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December 2010
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About Us
The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) is a joint program of l'Agence Française de Développement, Conservation International, the Global Environment Facility, the Government of Japan, the MacArthur Foundation and the World Bank.
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Season's Greetings
As the International Year of Biodiversity comes to a close, the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund would like to thank you for your continuing support for the world’s most vital ecosystems. Whether through field projects, regional planning, action and networking, or participation and support at the global level, each of our partners has played an important role in our endeavor to ensure the future of these miraculous places and all the life they support.
It has been an exciting year that brought new interest and investment in biodiversity conservation, paving the way for further progress in the year to come.
We at CEPF appreciate all you’ve done in support of our common goal, and we sincerely wish you a peaceful and joyous 2011. |
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Bhutan
Eastern Himalayas Conservation Leaders Review Investment, Look Forward
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| CEPF grantees in the Eastern Himalaya Region had no shortage of achievements to report during an assessment workshop held in Paro, Bhutan, Dec. 6-8.
During CEPF’s five-year investment, which ends this month, grantees from Bhutan, Northeast India and Nepal improved the management of more than 1 million hectares across 11 key biodiversity areas.Through grantee initiatives, governments adopted four national or local policies to support mainstreaming conservation into development policy at the local, state and national levels. A total of 1,500 households benefited directly from CEPF projects that included alternative and sustainable livelihood programs, park management implementation, sustainable agriculture, watershed management and ecotourism. CEPF-funded projects established and/or strengthened five multi-stakeholder collaborative networks in a region that historically has been characterized by isolated and fragmented approaches to conservation.
But these grant recipients did more than tick off their successes at the workshop. They came together to share their experiences and lessons learned, and to discuss how to convert the progress made under CEPF’s $5 million investment into continuing conservation achievement for the region.
"We in the region—from Arunachal, from Northeast India, from Bhutan, Nepal—actually started coming together because of CEPF, and that, I believe, is a very huge step forward," said Tariq Aziz, who heads WWF's Living Himalayas Initiative. "The Eastern Himalayas is not divided by political boundaries. It’s a single unit, and we in conservation have started looking at it as a single unit more and more, even at the highest political levels," he said.
"It’s very critical that we continue with something like this because it is bringing us together for the first time at a scale never seem before, at least in my lifetime," Aziz said. "We as responsible citizens, civil society, have to pull ourselves together and pull our decision makers together, and see what we can do from within."
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Kamal Bawa, founder and president of Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment(ATREE), stressed the importance of maintaining civil society organizations at all levels and encouraging innovation among them as a means to ensure that conservation initiatives can be continued. He and others at the workshop also stressed the need to continue working to integrate conservation concerns into government policies and practices.
The workshop received strong support from host country Bhutan, with remarks at the opening ceremony provided by the Honorable Lyonpo Minjur Dorji, minister of home and cultural affairs for Bhutan. CEPF donor partners also showed their support for the region, with representatives from the government of Japan, l’Agence française de développement (AFD) and Conservation International participating in the event.
Additional results from the CEPF investment include:
- CEPF contributed to a reduction of agricultural encroachment and poor land use in 11 key biodiversity areas, as well as the recovery of degraded lands and wildlife populations;
- Researchers funded by CEPF conducted field assessments for five Critically Endangered species and 16 Endangered species. Projects brought together a network of more than 30 experts and conservationists and built new capacity for species conservation;
- A nascent civil society in Bhutan was boosted by CEPF grants. New policies in Bhutan now permit civil society organizations to engage in conservation work and receive international funds. Through grants such as one to the Nature Conservation Committee of Trashiyangtse to restore habitat for the black-necked crane through community-based initiatives, CEPF helped demonstrate the positive role such groups can play; and
- A final report on the results of the Eastern Himalayas investment is expected to be available in April on CEPF’s Web site. An explanation of CEPF’s investment strategy in the region, and a listing of all of CEPF’s grants in the Eastern Himalayas, is also available in the "Where We Work" section.
