Context
Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru want to preserve their biodiversity. All four countries have ratified both the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). They have also placed between 10 and 25 per cent of their respective national territories under protection.
Local governments in the four countries have already implemented zonal conservation measures. However, the legal status of local protected areas varies from country to country. The contribution made by local governments to biodiversity conservation is often not readily apparent, as financial resources for the protection of species are limited, and little is known and understood about the importance of protection measures.
Objective
Local governments in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru are more capable of conserving biodiversity thanks to effective and equitable management of protected areas and other territorial conservation measures.
Approach
The measures build on experience gained from existing initiatives and focus on three areas:
Developing local government capacities: the project makes systematic use of the lessons learned and of funding and management tools. It develops, adapts and implements training tools for local government players.
Enshrining the role of local governments in biodiversity conservation firmly in legal and institutional frameworks: the project draws up policy recommendations on the basis of an analysis of the institutional framework conditions. The aim is to involve municipal and city representatives and their associations in the project’s measures.
Communicating the importance of protected areas and other conservation measures to the target groups.