Over a five-year period, the CEPF investment strategy will facilitate the initial implementation phase of Vision 2010, supporting effective participation by NGOs and civil society in the conservation of biodiversity within the Chocó-Manabí Corridor. Three principles, identified during the consultation process, will guide CEPF grantmaking:
- The CEPF will seek opportunities to empower historically underserved Afro-Colombians, Afro-Ecuadorians, and indigenous communities (particularly the Awa, Chachis, and Chocoes) for conservation and sound natural resource management.
- The CEPF will target strategically located areas that maximize conservation impact, whether by improving management in existing protected areas that lack adequate capacity, or by pursuing greater connectivity between parks through the adoption of sustainable agriculture and environmentally sound resource management practices.
- The CEPF will pursue opportunities that leverage and influence other investments in the region in order to encourage a coordinated approach among partners and their programs.
The CEPF niche is directed toward influencing the direction of several major initiatives, leveraging new resources for conservation, and catalyzing the establishment of strategic alliances and partnerships within key stakeholder groups. The CEPF will facilitate a coordinated approach that encourages distinct environmental programs and projects to work together in synergy to consolidate protected areas, ensure the survival of endangered and threatened species, and channel benefits from conservation to historically underserved communities. Local, national, and international NGOs are in a unique position to help CEPF achieve these goals.
| CEPF STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS |
CEPF INVESTMENT PRIORITIES |
| 1. Establish/strengthen local and regional mechanisms to foster corridor-level conservation |
1.1 Develop and operationalize existing and new frameworks and processes for information exchange, alliance building, and dialogue for coordination between stakeholders, governments, international donors, and NGOs |
| 1.2 In a civil society led effort prepare a financing strategy for conservation in the corridor, to examine trust funds, endowments, conservation concessions, and ecotrusts |
| 1.3 Support environmental monitoring and evaluation systems for development and conservation initiatives and for selected species |
| 1.4 Through civil society efforts, incorporate corridor conservation priorities and plans into the Ecuadorian National Biodiversity Strategy, and into Ecuadorian local and regional development and decentralization plans; integrate coastal ecosystems into corridor priorities |
| 1.5 Increase awareness of, and support for, biodiversity conservation in the corridor among key stakeholder groups* |
| 1.6 Through targeted civil society initiatives, improve and consolidate legal framework for national systems of protected areas* |
| 1.7 Launch and complete transfrontier territory planning processes, including agro-ecological zoning of critical areas, to promote land use that is compatible with corridor priorities* |
| 1.8 Ensure that civil society efforts lead to the incorporation of biodiversity concerns into decision-making processes associated with major initiatives, such as Plan Colombia, Plan Pacifico, and Trans-Ecuadorian Pipeline* |
| 2. Bring selected protected areas and species under improved management |
2.1 Through civil society efforts prepare and implement management plans for selected protected areas, including Mache Chindul Reserve, Angel Ecological Reserve, and Awa Forest Reserve |
| 2.2 Consolidate selected protected areas - through targeted civil society efforts - including Tatamas, Utria, San Quianga, Farallones de Cali, Munchiques, Galeras, Callapas Matage, and Cotacachi Cayapas |
| 2.3 Improve protection and management of habitat for critical species |
| 2.4 Foster and support applied research on little known, threatened and endemic species and habitats* |
| 2.5 Strengthen the institutional capacity of municipalities, communities, NGOs, and the private sector for protected areas management* |
| 3. Identify and promote sustainable development practices in communities near selected protected areas |
3.1 Identify, demonstrate, and disseminate best practices in key sub-sectors: improved forest management, carbon sequestration projects, reforestation; agroforestry, NTFP, coffee, and cacao; sustainable shrimp farming; and ecotourism* |
| 3.2 Identify, demonstrate, and disseminate traditional uses of natural resources* |
* Investment priorities to be supported in conjunction with funding partners through funds leveraged by CEPF support
Coordination between major stakeholder groups and proponents of conservation in the Chocó-Manabí is essential given the number and variety of ongoing environmental efforts in the region. The CEPF will take a multi-pronged approach to create a variety of targeted mechanisms that support corridor-level conservation. Although several coordination frameworks already operate in the area, each framework functions at a different level of effectiveness and participation. Under this strategic direction, the CEPF will support NGOs in order to strengthen existing coordination frameworks and establish a broader coordination mechanism and strategic alliances to guide relations between the major stakeholders. The aim will be to encourage these stakeholders to work together synergistically toward achieving conservation at the corridor level. This investment priority will be carried out by NGOs with the required expertise in the region, identified by the depth and breadth of their current operational involvement and their capacity to convene stakeholders and create working alliances. In the spirit of creating collaborative relationships, investment priorities marked with an asterisk in Table 9 will rely on working in close partnership with other donors and their funds to achieved desired results.
The creation of effective alliances and coordinating mechanisms will depend on meaningful stakeholder participation. National and local consultations on the corridor objectives represent a step in this process, including the WWF-led priority-setting process and the CI-led stakeholder consultation workshop. To address additional needs for corridor-level coordination, the CEPF will provide resources to create a framework and process for information exchange and dialogue among stakeholders and between governments. Potential activities could include the establishment of an information clearinghouse to house a centralized database and a web site, and the production of outreach materials on corridor-level activities and data for public dissemination.
Since an effective conservation program must rely on public support and the creation of a constituency and advocacy group for biodiversity protection, the CEPF will collaborate with funding partners to support projects that inform and educate the public and selected stakeholder groups about the importance of adopting a corridor-level approach for biodiversity conservation, and of an environmentally and socially sustainable path to development.
