Fri, Mar 22, 2013 -
Watershed management aims to harmonize conservation
with the use of water resources for agriculture,
livestock and forestry in upland areas,
especially when these resources have high
socio-economic value for downstream users.
The Spatuletail flagship
species, "Cucho", leads a Pride
campaign parade in Tilacancha, Peru, as
part of the community mobilization strategy
for adopting sustainable watershed management
practices. Photo Credit: M. Tovar
Tilacancha (Peru), 22
March 2013 - To mark World Water Day 2013,
the conservation organizations RARE, with
support from the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) and other partners, is
launching ten new public awareness campaigns
to promote watershed protection and biodiversity
in Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru.
The ‘Pride Campaigns’
aim to support the sustainable use of local
natural resources and the conservation of
ecosystems.
Across Latin America,
watersheds (including streams, lakes, estuaries,
wetlands or aquifers), provide communities
with clean water. They are also used for
agriculture and forestry, but sometimes
unsustainably. Indeed one of the greatest
threats to the Latin American water supply
is cattle grazing, as cows can enter streams
and pollute the water.
Watershed management
aims to harmonize conservation with the
use of water resources for agriculture,
livestock and forestry in upland areas,
especially when these resources have high
socio-economic value for downstream users.
The new campaigns are
replicating the successful Watershed Reciprocal
Agreements, also known as ARAs, which were
piloted through the Global Environment Facility
(GEF) project Communities of Conservation:
Safeguarding the World's Most Threatened
Species in the Andean region.
This pilot project,
with financial support from the GEF, and
in partnership with UNEP, was made up of
12 micro-watersheds that aim to build community
support for local cloud forests and alpine
grasslands, which are critical to sustaining
regional fresh water sources and are important
habitats for endangered species.
Building on impacts,
lessons learned and the interest of local
partners, the ten new micro-watersheds in
Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru also
stand to benefit from the implementation
of the ARA model. The model is simple: downstream
water consumers contribute to a local conservation
fund that through individually negotiated
agreements provides incentives to upland
land owners willingly taking concrete measures
for conservation or restoration to keep
their forests, or Páramo areas, healthy.
To achieve these objectives
each Pride Campaign will use social marketing
tools, festivals, billboards, radio shows
and workshops to promote the success of
the community in caring for their water
resources and encourage people to be participants
in the ARA scheme.
The campaigns underscore
the benefits obtained in terms of water
supply and biodiversity protection, and
how the participation of local stakeholders
will make their community unique and special.
RARE, environmental
authorities, municipalities, non-governmental
organizations and water companies are partnering
in this effort to replicate and expand the
piloted methodology supported by the GEF
and will scale up the creation of enabling
policies and payment for programmes of ecosystem
services at national levels.
About the Global Environment
Facility
The Global Environment
Facility (GEF) unites 182 countries in partnership
with international institutions, civil society
organizations (CSOs), and the private sector
to address global environmental issues while
supporting national sustainable development
initiatives. Today the GEF is the largest
public funder of projects to improve the
global environment. An independently operating
financial organization, the GEF provides
grants for projects related to biodiversity,
climate change, international waters, land
degradation, the ozone layer, and persistent
organic pollutants.
Since 1991, GEF has
achieved a strong track record with developing
countries and countries with economies in
transition, providing $10.5 billion in grants
and leveraging $51 billion in co-financing
for over 2,700 projects in over 168 countries.
Through its Small Grants Programme (SGP),
the GEF has also made more than 14,000 small
grants directly to civil society and community
based organizations, totaling $634 million.
For more information, visit www.thegef.org.
United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP)
UNEP’s Mission is to
provide leadership and encourage partnership
in caring for the environment by inspiring,
informing, and enabling nations and peoples
to improve their quality of life without
compromising that of future generations.
For more information,
please contact:unepnewsdesk@unep.org
RARE
"Rare is a US-based
environmental conservation NGO focused on
protecting imperiled species and ecosystems
with a high biodiversity value through the
implementation of Pride Campaigns, which
are based on advanced social marketing techniques
to inspire and mobilize communities to adopt
human practices that represent long term
solutions for the sustainable use of natural
resources and ecosystems conservation. What
further differentiates Rare is that results
are always achieved by building the leadership
capacity and effectiveness of local organizations.
