Habitat Adaptive Management

This approach seeks to keep protected natural areas healthy, achieved through biological monitoring activities and implementing surveillance programs, attention to visitors in natural reserves, maintenance of infrastructure, and restoration actions. Adaptive management is built step by step, considering sustainable development and the uses of local communities and scientific knowledge. That is why management actions are closely coordinated with the national and international academic sector, seeking to ensure that the establishment of protected areas responds to global conservation needs. What happens in the protected areas is the basis for long-term conservation actions. 

Since 2018 we have been working on the restoration of the dunes of the Punta Mazo Nature Reserve. The restoration sites have been a success: the vegetation reclaimed its space, and today these trails are almost entirely covered with native vegetation.  In 2017 we created the conservation program, which aims to implement long-term biological monitoring in the rocky intertidal and wetlands of the San Quintín lagoon complex. Both ecosystems are vulnerable to the impacts caused by human activity, so it is essential to generate tools to help conserve them. 

The Public Use Program seeks to identify the opportunities and concerns of each of the stakeholders through participatory workshops with the various actors in the area and a literature search on all scientific work done in the region. This will make it possible to establish a range of opportunities or experiences that will make it possible to regulate the activities carried out in the area. The goal is to find management strategies that maximize the diverse interests of users and the interests of habitat conservation, thus mitigating the human impact, climate change and improving the site's resilience.  

Agroforesty based approach

Through agroforestry farmers will be able to produce crops, animal keeping and tree plantation at the same time. This will help them to have food security, economic stabilization and conservation of the environment.

 

  1. Availability of Transportation means
  2. Farmers willingness 
  3. Postive perception of governmental local aouthorities 
  4. Availability of Human resources
  5. Availability of Fund 

For the period we practised agroforestry in the community the economic growth of the beneficiaries have grew from 10% to 30%.

The farmers livelihood have improved and by end of 2020, farmers have not reported the lack of food from project area

Habitat Protection and Management

This solution combines several actions to make the application of efforts in conserving a site more efficient. Habitat protection and management are framed in the territorial analysis of priority sites and the application of conservation instruments suitable for conservation and sustainability.

Through different instruments, site protection creates a legal basis for the adaptive management of the most critical areas for their biological value. Some of these instruments may be conservation agreements, land purchase, federal coastal zone concessions for protection in their own right, or collaboration to create Ramsar sites, sites of the WHSRN, Natural Protected Areas in different categories, Destination Agreements, among others. Collaboration is a guiding principle for this strategy, which is why we have a very close link with the authorities of the state of Baja California, with the municipal and local authorities in the ejidos and communities, as well as a strong collaboration link with the environmental sectors at all levels, such as SEMARNAT, CONANP, PROFEPA, and the General Directorate of Federal Maritime-Terrestrial Zone, among others. These collaborations have translated into thousands of hectares protected in Baja California, mainly in essential areas such as San Quintín.

We must protect the unique natural habitats present in habitats present in the Baja California peninsula and maintain natural beauty with the assurance of landscape and ecological integrity. All biodiversity conservation and protection efforts have a sound scientific basis; this guarantees credibility in our work and ensures that we are on the fundamental priority habitats. We believe it is appropriate to make the best use of resources available by working closely with other organizations that share common values and interests.

Something that makes us very proud is that the team that has remained at the forefront has achieved so many achievements, and we are still here. The fact that we are recognized nationally and internationally in land conservation. The work we do in Mexico can inspire Mexicans to conserve more, to encourage people who are just learning about protection and the value of nature, to develop a much stronger relationship with nature and through that relationship to take action to conserve land, whether it is through donations, talking with their families, or through the conservation of land. Through that relationship, take action to preserve land, whether through donations, talking to their friends, or creating new conservation projects.