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Caucasus
Without Borders
Located between the Black and Caspian Seas, the Caucasus region spans parts of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Turkey and Russia – an area containing ecosystems as varied as savanna, desert, swamp forest and woodland. Although this region is often noted for its cultural diversity, which includes a mix of different ethnic groups, languages and religions, it is also habitat for 6,500 species of vascular plants and a great diversity of animal species.
"The CEPF investment program in the Caucasus is a fantastic example of the power of civil society groups – working in partnership and in pursuit of common goals – to transcend barriers of geography, language and politics, and achieve lasting conservation results at a regional scale." – CEPF Grant Director, Jack Tordoff |
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Haiti
Assessing Ecosystems, Needs in Haiti
Haiti is part of the Caribbean Islands biodiversity hotspot where CEPF began investing in June 2010. Recently, Pierre Carret, technical advisor to CEPF, and BirdLife International consultant Joel Timyan travelled to Haiti to conduct a needs assessment on two critical key biodiversity areas (KBAs) --Massif de la Hotte in southwest Haiti and Massif de la Selle in southern Haiti.
Massif de la Hotte, at 129,000 hectares, covers three priority watersheds that serve the cities of Les Cayes, Port Salut, Tiburon and Jeremie. These cities typically suffer the greatest loss of life due to flooding and landslides resulting from hurricanes and tropical storms, in part due to the degradation of the upper watershed. The site also harbors the highest number of Alliance for Zero Extinction species in the world with 13 Critically Endangered species that are found nowhere else.
Massif de la Selle, 167,000 hectares, is only 22 kilometers from Port-au-Prince and is a major source of water to the inhabitants of the city. It is also home to the only known populations of several globally threatened species.
Carret's findings will help to determine how to spend $130,000 remaining in emergency funding approved by CEPF's Donor Council after the devastating January 2010 earthquake to support these areas and the vital services they provide to Haitians. CEPF has already awarded $251,354 to BirdLife International to strengthen a local network of 12 environmental nongovernmental organizations, known as Rézo-Ekolo, as well as to integrate biodiversity conservation into reconstruction and development planning. The findings will also help direct any future funding coming from CEPF's investment in the hotspot.
Summary of key findings
High endemic and overall biodiversity occurs disproportionately in the two areas of Massif de la Selle and Massif de la Hotte. This biodiversity is under serious threat from burgeoning and encroaching unsustainable agricultural practices, which have already led to noticeable declines in endemic bird and amphibian populations.
Although both of these national parks have experienced significant degradation, there still remain areas of forest that harbor and have the potential to maintain breeding populations of threatened species. Haitian nature authorities are working to protect these areas, but are experiencing significant challenges from an uncertain political atmosphere and a struggling economy. Because of the presence of sufficient remaining habitat and species, there is solid justification for action to protect these forests and the services they provide.
Carret reports, "The Haitian KBAs are certainly among the natural areas in the world that most qualify for the term Critical Ecosystems."
Massif de la Selle (La Visite National Park)
La Visite National Park in the KBA Massif de la Selle harbors a rather young pine forest that protects the karst plateau which contains and purifies the water valued by the areas downstream. It also has a surprisingly pristine broadleaf forest (called rak-bwa in Creole) that houses a wide array of biodiversity, particularly plants, amphibians and birds. These forests have been largely untouched due to the challenges of their topography, but in the area of Berac located at the southern end of La Visite, what remains of its broadleaf forest has been and continues to be under multiple threats, leading it to suffer irreparable loss.
Massif de la Hotte (Macaya National Park)
The Macaya National Park area is believed to host as many as 120+ endemic species of plants and about 26 species of frogs (33 species total exist in Massif de la Hotte of which 29 are endemic). The park has been better preserved than La Visite due to its inaccessibility by road and more challenging topography. It is primarily composed of old pine forest but also has some patches of broadleaf forest. Macaya plays an extremely important role in preventing natural disasters and erosion, as well as protecting valuable water resources.
