, more willing to accept it.