 

The National Route for reporting OECM to WCMC

The project team has worked with the Ministry of Environment to construct  and implement the National Route for reporting OECM and submitting to WCMC. This route was designed by the Ministry of Environment, as CBD focal point for Colombia, GEF Small Grants Programme in Colombia and the project. It is structured to guarantee the validation of each potential OECM by the government (Ministry of Environment), civil society (an NGO such as Fundación Natura) and Humboldt Institute linked to the Ministry with the scientific support necessary. These three entities comprise the Coordinator Group of the route. External evaluators and regional authorities will participate in the validation. It includes the individual assessment of each potential OECM by three verifiers who work independently from one another and send their evaluation to the Coordinator Group that establishes a consensual agreement on whether or not the area complies with OECM criteria and can be submitted by the Ministry to be included in WCMC data base. The project has also carried out capacity building of national verifiers, which will evaluate if potential OECM meet the criteria.

Colombia has not reported the existing OECM to WCMC data base. One of the main achievements of the project is that two OECM cases have already been approved through the National Route and the Ministry will be sending in the short time the requirements for the WCMC verification process.

 

Moreover, this project contributes to the implementation in Colombia of the CBD Decision 14/8 of 2018: “Submitting data on OECMs to the UNEP’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre for inclusion in the World Database on Protected Areas”.

The joint effort to construct and implement the National Route, that is easy to apply, enhances the social appropiation of the OECM and the interest of rightholders and skateholders to report to WCMC.

 

It is important to highlight that the National Route was designed and constructed through a joint effort between multiple stakeholders.

 

The National Report represents an important step in the formal recognition of biodiversity conservation, beyond protected areas, in Colombia. It contributes to the international commitments acquired by Colombia, such as the CDB, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the climate change adaptation goals and the Post 2020 framework, among others.

To Foster that Wildlife Friendly Actions (i.e, guanaco use) could bring solutions on the conflict generated between conservation and livestock production paradigm.

Communication is vital for any company, business, or professional activity. It is useless to have a lot of knowledge and great abilities to generate a good product if we do not manage to make ourselves visible in an effective way, attracting consumers. For large companies (due to having a budget and specifically assigned), it is relatively easy to find the perfect insight and get to shape the campaign. SEO strategies, SEM, usability and UX issues, social media, implementation of channels such as email marketing or SMS, etc. A good campaign knows how to make room in all these areas. However, it is a mistake to think that only companies with large resources can gain a good digital presence or outside it. When we talk about "social communication" we must bear in mind that not everyone has access to each of the available digital platforms, nor are they present in all existing social networks. We consider a "successful" strategy if we manage to gain visibility using the most frequent communication channels available to capture interest and loyalty.

 

“create, measure, and learn” potential communication (comm) strategies on WFA. These workshops will explain basic guidelines on comm styles, impacts of different strategies, and the scale of those. Some campaigns will want to gain visibility, notoriety, generate engagement in social networks or simply cause a considerable impact to make the audience act. Training for comm actions to build and strengthen capacity within national stakeholders and local communities to expand on WFA.

The PayúnMatrú Cooperative members may be able in the future to teach the methods they learn during this project to other groups that wish to manage guanacos in Patagonia. Wildlife Friendly Actions to obtain guanaco fiber become a standard procedure by guanaco-fiber producers all around the Patagonian Steppe.

The communication efforts applied so far, through small notes on science pages, television, and radio channels to disseminate our project paid off. Since one of them reached the managers of Good Growth, the international company that connects science, customers with the world´s most successful Brands. With the help of WCS that is a representative of the  WFEN and as such, acting as a link between both companies to sign a contract, which states two important points: a)the parties understand that the costs of a well-conducted management operation imply that the base price of guanaco raw fiber should be 200$; b)the purchase of 100 kilos from the Payun Matru Cooperative.  

 

 

 

 

Generate wildlife friendly certifications that increase the market value of the fiber

The province of Mendoza has what we currently consider to be the most wildlife-friendly guanaco-shearing project that has been underway for ten years. Due to the type of management carried out in La Payunia, there is the possibility that the products can be certified Wildlife Friendly. The Wildlife Friendly Enterprise Network (WFEN) is a global community dedicated to developing and marketing products that conserve endangered wildlife while contributing to the economic vitality of rural communities. The Network sets the global standard for selling "green" products and helps members reach new and dynamic markets. WFEN's Mission is to protect wildlife in the wild by certifying businesses that ensure that people and nature coexist and thrive. WFEN certification will seek to promote wildlife conservation by facilitating responsible production practices, business development, education, and branding. It will also seek to access new and dynamic markets and achieve a fair price for wildlife-friendly products.

