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Displaying 266 - 270 of 358Conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity: Strengthening network of protected areas through advanced go
Objectives
To strengthen the effectiveness of Azerbaijan’s protected area system to deliver Global Environmental Benefits using a landscape approach to governance and management.
Other
Note: Disbursement data provided is cumulative and covers disbursement made by the project Agency.
Target Groups
1. The project will contribute significantly to a more effective management of Azerbaijan’s PA network, and improve environments both within PAs and in their surrounding areas. In other words, this project is expected to demonstrate good management practices to conserve biodiversity, provide opportunities for sustainable income generation for communities, and provide a model/financing strategy for sustainable financing across the national PAs system. 2. Improved conservation outcomes within PAs with regard to habitat and species management, and improved control of illegal and unsustainable uses will increase ecological resilience of selected PAs by reduction of threat posed by anthropogenic disturbances. The project will also provide for adoption of landscape-scale PAs planning across the country through the systems plan development, which will lead to increased resiliency of ecosystems. 3. At the site level, the project will bring in socio-economic benefits to local communities in and around the selected protected areas, with full consideration given to gender dimensions. Local community members in landscape surroundings will be provided with alternate opportunities through expanding of sustainable nature-based tourism of the selected PAs, engagement in PA-level enforcement, sustainable extraction practices, habitat improvement and species monitoring and recovery activities. 4. Additionally, providing support to local communities through sustainable/alternative livelihoods will enable them to better cope with climate-induced impacts and risks. 5. Also, improvement of conservation and ovrall management of PAs will also ensure the functioning of ecosystem services, which has direct impact to local popukation living around PAs and whose livelihood directly or inderctly depends from these services, through pollination, provision of fresh water, protection from floods,landslides and erosion and other services. 6. Improved capacity to develop alternate livelihoods and access to markets for biodiversity friendly, environmentally supportive products will partially mitigate loss of access for some users who traditionally depend on illegal or unsustainable harvesting of wildlife in the PAs. 7. In other words, the capacity built through the project and co-management arrangements with key other stakeholders are likely to improve the management and governance compared to the baseline scenario. Such improvements will be due to increased buy in by local communities and other relevant stakeholders in the value of PAs, due to the flow of sustainable resources from these PAs, increase in number and quality of livelihood benefits from these sites, and increased national visibility arising from the improved management of these sites as model site to emulate. 8. Participatory approaches developed under the project are likely to enhance the social capital and will lead to deeper involvement of local people in conservation activities in the future. Community strengthening and empowerment as a consequence of participation in the project is likely to sustain beyond the project. 9. Additionally, the activities of this project will build the capacity of government officials and other stakeholders to improve management and sustainable use of goods and services arising from PAs. These project activities will provide long-term national environmental benefits and the achievement of the project’s global environmental objective. The project outcomes will lead to the long-term viability of globally significant biodiversity in Azerbaijan by improving the regulatory, planning, institutional and financial frameworks for PA management. Specifically, by removing of existing barriers to effective management of globally threatened species and ecological communities, undertaking species recovery, habitat restoration activities, and the mitigation of key threats in model PAs will provide replicable models for improved management in other areas of the country. The adoption of a landscape approach to management of the ecosystems within the PAs system, will ensure viability of wildlife populations, sustained ecosystem services to local people, and help to improve resilience to climate change. 10. At the national level, environmental improvements will bring socioeconomic benefits, which will enhance environmental sustainability further, by strengthening the links between the PAs and the quality of life of people using the PAs. Improved engagement of stakeholders and management of PA resources will reduce the threats and impacts on biodiversity, leading to healthier, resilient and more productive ecosystems in the country. 11. Addressing gender and emphasizing the role of women in natural resources management projects is an entry for reversing environmental and land degradation. Women manage natural resources daily in their roles as farmers and household providers; typically, they are responsible for growing crops, collecting fuel wood, and water. Local values and practices have a major impact on their access to natural resources and the extent to whch women are engaged in conservation activities. Inequitable access and unequal playing fields has led women farmers to produce less and earn less than their male counterparts. Where both rural women and men are empowered to participate in decisions that affect their needs and vulnerabilities, they can help to ensure effective interventions for their conservation and sustainable use. Thus, the project will benefit both women and biodiversity conservation by: (a) improving women’s participation and decision-making in SLM at both the national and local levels; (b) improving women’s capacity for SLM and agricultural practices; and (c) improving livelihoods for women, including promotion of women and youth entrepreneurship, which will facilitate their earning higher incomes through more satisfying work.
