Monitoring | PANORAMA

Real Estate Project with environmental objectives

A real estate project is created that not only includes subdivisions for housing. It is intended that the location of the project is in an area that helps the conservation of biodiversity, for example, the presence of endemic species or conservation problems, or ecosystems that are hotspots. The most important sector for biodiversity is dedicated to conservation and this is incorporated as an ecological Reserve for the project without the existence of subdivisions for housing. On the other hand, the section that is destined to the subdivision for dwellings also establishes environmental restrictions of constructibility (eg no fences that avoid transit of fauna) and behavior (eg, not hunting). It also promotes the protection and restoration of fauna and flora in subdivisions for housing and in the sector destined to reserve.

This is how a real estate project is offered with a plus that helps conservation.

Mainly have a Real State company with interest in conservation and who see that you can also have an economic activity conserving. On the other hand buyers who have an interest in conservation or who see the dvantage of buying in a place where the conservation of biodiversity and landscape is assured in the long term.

Local community that values the conservation initiative and that the land is not used for other intensive productive purposes.

That it is possible to develop a real estate project that helps conservation and that is economically profitable. That there are people interested in buying in this type of projects with a natural environment and a conservation mission. Which is an instrument that can be used for conservation in land of high commercial value where it competes with other economic activities that do not preserve biodibversity. That is a type of project that also gives work to the local community.

But still it is needed a lot of education because many times just out of ignorance the Realtors feel that an important area for biodiversity within their property is more a problem than an opportunity. Also the people who buy sometimes do not understand the importance of the biodiversity that surrounds them since they come from more urban sectors. And also because they are inciativas with private origins cause distrust in that in fact you want to make conservation, so it is important to have available regulatory legal frameworks.

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local

Multi-national

Oasis de la Campana

Community-led management of vulture-Safe Zone

The success of the community managed vulture safe zones is because of the ownership to the local communities. When locals get ownership they feel their rights and are encouraged to invest their resources and time. The locals might take the ownership itself as a reward and their willingness to support the cause will be very high though there is less benefit compared to other thing. Apart from some technical support all the management part was taken by the local communities.

11 member Committee has been formed to manage the vulture safe zone and also a five year management plan is in place. The committee manages the overall setup of the vulture safe zone and are supported by two staff. Tourism promotion, supply of food to vulture and counting of vulture nest and vultures in feeding are the day to day operation of the vulture safe zone.

The local communities were already organised as being community forest user groups who already own the management of the community forest handed over by the government to them. Hence a small unit within the forest user groups were again organised as a vulture restaurant management committee with operational procedures in place. A small piece of land was also bought for the vulture restaurant. The management committee of the vulture restaurant also managed the local peoples' burden of keeping the unproductive old cows as killing is prohibited.

There should be a balance of ownership for regulation like in the case of the vulture safe zone the vulture restaurant management committee do not own the land but they have the full management authority so they are very aware that if they do some wrong then the regulatory body may revoke their management authority. Hence there is always a power balance in this type of situation.

Monitoring

Local

National

Sustainable and varied sources of finance to ensure continuity of initiatives

Large scale conservation and EbA projects require a long gestation period to establish institutions and practices that can create long term benefits for the landscapes and its community. Involvement of the Government agencies is thus critical in ensuring success of solutions like these. As the Government agencies ensure strong institutional capacity, continuity and source of finances to undertake conservation and developmental activities.

However, the success of the solution also lies in ensuring that the initiative receives financing from varied resources. For e.g. in this project - RBS FI and AF provided the requisite financing to support activities that are not covered by the Government funds. RBS FI and AF funds have enabled CSOs to meet their institutions costs and employ trained human resources at the grassroot levels. Involvement of CSOs facilitates convergence of project activities with Government schemes and thus ensures that funds are spent optimally.

Community contribution is also a critical source of finance, and under this solution all activities and interventions have this element. This ensures that community is invested in the project and owns up to the activities being promoted. Having a transparent and robust contribution system gives a boost to the sustainability.

Long term committment of non governmental funding agencies - in this solution RBS FI has been committing finances since 2010. This has helped the CSOs integrate their project activities with the government programmes and leverage almost 2 rupees for every rupee spent.

- Variety of financing sources to ensure Gap Funding : Grant financing available comes with certain conditions for e.g. in AF project only 9.5% of the grant can be employed as meeting management costs. To meet the deficit, a solution needs to have varied sources to fill these gaps.

- The sources of financing need to be diverse. A successful solution - large scale, replicable and sustainable needs a variety of financing sources. An ideal mix is a combination of Public, Private and Community contribution to a solution

- Non governmental funding is required to fill the gaps and ensure efficient spending of the government funds. If such sources of financing exist in the long-term, they can lead to a successful solution.

- Community contribution should be integrated into all the project activities and should form a sustainable source of financing for future developmental and conservational initiatives in the project.

