Local | PANORAMA

Practical support and capacity building for local livelihood improvement

FHA support local farmers in beekeeping business through conservation agreements. They use generated income to feed their families and to buy wire to fence their pastures to prevent cows from entering the forest.

We support 10 local cooperatives in capacity building and improving their products; and three of them are supported in eco-tourism development. They use income to buy alternatives of what they were collecting from the forest.

10 of our 12 employees are from local villages. The income they earn helps them to improve their families’ livelihoods and also helps them, families and neighbors to change the attitudes towards the forest conservation.

Community need alternatives to the forest resources for the proected area conservation sustainability

FHA relies on small grants and our impressive achievements confirm that no matter how much money is invested, the message behind create a strong partnership that a factor for success. FHA uses conservation agreement and it does help local people to understand whay they should take aprt in conservation.

Implementation

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National

Diversity as a starting point for land-use planning

Latin America and the Caribbean is a multidiverse region. In most Latin American territories, pre-Hispanic, colonial and modernist models of development planning and land use coexist. This situation generates socio-ecosystemic and territorial conflicts. In the study Integration of Protected Areas into Land Use Planning, a Necessity for Achieving Human Well-being in Colombia, it was concluded that in order to effectively plan and manage land use planning it is necessary to start from the recognition ofThe conclusion was that in order to effectively plan and manage territorial planning, it is necessary to recognize the socio-cultural, ecosystemic and political-administrative diversity of the territories, as well as to clarify the irreplaceable role of biodiversity and protected areas in the achievement of human wellbeing, the prevention and effective management of socio-ecological, territorial and humanitarian conflicts in order to propose differentiated public policies,
in accordance with biodiverse, multiethnic and pluricultural contexts, from an integral, complementary and

from an integral, complementary and synergic vision between territories.
territories. Based on this, some strategies and conceptual clarifications are proposed.

The recognition of ethnic and cultural diversity as a strategy for territorial planning, based on traditional knowledge and as a measure of adaptation to ecosystem conditions

The proposal of ways for the harmonization between ethnic planning instruments, environmental authorities and governments.

It is a product of the work in diverse territories in the country.

The technical, institutional and social factors that hinder integrated territorial management were identified.

The territory is a set of several territories, i.e. we are talking about multi-territories to be managed and harmonized to ensure biodiversity conservation and human well-being.

Language is a key factor for understanding and joint management.

Implementation

Local

La diversidad punto de partida para planificar el ordenamiento territorial

Securing support of local communities and other stakeholders

The active contribution from local community and the support of other stakeholders has been a critical element to the success of FHA’s effort to protect Gishwati forest, together with a clear perspective on each players’ responsibilities and duties. Also, this successfully influenced the government to upgrade this forest to a national park.

In conservation, local community involvement ans support are keys factor for the success. what needed is to organise them and allow them to act

Guiding local community to manage their natural resources by themselves is a strong factor for success. Our approach combines employing local people, supporting local community to protect the forest by themselves, community education and outreach, solving human-wildlife conflicts using conservation agreements and improving local livelihoods through community tourism development.

Documentation and dissemination of results

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National

Planning and land management

Knowing and managing the instruments, instances and processes in which land occupation models, land use and activity regulation are planned is fundamental for the effective management of protected areas and the viability of the territory.

Capacity building in land-use planning.

The rise of rural areas in planning and the new global urban agenda that allows us to see that there are not only cities but also human settlements.

The trend and commitment to manage protected areas beyond borders.

The Sustainable Development Goals

Territory is not only a polysemous concept but also the scenario where different social and institutional interests are managed.

In the territory there are not only socio-environmental conflicts but also ethno-territorial, sectoral and political-administrative conflicts, but the management of all of them requires a social agreement.

Positioning biodiversity and protected areas in public policies of development and territorial planning requires intersectoral management and the development of skills for the participation of technical bodies with technical contributions that contribute to common goals, i.e. learning to be part of a collective and to manage in a network.

Bases de la Política General de Ordenamiento Territorial de Colombia

Lineamientos para adelantar el proceso de ordenamiento territorial departamental

Comite Especial Interinstitucional de la Comisión de Ordenamiento Territorial

Reciprocal Conservation easements to assure long term conservation and financing of protected area

The Oasis de la Campana real estate project allocates a sector that is subdivided into properties of 0.5 hectares for real estate purposes and another sector of 1000 hectares to conservation of Mediterranean forest and its biodiversity. Through the legal framework of reciprocal environmental easements between the parcels of the real estate sector and the area destined for conservation and the delivery of these lands to a non-profit Foundation, the legal protection in perpetuity of the 1000 hectares is ensured.

On the other hand, this same legal framework ensures that the common expenses of the owners of the real estate subdivision finance not only the maintenance of their common areas but also the maintenance activities of the wilderness area to be conserved. This includes protection and restoration activities such as: construction and maintenance of perimeter fences to prevent the entry of livestock, personnel for horseback monitoring to control fencing deterioration, poaching and fire prevention; restoration activities with planting of native plant species and scientific studies with universities. And maintenance of trails, signage and infrastructure as viewpoints and a refuge.

The legal framework in the country that allows the implementation of reciprocal easements for environmental purposes.