 

First, an applicant must submit the WF Global Products Pre-Assessment Form and Reference Form, to apply for the Certification. The Pre-Assessment Form provides background about producers, their products, and wildlife conservation conditions in their area to understand if the products may meet the WFEN Mission Criteria. The Reference Form must be completed by someone at a conservation organization who is familiar with the program and its conservation context. A non-refundable fee of $250 must accompany the Pre-Assessment and Reference Form.  

 

Based on the principles of wildlife conservation, economic well-being, and accountability, each of our certified product lines illustrates the possibilities of triple-bottom-line success for people, planet and profit.  

A direct link between production and conservation is essential for certification by the Network. Products that donate a percentage of profits to conservation but do not abate threats to key species fall outside of WFEN. To help ensure communities living with wildlife adopt conservation practices, the associated benefits should be tangible and significant. Certified products must contribute to increases in local incomes and/or improvements to livelihoods. The product’s conservation mission includes a clear enforcement mechanism, such that failure to follow through with required conservation actions results in immediate consequences, including forfeiture of any economic reward. Inability to make substantive corrections in a reasonable timeframe will result in suspension from the Network, including loss of certification and provision of information to vendors and distributors.

Encourage the generation of a chain that increases the commercial value of the guanaco fiber by linking the primary production sectors with the national and international textile sectors.

Work with different actors at the local, national, and international levels, to contribute to the design of a fiber value chain that can trigger the activity. The work will consist of the identification of key public and private actors in order to provide tools for the commercialization of the product. The activities that will be developed in this stage of the project include meetings with the textile sector, application authorities, and various important local actors in this area.

-Meetings with representatives of national organizations to evaluate background, regulations, marketing, and support possibilities for wild guanaco management experiences.

-Meetings with selected fashion designers at the national (i.e Buenos Aires) or international (i.e Canada) scale, to generate a fair value chain and promote WFA experience.

-Value-added options will be identified at the national/international level through meetings with actors from the public and private sectors, to expand WFA as a “Based nature Solution".  

Wildlife camelid management actions began in the 80s, based on the philosophy of the "ICDPs", seeking to link biodiversity conservation with improving the life quality of life of local people. These projects, which initially focused on the vicuña, were based on the application of economic incentives to promote the use of wildlife. We prove that wild guanaco use could improve the numbers of those initiatives because of the wider distribution range of the species. In Argentina, the production of SAC fiber could easily double due to an increase in the number of sheared populations and an increase in the frequency of shearing. This would clearly lead to a change in the production paradigm in contrast to the current one. Guanaco fiber is amongst.The Cooperative decided to add value to the raw fiber in order to increase the value. By 2010, most of the projects had stopped due to difficulty in marketing guanaco fiber with a price of USD $40-60 per kilo. The "problem" is there are only two trade companies that buy raw fiber that is exported mainly to Italy and control the market prices. 

 

Partnership with the National Fisheries Authority

In the process of developing the application, The Nature Conservancy and the National Fisheries Authority (AUNAP), signed an agreement of understanding with the objective of making joint efforts to share, generate information and knowledge and identify issues of mutual interest about the country's fisheries resources.

Under this agreement, the organizations have developed and improved the MIPEZ application. Among the activities developed is the registration in the APP of more than 6,000 fishermen linked to the authority; the socialization and training of more than 50 fishery promoters who serve as replicators to train other fishermen.

This agreement is an important milestone for the Authority, the fishermen of the basin and the Conservancy. It contributes to the management of the macrobasin's fisheries, since it provides the authority with a science-based tool, fed by fishermen, with consolidated information to improve decision-making processes in the management of fishery resources.