Recognizing that conservation by civil society can only be effective if the national, regional, municipal, and local policies that regulate natural resources are effective, understood, and enforced, the CEPF will work with funding partners to support opportunities for greater participation in policy making that build on existing studies to promote more favorable political and legal frameworks for conservation.
In Ecuador, the CEPF will support decentralization activities by working with municipal and regional partners to ensure that conservation of the region's rich biological heritage is integrated into future development and decentralization plans. Similarly, the CEPF will work closely with the regional offices of the Ministry of the Environment to implement the National Biodiversity Strategy in the corridor. The CEPF will also work at the policy level to identify opportunities where NGOs can integrate biodiversity protection concerns into decision making for Plan Colombia, Plan Pacifico, the Northern Border Development Project in Ecuador, and Trans-Ecuadorian pipeline. The CEPF will work with partners to advocate for measures that mitigate potentially negative impacts of these large programs. Due to the coastal ecosystem's rapid decline in the Chocó-Manabí, and particularly in Ecuador, the CEPF will collaborate with funding partners to ensure that the needs of coastal habitat and communities are integrated into corridor priorities. Mangroves and critical nesting sites will be a focal point of this investment priority. To promote a pattern of land use compatible with corridor priorities and policies, the CEPF will work with funding partners to initiate and support a transfrontier territory planning processes, to include agro-ecological zoning of critical areas such as mangrove forests.
To ensure long-term success in conserving the Chocó, the CEPF will support the development of a comprehensive strategy and action plan to finance future conservation initiatives. The purpose of the strategy will be to identify a plan in which all levels of stakeholder groups, starting at the local level with individual communities all the way through to national and regional level entities, can pursue opportunities for long-term financing of their programs. Potential mechanisms to be examined include trust funds, endowments, and conservation concessions. As part of the action plan, the CEPF may provide legal and technical assistance to NGOs interested in establishing long-term financial structures. Emerging private sector support for establishing Ecotrusts such as the proposed Trans-Ecuadorian Pipeline EcoTrust, funded by the oil industry, may provide long-term resources for conserving biodiversity in selected areas.
Equally important to the success of conservation efforts, the CEPF will work with regional authorities and relevant institutions in developing and implementing an environmental monitoring and evaluation system for development and conservation initiatives. The system will be designed to institutionalize an adaptive approach to project management.
In both Colombia and Ecuador, several protected areas lack basic management plans that identify and zone areas for compatible resource use and that lay out to strategy for achieving long-term conservation goals. The challenge ahead is to put in place an effective system of management that protects biodiversity while also helping local communities to share in the benefits of conservation. Plan Pacifico is providing considerable financing to government entities to consolidate existing protected areas and create long-term management plans. However, resources still need to be channeled to civil society in order to consolidate existing protected areas. Under this strategic direction, the CEPF will provide resources to prepare management and zoning plans for the Mache Chindul Reserve, Angel Ecological Reserve, and Awa Forest Reserve, and will fund activities to help consolidate the protected areas of Tatamá, Utria, San Quianga, Farallones de Cali, Munchique, Galeras, Callapas Matage and Cotacachi Cayapas.
The trend toward decentralized authority over resource management, particularly in Ecuador, creates exciting opportunities for the CEPF and its partners. Empowering local stakeholders to take advantage of such opportunities in managing their protected areas will be an important investment priority under this strategic direction. The CEPF and its funding partners will work with selected municipalities, communities, NGOs, and the private sector to increase their capacity to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by decentralization to create innovative structures and activities. At a species level, the CEPF will foster - and, when appropriate, support - applied research on a limited number of threatened or endangered species and habitats for which data is lacking for management decision-making. Research findings will be used to help protect and improve management of habitat sheltering these critical species.
A large area of the Chocó ecosystem, particularly in Ecuador, has been transformed by unsustainable production of banana, plantain, cocoa, coffee, shrimp, and African palm, among other products. Fortunately, the recent trend toward decentralization presents a significant opportunity for innovative community-based conservation initiatives. Under this strategic direction, the CEPF will collaborate with funding partners to take advantage of this new climate in governance by promoting community-based development projects that safeguard biodiversity by encouraging connectivity between protected areas, while also increasing incomes for some of the most impoverished communities in the region. The CEPF will endeavor to curb habitat loss and promote connectivity by investing in projects to increase forest cover through habitat restoration and foster environmentally compatible land use. The CEPF also will seek to improve community livelihoods through initiatives that diversify agricultural areas through appropriate agroforestry systems (particularly coffee and cacao), sustainable shrimp farming, and locally based ecotourism that relies on intact ecosystems. Opportunities will also be pursued in carbon sequestration and other climate change projects. The CEPF will support initiatives that demonstrate the long-term environmental and economic benefits of sustainable development (versus monoculture), and efforts to standardize best practice in ecotourism and resource management. Many indigenous, Afro-Colombian, Afro-Ecuadorian, and mestizo communities in and around the Chocó will be crucial partners under this strategic direction. In this regard, the program also will support the identification, demonstration, and dissemination of traditional uses of resources as a means of supporting local cultures and their heritage.
The project portfolio within this strategic funding direction will only be limited by CEPF outreach to these communities. Initial analysis, however, shows that projects promoting appropriate land and resource use, information dissemination, and buffer-zone management should all be CEPF priorities. To ensure that all prospective grantees in this strategic direction have an opportunity to apply for grants, the CEPF will support an aggressive outreach campaign.
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