La Reserva Comunal Amarakaeri (RCA) fue creada por iniciativa de 10 comunidades indígenas para conservar la multitud de servicios como alimento, abrigo, medicina y agua. La reserva contribuye a la protección de dos cuencas y asegura la estabilidad de las tierras y bosques para mantener la calidad y cantidad de agua para el desarrollo de las comunidades nativas que sufren sequias e inundaciones. Las comunidades han incluido en sus planes el aprovechamiento de la Castaña como medida para obtener recursos económicos.

L’Institut de développement durable Mamirauá a été fondé en 1999 en vue de proposer des connaissances scientifiques, technologiques et novatrices aux communautés de la région de l’Amazonie. Le mandat est exercé avec le plus haut niveau d’éthique et de responsabilité, en respectant les connaissances traditionnelles des habitants.

L’Institut a créé la Réserve de développement durable de Mamirauá. D’une superficie de 1 240 000 hectares, la Réserve abrite la plus grande zone humide de la planète, ce qui la place au premier rang des réserves de développement durable (de catégorie 6 de l’Union internationale pour la conservation de la nature) au Brésil.

Au cours des dernières décennies, la Réserve de développement durable de Mamirauá a été surexploitée par des entreprises privées. C’est pourquoi l’Institut travaille en étroite collaboration avec les communautés locales afin de veiller à l’utilisation durable des ressources halieutiques.

Compte-tenu du fait que le nombre de 3 Techniciens forestiers (Chefs de Zone) affectés à la Direction du Parc National de Toubkal (DPNT) était insuffisant pour honorer la mission de suivi des activités touristiques et de la faune sauvage, et qu’aucun recrutement n’était prévu par le Haut Commissariat aux Eaux et Forêts à la Lutte Contre la Désertification pour combler ce manque d’effectifs, la DPNT a envisagé de recruter, depuis 2015, dans le cadre d’un service externalisé, des éco-gardes au sein des communautés locales, et sur la base de profils très spécifiques (ex : ancien guide de montagne, ancien braconnier).

De plus, pour être opérationnels sur le terrain, ces éco-gardes ont bénéficié de formations animées par des experts en faune/flore et l’équipe du Parc National de Toubkal afin d’identifier les espèces faunistiques prioritaires, manipuler le matériel technique mis à leur disposition et réaliser le monitoring mis en place par la DPNT.

In Paraguay we have managed to combine the vision of biodiversity conservation with the restitution of ancestral lands of the Mbyaguarani indigenous people. What we have called “socioenvironmental condominium” is a sample of what can be achieved between environmental organizations and indigenous peoples. Our goals are common and can be achieve by working with those who better understand conservation in situ: native peoples.

The Amarakaeri Communal Reserve was created by an initiative of 10 indigenous communities to conserve the multitude of ecosystem services like food, shelter, medicine and water. The reserve contributes to the protection of two watersheds. This ensures the stability of lands and forests, maintaining the quality and quantity of water for the development of native communities suffering increasingly from droughts and floods. The communities have included in their plans the use of Brazil nuts as a measure to generate economic resources.

With the threat of loss of biodiversity and exploitation of IP lands and communities in some areas of the Philippines, the Biodiversity Management Bureau – Department of Environment and Natural Resources (BMB-DENR), along with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), and the Philippine Association for Intercultural Development developed a project that is directed toward strengthening the conservation, protection, and management of key biodiversity sites in the Philippines by improving the governance and management of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Conserved Areas and Territories (ICCAs).

The hilsa shad (Tenualosa ilisha) is the national fish of Bangladesh, supporting the livelihoods of more than 500,000 people, particularly in coastal communities. The Bangladesh government’s Department of Fisheries uses incentive-based management to protect its hilsa stocks. Under the Hilsa Fisheries Management Action Plan, all fishing is banned for several months a year in a number of coastal sanctuary areas, and during these periods affected fishing households are offered compensation in the form of rice to improve food security and replace lost income. Other affected households are offered training and support to diversify their income sources. Used in conjunction with adaptive co-management and activities to raise awareness around sustainable fishing practices, this distribution of benefits aims to incentivise compliance with fishing regulations and improve the socioeconomic condition of fishing households.

Community outreach and engagement strategies for the management of mangroves have been promoted in the Gulf of Tribugá, seeking the well-being of the local communities, the preservation of their culture and the protection of natural resources.

The GEF and WB funded “India Ecodevelopment Project” established institutional arrangements at the Periyar Tiger Reserve in Kerala that worked with local communities to set up ecotourism activities, joint patrolling and visitor services. Innovative revolving fund was established that freed local community from debts. The institutional set up and assessment of management performance were adopted and scaled up at the national level by the Central Government.

The Mamirauá Institute for Sustainable Development was created in 1999 to provide science, technology and innovation to communities in the Amazon region. This is done with a high level of ethics and responsibility, respecting their traditional knowledge.