The Jama Conservation Corridor: Reforestation and Agroforestry to Reconnect Remnant Semi-deciduous Tropical Fo
General
The rate of deforestation in Ecuador linked to unsustainable livestock and agricultural practices and illegal timber harvesting is one of the highest in South America; between 1990 and 2010 Ecuador lost 3.3% of its forest cover (978,537 acres). Deforestation and the ensuing land degradation reduces soil productivity leading to increased poverty and food insecurity in rural areas, while also threatening already endangered wildlife. The purpose of this project is to create the Jama Conservation Corridor spanning 69,189 acres in coastal Ecuador by supporting local, interested landowners with activities that will conserve and reforest parts of their land while encouraging sustainable livelihoods. This project will connect the last remnants of semi-deciduous tropical forests in coastal Ecuador through forest restoration, regeneration of abandoned cattle pastures, and groforestry, including silvopasture. Specific activities include: reforesting prioritized areas within the corridor; collecting baseline data for the flora and fauna in reforested areas; providing training to landowners in agroforestry; and facilitating educational outreach activities with local landowners, schools, and decision-makers on sustainable land use practices.
Bottom-Up Accountability Initiatives and Large-Scale Land Acquisitions in Africa
General
The objective of this project is to test whether the Food and Agriculture Organization's Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security can help increase accountability for large-scale land acquisitions in Mali, Nigeria, Uganda, and South Africa. It will provide insight into the conditions under which international land governance instruments can be used to hold public authorities more accountable. This, in turn, may help locals secure the right to food in sub-Saharan Africa. From rural to urban In 2007, the absolute number of people living in urban centres worldwide overtook the number of people living in rural areas for the first time ever. As a result, the international development community's attention is increasingly turning urban. Yet data from the United Nations indicates that three-quarters of sub-Saharan Africa's poor still live and work in the countryside. Effective access to, and ownership over, land and natural resources remains critically important for the rural poor in Africa to be able to build decent economic livelihoods and participate meaningfully in decisions that affect their lives. Movement to acquire land on a large scale Against this backdrop, food, fuel/energy, climate, and financial crises have converged. One of the most immediate and important implications is the revaluation of land as a scare resource. This reality has driven industries, governments, communities, and individuals to acquire land at a scale never witnessed before. Africa has played centre stage to this wave of large-scale land acquisitions. Since 2006, international and domestic investors have acquired an estimated 50-80 million hectares of land in low- and middle-income countries. Research to investigate land acquisitions FIAN, the Foodfirst Information and Action Network, will implement the project. National citizen-based groups, regional and international civil society organizations, researchers, and policymakers interested in land issues will participate in the project. The research team will apply a case study and participatory action-research approach. The project is expected to generate evidence about how local residents can enhance their ability to promote more equitable, transparent, and accountable land acquisition mechanisms. Evidence for improved monitoring Project results will contribute to the UN Committee on World Food Security's monitoring mechanism. The evidence will also be shared with other relevant monitoring bodies at the national (parliamentary commissions, national human rights organizations), regional, and international levels (African and UN human rights systems).
Restoration of Degraded Natural Forests and Soil Erosion Management Improvement in Erosion-Prone Regions of Ch
Objectives
To mainstream sustainable Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) and Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) for improving flows of ecosystems services of degraded Natural Forest Use Land (NFUL) in soil erosion-prone regions of China, based on a multi-level governance and landscape approach.
Other
Note: Disbursement data provided is cumulative and covers disbursement made by the project Agency.