The legislation of the countries of Latin America to be derived from the Roman Code usually include this legal framework. On the other hand alglosaxon laws also have similar systems or through the Royal Right of conservation. In this way it has a wide application in different countries.

Many times there are very old legal frameworks such as easements that for lack of imagination have not been applied and that can be very useful for the conservation of biodiversity and protected areas in perpetuity.

In this way, reciprocal environmental easements also ensure perpetuity protection and the financing of the maintenance costs of the wilderness area to be conserved, which is one of the most critical financing in a protected area. Many times protected areas are created or land is purchased for this purpose, but then there is not the necessary financing to ensure their protection permanently. This is a good example of how to do it and that has been operating for more than 20 years in Oasis de la Campana.

On the other hand, allocating the conserved lands to a non-profit Foundation ensures a correct administration.

The owners of the subdivision earn by protecting their lands and by preserving 1000 hectares, they ensure the protection of the landscape and have environmental services that contribute to the whole community.

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local

Multi-national

Constitución Fundacion Palma

Reciprocal Conservation easements

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

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National

Tourism Policy Enforcement

Policy enforcement is an important aspect of destination management that is often overlooked. In an emerging market such as the Philippines, many citizens are used to disobeying simple rules such as traffic and littering in the streets. Hence, an innovation we made for Masungi Georeserve is to make sure this habit does not penetrate into our sanctuary.

Policy enforcement is important in our overall solution because it ensures the structures and trails and engineering are properly and excellently maintaned and that the destination is always in pristine shape.

Policy enforcement comes in three phases: pre-trip, during the trip and after the trip.

Pre-trip, we are able to have an agreement with all visitors on the policies and corresponding penalties concerning their visit through our timed entry online booking platform. This includes policies of Leave no Trace, no smoking, no littering, no boisterous noise, no feeding of wildlife and no vandalism on our limestone formations.

During the trip, park rangers are not allowed to receive tips. This helps lessen any undue influence tips may have on the park ranger's ability to enforce the rules on the visitors.

After the trip, we ensure feedback is always given to visitors and our pakr rangers through evaluations and follow up communications.

Attention to developing skills of local rangers to implement rules. As many park rangers are from the local community, they need to be trained to enhance leadership and communications skills to be able to handle erring guests effectively.
No tipping to prevent favors from guests.
Online booking system to ensure policies are read, understood and agreed upon beforehand.

We learned that it is better to implement and be strict with the rules despite possible resistance, as long as WHY of policies are communicated well.

We learned to put the lead contact (person who did the booking) responsible for all guests in the party. This increases accountability of the group and ensures one line of communication.

We also learned that it may be helpful to restrict access of middlemen - travel agencies and tour operators. We have come up with strict accreditation process in terms of operators and agencies who can sell the trail experiences at the Masungi Georeserve. This helps manage the overall experience, the visitor's expectations, and reinforce policies and values that the conservation area upholds.

Implementation

Local

Mindful Engineering

Sapot - Spiderweb Viewing Deck

Masungi Georeserve

Mindful engineering, design and construction is a key component of this solution. For Masungi Georeserve, this means carefully planning the placement, material and method of constructing temporary structures inside the conservation area.

One method that is particularly evident at Masungi is the use of biomimicry or copying structures present in the natural environment. The iconic feature on our Discovery Trail is the Sapot, a local term for Spiderweb.

Instead of building a viewing deck made of concrete and foreign materials that would distract from the aesthetic of the place, we chose to build a web-style suspending viewing platform inspired by the webs of spiders found inside the conservation area.

In building this, we used light cable materials which can be removed, replaced or modified at any time, making the design resilient and adaptable to the area's changing environment.

In essence, mindful engineering means going beyond traditional ways of designing for touristic appeal. You do not need to copy what is already present in the market. You can get design inspiration from within, use local and sustainable materials, enhance the natural character of an area, and build a unique "sense of place" in the process.

One important enabling factor is the design and construction skill from the team. Our craftsmen had years of construction experience and familiarity with the location before coming up with creative executions such as the Sapot.

Another enabling factor is research and exploration. To know where exactly to put these temporary structures, or which areas to highlight for tourism and educational purposes, the needs to be a baseline mapping and study of points of interest and how they connect together in one trail experience.

Give attention to details. At the end of the day, it is details that separate a good destination from a great destination.
Use local materials and designs. This decreases carbon footprint of construction, as well as the cost and time needed to procure items.
Find local talent. There is no need to hire expensive or already-known artists to create mindful structures. Even simple construction workers would have ideas on how we can be resourceful.
Use nature are blueprint. Mirror designs already present in the area to create a unique sense of place.

Implementation

Local

Fund leveraging

In participatory or bottom-up approach to planning and budgeting, sectors that are organized have better understanding of their agenda and have the ability to commit financial counterpart. Since VSLAs have these two advantages, they are in a better position to use EF to attract additional financial resources to support local and municipal level conservation initiatives. Fund leveraging is a strategy that uses EF as local financial counterpart to support implementation of environmental projects that require bigger funding

- Knowledge of planning and budgetting process of the local government

- Capacity of local leaders to engage government officials

If the EF is to be used effectively to leverage more local funding, it is important that VSLA EF decision making process intersects with the local government unit's (LGU) local planning and budgeting process. Moreover, it is equally important that local VSLA leaders know how to engage their LGUs in these processes.

Implementation

Local