The threats that the area faces include significant population growth, unsustainable agricultural practices, charcoal production, timber and bwa-gra (small pieces of resin wood used to light charcoal) production mostly based on pines. The lack of specifications and boundary demarcation for national parks and lack of land tenure documentation also hamper protection of these areas.
Recommendations
In light of the many threats present in the Haitian KBAs and the overall observations and assessments made by Carret and Timyan, CEPF will look into investing in projects that work on payments for ecosystem services, improved heating/cooking technologies, community conservation strategies, and targeted tree planting/ slope stabilization, taking into consideration the following recommendations.
It is recommended that this initial investment as well as future CEPF investment:
- balance biodiversity conservation with socioeconomic development;
- strengthen or expand activities already being implemented by conservation organizations in the KBAs;
- result in visible, measurable conservation indices such as natural vegetation cover, water quality, habitat quality or slope stabilization;
- build the capacity of local conservation organizations to perform their role as advocate and partner with the government of Haiti relating to biodiversity conservation issues;
- improve the local partners' technical and administrative project management capacities (learning-by-implementing approach);
- support the long-term financial and management sustainability of conservation organizations in Haiti, and
- take into consideration and be synergetic with i) other donor activities, ii) the support to Rezo-Ekolo component and iii) the overall CEPF-Caribbean Islands program (in particular, the fact that the CEPF regional implementation team and national coordinator are now in place).
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New Resources Final Project Completion Reports
- Promoting Public Policy Reform in Strategic Areas for Conservation in Northern Mesoamerica, Conservation International, Español (PDF – 30 KB)
- Technical and Community Support to Expand Volcan Tacana Biosphere Reserve in Sierra Madre de Chiapas, Mexico, Ecobiosfera El Triunfo, Sociedad Civil, Español (PDF – 33 KB)
- Consolidating Key Management Actions in Indio Maiz Biological Reserve, Nicaragua, Fundación Amigos del Río San Juan, Español (PDF – 2 MB)
- Stakeholder Consultation and Planning for Post-Earthquake Environmental Support for the Haitian NGO Sector, BirdLife International, English (PDF – 33 KB)
- Identification and Strengthening of Key Habitat Linkages in Manas Tiger Reserve using Geo-spatial Technology and Policy Advocacy, Aaranyak, English (PDF – 123 KB)
- Traditional Land Management System and its Impacts on Conservation in the Kanchenjungha-Singalila Complex in Nepal, Ilam Co-operation Council, English (PDF – 46 KB)
Grantee Newsletters, Publications, and Web sites
Newsletters:
- Brown Hyena Newsletter, Issues 35, December 2010 English (PDF - 361 KB)
Publications:
- Songadina, Bulletin trimestrial de CI-Madagascar, N° 07 - Octobre-Décembre 2010, français (PDF – 2.5 MB)
- View other volumes of Songadina:
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Photo Credits: ©Art Wolfe / www.artwolfe.com; Baobab Alley, Madagascar at dusk; © CI/Photo by Olivier Langrand, CEPF small-grant recipient Rebecca Pradhan and her team working to conserve white-bellied herons in Bhutan; © CI/Photo by Olivier Langrand, Danield Rothberg and kids, Phobijkha, Bhutan; © Michele Zador, Haitian Hill Towns; © CI/Photo by Robin Moore, Macaya reserve in the Massif de la Hotte, southwest Haiti; © CI/Photo by Robin Moore, Eleutherodactylus, Massif de la Hotte, Haiti
Header Photo: Tim Fitzharris / Minden Pictures | |
© 2010 Conservation International | As one of the founding partners, Conservation International (CI) administers the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund. Building upon a strong foundation of science, partnership and field demonstration, CI empowers societies to responsibly and sustainably care for nature, our global biodiversity, for the well-being of humanity.
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