Target Groups
The durability of the innovative forest landscape restoration interventions demonstrated in the project and upscaled will largely depend on sustained involvement and generation of livelihood benefits for local communities. The estimated project direct beneficiaries include 10,000 local people, of whom 50% are women. These people from the local communities in the project landscapes will benefit directly through strengthened and expanded sustainable livelihood initiatives. Additionally, 17,500 forest workers and ecological forest rangers are among the direct project beneficiaries. These people from the local communities in the project landscapes will benefit directly through strengthened and expanded sustainable livelihood initiatives. Engagement and generation of socioeconomic benefits for local communities is an important aspect of the integrated landscape approach in the project design. The viability of the FLR approaches demonstrated on the project over the long-term will largely depend on sustained involvement of local communities and flow of sustainable livelihood benefits. The project will provide opportunities for local people to be involved in capacity building activities aimed at strengthening their existing or introducing new close-to-nature livelihood models, including under-canopy agroforestry, ecotourism, participatory restoration (e.g., community nursery, planting, and maintenance), etc. Under the current conditions in China, one of the biggest barriers hindering economic prosperity in rural area is that farmers, especially women and ethnic minority farmers often have limited access to green supply chains, lack financial management skills, and are uninformed of real-time market information and of partnership opportunities. By facilitating linkages to local economic associations, cooperatives and women’s groups and ecologically conscious private enterprises who are closer to the marketplace, the prospects of their income generation capabilities and assets accumulation will be substantially improved.Apart from these monetary gains, i.e., increased financial capital, the local direct beneficiaries will gain non-monetary benefits. Adoption of improved NFUL management practices are expected to restore ecosystem functions and services, resulting in improved land productivity, water quality, climate regulation services, erosion control capabilities, etc. These improvements will generate contribute to increased nature capital of the local communities.Significant gains in human capital are also expected through the project interventions. For example, local communities will benefit from knowledge achieved through skills trainings, learning-by-doing, financial management training, etc. The institutional level direct beneficiaries, including 2,500 people at the national level and 17,500 forest workers and ecological forest rangers at the landscape level, will also increase knowledge and hands-on experience. Strengthened institutional capacities will help ensure sustainability of the results achieved during the project and upscaling of the demonstrated interventions in other parts of the landscape and in other regions in the country.In addition, the project strategy emphasizes the need to strengthen social capital in the target landscapes, through establishment of multi-stakeholder, multi-level landscape mechanisms, which will provide local people, including women and ethnic minorities an opportunity to actively participate in the decision-making processes regarding sustainable management of NFUL resources in their communities. The project will also facilitate enhanced social association, e.g., cooperatives, small enterprises, as well as fostering enabling partnerships with governmental entities, NGOs, and private sector enterprises, e.g., through insertion of local farmers into green value chains,.The cumulative monetary and non-monetary benefits will strengthen the resilience of local communities with respect to the expected impacts of climate change, e.g., restored and protected ecosystem functions and services, and also in regard to socioeconomic disruptions, e.g., diversified income opportunities will allow local households to cope with possible market fluctuations or supply chain interruptions, such as those that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Local communities will also benefit from the enhanced resilience to natural disasters, such as flooding. Mitigation of risks associated with soil erosion will reduce potential losses of both property and life in the project landscapes. Further, improved soil restoration at scale can bring benefits to the agricultural sector and thus the economy generally. It is not only those in the upstream forest areas that will benefit, but downstream farmers across wide areas in China will also be important beneficiaries of soil restoration work. Livelihood diversification, as promoted by the project (both in the livelihood demonstrations and the rubber and tea monoculture upgrade to forest corridor demos), if replicated on a wide scale, will bring strong socioeconomic benefits beyond the project landscapes.The durability of the global environmental benefits achieved through the project strongly depends on sustained participation of local communities, civil society, private sector, and other stakeholders. The multi-level, multi-stakeholder governance approaches demonstrated on the project are instrumental in achieving the global environmental benefits. The project is relevant to a number of SDGs, most notably SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 15 (Life on Land), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals), as outlined below in Table 3 of the Project Document.
LOMA MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK CONSERVATION PROJECT: AN APPROACH TO PROTECT THE LARGEST POPULATIONS OF WESTERN C
General
THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO SUPPORT THE PROTECTION OF LOMA MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK S enDANGERED CHIMPANZEES BY (1) CONDUCTING SURVEYS TO ESTIMATE CHIMPANZEE ABUNDANCE, UNDERSTAND POPULATION DYNAMICS, AND IDenTIFY CULTURAL TRAITS (2) CONDUCTING FECAL ANALYSIS AND BOTANICAL SURVEYS TO DETERMINE CHIMPANZEE DIETARY HABITS, AND RESOURCE NEEDS AND USE (3) USING BOTANICAL SURVEYS, SATELLITE IMAGERY AND GROUND TRUTHING TO MAP CHIMPANZEE HABITAT (4) RESTORING THAT HABITAT THROUGH REFORESTATION WITH KEY TREE SPECIES (5) IMPROVING BIOMONITORING THROUGH INCREASING THE NUMBER OF COMMUNITY MONITORS AND EXPANDING THEIR TRAINING (6) CONDUCTING enVIRONMenTAL EDUCATION IN 14 SCHOOLS AND INTRODUCING A ROOTS AND SHOOTS PROGRAM FOR REGIONAL YOUTH (7) IMPROVING UNDERSTANDING OF LOCAL ECONOMIES THROUGH A SOCIOECONOMIC STUDY AND LAND USE PLANNING AND PROMOTING A SHIFT TO MORE enVIRONMenTALLY FRIenDLY LIVELIHOODS.