  1. A working agreement between the authorities, NGOs and communities makes it possible to generate collective benefits and effective management guidelines for the resource.
  2. Involves fishermen, who are normally invisible, in the management of the resource and in basin decisions.
  3. Allows the Conservancy to contribute scientific information to the management of the fishery resource in the macro-basin and to develop applied research.
  1. The administrative and contractual processes of public organizations take longer than other institutions.
  2. Multi-stakeholder alliances are fundamental tools for the development of effective processes in the territory.
  3. The participation of local communities and local fishermen's organizations is essential to generate policies and guidelines for resource management.
Promote sustainable use of wild guanaco populations through demonstrative experiences of live shearing in La Payunia.

The annual shearing of guanacos by the Payún Matrú Cooperative is being closely supervised by the Mendoza Department of Renewable Natural Resources to ensure that the potential economic income provided by guanaco wool is feasible and sustainable. At the same time, Cooperative members understand that by making "good practices" they receive "good benefits". CONICET has tested and developed methods for minimizing the stress of individual guanacos during capture and handling, that reduce negative impacts at the population level.  Our knowledge of ecological, physiological, and behavioral processes that "constrain" these camelids in La Payunia, based on more than 10 years of study, put us in a unique position for advising and teaching the cooperative and government stakeholders how to minimize impacts of live shearing on this population. We will continue training members of Payún Matrú Cooperative in "good practices" to make capture and shearing of wild guanacos within Wildlife Friendly Actions. The following activities will be carried out at this stage:

 

1)Pre-shearing surveys on population parameters, 2)Training of the personnel (without experience) in charge of guanacos handling during herding, within the corrals, and during shearing is key to the success of the activities. 3)Management of wild guanacos: Capture, shear, and release of wild guanacos will be carried out in two events, between September and November. 4)Physiological indicators: physiological stress in the function of handling conditions.5)Post-shearing surveys on population parameters such as social structure and population density.

 

-As we are working with wildlife, pre-shearing surveys on population parameters help us to select the best area to build the management structure.  

-Training of the personnel is fundamental (and the key for the success of this solution) for the good management of the animals, avoiding guanaco mortalities and operator injuries. The management of wild guanacos is different from any other domestic animal, and it is necessary to use particular structures and tools, as well as to learn specific maneuvers for their manipulation, keeping animal welfare in mind.

-Stress approach give us a key physiological indicator to reduce stress in relation to handling time.

-Post-shearing surveys give us key population parameters such as social structure and population allow us to compared with data before the live-shearing experience and define the impact on social disruption.

 

Incorporate Ecosystem Parameters into Forestry Incentive Programs.

The purpose of this building block is to develop forest management policies for each strategic forest ecosystem and link them to the objectives of forest incentive programs and/or payments for environmental services in the country.

In essence, it is required to promote incentive policies (economic and/or commercial) and technical regulations that stimulate conservation, restoration and/or production in each strategic ecosystem.

This requires two main elements:

  1. The ability to adjust forestry programs to accommodate biological elements, which were not developed when the technical forest management instruments were created.
  2. Encourage cross-sectoral dialogue among stakeholders to identify technical and political common ground.

To illustrate this building block, the case of the Guatemalan Forestry Incentives Program -PROBOSQUE- is used; which made adjustments to forestry incentives in the forest restoration and degradation modality, changing technical parameters.

  1. To have a clear forest policy framework that first determines the scope of its objective as a public policy, the subject that expects to benefit and the expected results of its implementation.
  2. To have consolidated public policy instruments that allow for interaction with other productive sectors. Guatemala's Forestry Incentives Program -PROBOSQUE- originated in 1996 and continues to operate to date.
  1. The development of pilot initiatives is required to evaluate and/or test the technical hypotheses of the different stakeholders in adjusting public policy instruments.
  2. Extensive internal and external discussion and consultation processes are required among the different stakeholders to achieve the expected benefits, without affecting the institutional and legal mandates that stakeholders must comply with.
  3. Technical materials should be developed to communicate and disseminate information to potential stakeholders on the new modalities offered by public policy instruments.