September 2011 E-News Update

Caribbean Islands Call for Proposals This call for proposals is open from September 21, 2011, and will close on October 17, 2011 for small grants and will close October 24 for large grants . Find out how to apply!

When imagining the Caribbean, does your mind conjure up postcard images of white-sand beaches, clear waters and swimsuit-clad people lounging under palm trees?  These images are part of the reality of the Caribbean Islands, but just as important are the realities of the governance, socioeconomics and cultural norms of the region that impact the status of these biodiverse ecosystems.

The Caribbean Islands are classified as one of the Earth’s 34 biodiversity hotspot because they hold at least 1,500 endemic plant species and may have lost at least 70 percent of their original habitat.

The islands within the hotspot, which are located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and North America, east of Central America, and to the north of South America, are quite distinct from each one to the next—and are more complex than what most postcard images might lead you to believe. While idyllic coastlines and a slow pace of life are common, there is also an urgent battle under way to conserve the area’s vital ecosystems and unique species. The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) is supporting a major investment in these conservation efforts.

I recently flew to Port of Spain, Trinidad with former fellow grant coordinator Malick Keita and grant director Michele Zador of the CEPF. 

Malick, Michele and I spent three days with the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI), a regional nongovernmental organization that is serving as the CEPF Regional Implementation Team (RIT) during the investment in the Caribbean over the next five years.

CEPF began work in the region, which was originally part of the Indo-Burma Hotspot, in 2004. A hotspots reappraisal conducted in 2005 classified the region as part of two hotspots: Indo-Burma and Himalaya, with the latter being a newly classified hotspot. The Eastern Himalayas region covers the eastern Himalayas and northeastern India.
 
Working with the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment as the regional investment coordinators, CEPF empowered local civil society organizations to enter into new arenas of environmental governance and decision-making on critical policy issues, the report concludes. CEPF grantees also were instrumental in resolving long-standing conflicts that blocked conservation progress, and CEPF’s funding helped catalyze local conservation priorities that had languished due to the lack of funding and capacity.

Furthermore, the partnerships that CEPF facilitated have heralded a more collaborative and constructive approach to environmental problems in the Eastern Himalayas.

Key results of the investment include:

• CEPF played an instrumental role in improving the management of 750,000 hectares located across 11 key biodiversity areas, reducing agricultural encroachment and recovering degraded lands.

• Four national or local policies were adopted to support mainstreaming conservation into development policy at the local, state and national levels.

• Field assessments for five Critically Endangered species and 16 Endangered species were conducted, significantly expanding understanding of the state of the region’s species.

• A total of $1,220,110 was leveraged from other donors to support CEPF outcomes.

• A total of 1,500 households benefited directly from CEPF projects across a broad array of activities.

• Five multi-stakeholder collaborative networks were established and/or strengthened to proactively seek solutions to pressing conservation and development problems.

Grantee Publication: Biodiversity Lessons Learned

* Editor’s Note: This technical series is being realized through Ms. Joanne Aitken, a consultant hired by CI-Pacific.

The report, "Preventing the Spread of Crab-eating Macaques in the Republic of Palau," is the sixth in the series. 

Document: Biodiversity Conservation Lessons Learned 6: Preventing the Spread of Crab-eating Macaques in the Republic of Palau, English, 2011 (PDF – 1.7MB)

Final Project Completion Reports
* Capacity Building of Forest Dependent Communities through Organic Farming in Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary of North Kanara District, Karnataka, Ganapati Bhat, English (PDF – 760 KB)

* Moving from planning to action to save the Saola: The second meeting of the Saola Working Group, Center of Environment and Rural Development (CERD), Vinh University, English (PDF – 34 KB)

* Raising Awareness and Building Capacity to Manage Human Elephant Conflict in Mondulkiri province, Cambodia, Fauna & Flora International, English (PDF – 408 KB)

* Spatial decision support for conservation planning in the Western Ghats, Foundation for Ecological Research, Advocacy and Learning (FERAL), English (PDF – 214 KB)

Grantee Newsletters

* Brown Hyena Research Project Newsletter,  Issue 35, September 2011, English  (PDF - 790 KB)