Implementation

Monitoring

Local

Local community as a citizen scientists

One of the main building block of this solution is citizen science since the locals were themselves monitoring the vulture colony so it was very easy for them to understand the population decline of the vulture. Also carcass disposal was a burden for them. Citizen science is very useful in mobilising the group to take action in addressing the issue. Hence the same formula was also applied in our solution. The communities were very positive in setting up community managed vulture restaurant. Community managed vulture restaurant consists of a cow shed where old cows are kept till they naturally die and then fed to the vultures in an designated open space. This will let the vultures having the nesting colony there to feed on the safe diclofenac free carcass. In addition to this a bird hide and information center has been established for tourist and general public to see the vultures feeding as well as sharing knowledge on vulture crisis in the country and the conservation effort from the local communities. Communities are also benefiting from the tourism promotion.

A concept of very simple local action is the enabling factor for the success of this building block. The actions are the same things what a farmer will do in everyday life but have been successful in attracting visitors to the site thus income generation for the locals.

Institutionalisation of the group and good governance is very important to work with the local community in long run. Long term plan in documented form will be very helpful for good working partnership. Income generating activity should always be linked to involve the locals in long term conservation work.

Monitoring

Local

National

Music, Dance and Dramma

TUA one day Music Dance & Dramma competitions on Environmental Coservation

Tree Uganda Academy

The TUA MDDA leader speking to the Audience.

Tree Uganda Academy

Information on conservation and better farming methods is being disseminated through Music, Dance and Drama.

Our philosophy is that music speaks to to Soul and in doing so, attitude change will be achieved.

1. Tree Academy Groups are in place to do practice and carry out music, dance and drama competitions on conservation.

2. Access to relevant information on the cultural history of the area.

3. Availability of Music, dance and drama equipment and costumes.

1. Drama and the performing arts allow an avenue to develop cognitive abilities that complement study in other disciplines. For example, drama students learn to approach situations in an array of different manners which can help to develop creative thinking and new study techniques. Further, it builds confidence which benefits public speaking opportunities.

2. Communication between peers is accelerated as students are exposed to group activities. This experience also provides opportunity for students to display cultural leadership qualities.

3. Students gain important life skills as they learn the value of critical feedback, both positive and constructive.

4. Children have the opportunity to celebrate the richness and depth of human expression in all of its forms. Through creative expression students learn to comprehend our world better and are therefore better equipped to navigate the challenges they might be faced

5. The Arts can also be a source of solitude – a place where a child is able to shut out its surrounding and immerse itself in a creative environment.

Implementation

Monitoring

Local

Using Native Trees in the restoration sites

Restoration of the forest has a higher success rate if native trees are used/planted. Native tree species will allow the forest to recover and conserve natural habitat. This will optimize the supply of forest benefits and ecosystem services; reduce the risks of natural hazards such as landslides; and enhance options for sustainable livelihood.

The use of native trees for reforestation activities were adopted and promoted by the networks, champions.

Our forest lands (i.e. denuded and forested) have been reforested with non-native or introduced species such as Gmelina, Mahogany and Falcata tree species. These introduced trees species were planted because they grow faster, and could be harvested sooner than native hardwood trees. Past and present “reforestation” activities, whose intention were primarily market driven rather than conservation, have replaced the original trees and resulted to a monoculture, and decline of plant and animal diversity. Monoculture of exotic tree species is susceptible to attack of pests and diseases and may eventually wipe out the entire reforested areas.

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local

National

Adopt-A-Seedling (AAS) Program

The AAS Program of the Forests for Life Movement bridges the support from the corporate and individual donors to the community partners on site. AAS is being tapped by the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs of the different companies, and supported by concerned individual donors and volunteers. These partners provide resources to implement the stages of forest restoration, from seedling production, site preparation, actual tree planting and the three-year maintenance and monitoring.

Awareness of the public and corporate sector on the need to contribute in the restoration of the Philippine forests and in the conservation of biodiversity.

Communication, Education and Public Awareness is crucial to get the engagement of the different sectors of the society to achieve the targets of the movement of restoring the Philippine forests and providing sustainable livelihood the local communities.

Implementation

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local

National

Community-based Maintenance for Sustainable Livelihood

The Community-based maintenance began by educating and capacitating the partner communities that will be in-charge in ensuring the successful survival of the trees in the rainforestation. The capacity building program of the local partner community entailed teaching the participants with farming techniques, monitoring tools and organizational development skills to ensure a sustainable partnership and high survival of the trees planted.

Alongside the capacity building of the community partners is the opportunity to earn additional income, not only from the activities on restoration, but also facilitates other livelihood activities aligned with the objectives of the movement like seedling production. This substitutes the risk of the local community to engage or allow illegal activities that provides them extra income. Furthermore, the government, through the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, tapped people’s organizations to produce native tree seedlings in support of the National Greening Program. This contributed to a more stable and continued form of livelihood to the project’s community beneficiaries.

Partnership building with key stakeholders to ensure participatory approach in achieving a dignified Ecosystem and human well-being, by having a well restored forests. Farmers and forest dependent communities were assisted and capacitated because of their crucial role as the main actors on the ground. By providing the community proper restoration technology and promotion of biodiversity conservation and biodiversity friendly agriculture, the ecological benefits that need to be sustained has a higher probability of being achieved.

The selection of eligible community partner is also very vital to ensure the success of the restoration initiatives. With the realization that land claims are rampant in public lands, it is important to prioritize sites where perpetual protection can be ensured (i.e. protected areas). In fact, the social aspect of restoration greatly dictates its success or failure than the biophysical aspect as these (social factors) might bring unforeseen problems if not carefully considered. One must always remember that forests can naturally be restored by the natural processes, only human interventions (social) prohibit these natural process. It is also important to ensure that provision of support is aligned with the main activities of the community partners, and promotes the objectives of the movement.

Implementation

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local

Forests for Live Movement (Network Building)

Forests For Life is an environmental conservation movement/network that envisions the restoration of Philippine rainforests using native tree species with support from various sectors. It began as a movement called ROAD to 2020, which worked with communities, local government units, indigenous peoples, academe, like-minded groups and the youth to bring back the lost forests. Through the movement, Haribon was able to empower local communities, build native tree nurseries, provide guidance in establishing conservation areas, influence policies, organize tree planting drives and encourage the public to take part in citizen science. To date, 13,416 Volunteers and 14 community partners in 30 Municipalities have been mobilized, which significantly shows raised awareness on biodiversity.

A Rain Forest Restoration Initiative (RFRI) Network was formed during the National Consultation on Rainforest Restoration in November 2005, which has initiated forest restoration efforts since 2006; Government Policy-Memorandum Circular 2004- 06; Executive Order 23 and 26; Support from Local Government Units, Peoples Organizations; Corporate and Individual donations

The clear targets of sustaining the ecological goods and services of our forests for the present and succeeding generations can only be achieved if we restore our forests using native trees. Engagement from the different sectors of the society is vital. This can be achieved if stakeholders share the same vision, and understand how biodiversity is interconnected and affects their everyday lives. It is important that the corporate sector and local government units understand their big role in providing assistance to the different stakeholders, which in return favors the sustainability not only of the local communities, but of the bigger population. Government priorities and policies that favor the improvement of livelihood and capacities of the communities will help in attaining success of restoration initiatives

Implementation

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

Entirety

Local

National

Implementation of scalable EbA measures to increase forest cover and water availability

Reforestation in water recharge zones, Esquichá Microbasin

IUCN @ Paul Aragón

Reforestation in water recharge zones, Esquichá Microbasin

IUCN @ Paul Aragón

Based on the vulnerability analysis and by common agreement, the communities prioritized several EbA measures in order to increase their resilience:

Protection and restoration of water recharge zones. Includes reforestation on municipal or communal lands with water sources; protection of community pine forests where the largest areas of natural forests (Abies guatemalensis) in good condition are found; reparation of communal forests affected by pests; and reforestation of areas without trees adjacent to natural forests. For these actions that improve connectivity and forest cover, access to forest incentives is also promoted.
Establishment (1) and strengthening (15) of community forestry nurseries, to support reforestation actions.
Agro-forestry systems and good practices: Productive systems on 16 farms are optimized and diversified, incorporating timber and fruit trees to improve soil conservation, productivity and food security.
Recovery of lands affected by landslides: Agroforestry systems as well as access to forest incentives for the recovery of areas damaged by storms are promoted.

The communities of the microbasin embraced these measures and support their implementation with important technical resources.

The Tacaná Municipal Council gave support to communities for access to forest incentives.
IUCN had 10 years of experience in the territory and local technicians.
There is excellent community leadership, which increases their willingness to dialogue, learning and the search for solutions.
There is an awareness of climate change, since extreme events in previous years have affected several communities, damaging both their assets (crops, housing, productive infrastructure) and the water resource.

Key factors for the implementation of EbA measures were: a strong organizational base, community agreements, social participation and leadership from local authorities (both indigenous and municipal).
To ensure that EbA was able to demonstrate an initial impact in communities and in this way, create confidence in the adopted strategy, the first step was to promote reforestation in the upper parts of the micro-basin (water source areas) or in areas affected by landslides, as well as community work around forestry nurseries. These actions helped to consolidate the concept that forest cover is "an insurance" in the face of climate change.
Valuing the ecosystem services of the basin helped to see adaptation as a task for all communities, in order to obtain benefits for both the Esquichá micro-basin and for other communities located further down in the Coatán River basin.

Strengthening forestry nurseries in San Marcos