The Institute is responsible for the creation of the Mamirauá Reserve. With 1,240,000 hectares, the reserve has the largest wetland area on the planet and is the first Sustainable Development Reserve (IUCN category 6) in Brazil.

In recent decades, Mamiraua has been over-exploited by private companies, so the Institute works closely with local communities to ensure the sustainable use of fisheries resources.

El oso andino (tremarctos ornatus) enfrenta serias amenazas, una de ellas asociada a la que la especie tiene presencia en los terrenos de pobladores locales. Su población ha disminuido dada la presencia de interacciones negativas entre la especie y los humanos por eventos de consumo ocasional de animales domésticos y cultivos como el maíz que pueden ocasionar la cacería del oso, sumado a las tradiciones de algunas comunidades humanas que lo persiguen. Este conflicto de vieja data se ha convertido hoy por hoy en un ejemplo de acción colaborativa entre las autoridades, la sociedad civil y las comunidades locales para conservar una de las especies más emblemáticas del país, a través de esfuerzos de monitoreo, educación ambiental y colaboración interinstitucional, contribuyendo a un manejo adecuado de los sistemas productivos y disminuyendo los riesgos y presiones sobre esta especie vulnerable.

By promoting Best Management Practices for silvo (mangrove) aquaculture, as well as supporting Farmer Interest Groups along the Mekong Delta coast, the solution aims to raise awareness of mangrove ecosystem conservation benefits and diversify farmers’ incomes. It encourages ecological farming techniques and the integration of mangroves in shrimp ponds.

Sikkim is the first state in the world that is 100% organic: All of its farmland is certified organic. The policy implemented a phase-out of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and achieved a total ban on sale and use of chemical pesticides in the state. The transition has benefitted more than 66,000 farming families.

At the same time, Sikkim’s approach reaches beyond organic production and has proved truly transformational for the state and its citizens. Embedded in its design are socioeconomic aspects such as consumption and market expansion, cultural aspects as well as health, education, rural development and sustainable tourism. Sikkim’s tourism sector, for instance, benefited greatly from the new organic image: between 2014 and 2017, the number of tourists increased by over 50 per cent.

For their achievements, Sikkim’s policies were awarded the Future Policy Gold Award 2018, awarded by the World Future Council in partnership with the FAO and IFOAM – Organics International.

Orchards are very common in Tajikistan’s landscapes and a widely used practice of cultivating fruit trees. Even though a diversified orchard offers multiple benefits, for efficiency reasons, however, many orchards comprise a limited variety of species.

Diversified tree species reduce the risk of pest and diseases outbreaks and ensure a healthy soil structure with an adequate removal and input of nutrients. Furthermore, the different blooming times of tree species provide nectar for pollinators over a longer period of time and hence are beneficial for beekeeping.

When setting up a resilient orchard, it is recommended to conserve natural flora and fauna and to establish the orchard in such a way that disruption of the surrounding environment is kept to a minimum e.g. incorporating existing natural resources into the structure of the orchard. 

The key to designing a resilient orchard is selecting fruit tree species and developing a long-term orchard management plan (10-15 years). 

About 95 percent of the staple crop production in Tajikistan comes from irrigated land which underlines the importance of irrigation in cultivating annual agricultural crops.

The productivity of irrigated annual crops depends largely on the provision of ecosystem services, e.g. pollination, water, and soil fertility.       

Irrigated annual crops are usually intensive cultures that make for efficient use of land resources and constitute artificial ecosystems that cannot make contributions to the maintenance and improvement of biodiversity and ecosystems services. To the contrary, they mostly focus on applying huge amounts of chemical inputs and in many cases use water ineffectively.

The sustainably managed irrigated annual crops focus on reducing hybrid seeds, chemical fertilizer, and synthetic pesticides.

Developed as a result of intense civil society engagement and structured around seven comprehensive guidelines that encompass the most relevant aspects of sustainable food chains and systems, PNAPO is a unique federal framework policy for advancing agroecology and organic production in Brazil. In its first cycle of activities it led to impressive quantitative results in terms of advancing the agroecological agenda in the country (budget and initiative-wise), investing over EUR 364 million, resulting in visible large-scale improvements for smallholders and vulnerable groups. Amongst others, it constructed over 140,000 cisterns and helped 5,300 municipalities to invest 30% or more of their school feeding budgets in organic and agroecological products purchased from family farmers. For its achievements, Brazil’s PNAPO was recognized with the Future Policy Silver Award 2018, awarded by the World Future Council in partnership with FAO and IFOAM – Organics International.

The solution Incentive-based Hilsa Fisheries Management comprises a suite of activities directly and indirectly related to the recovery of hilsa fish stocks in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government coupled seasonal fishing bans and the creation of hilsa sanctuaries with food and income-based social support schemes; the aim was to maximise fish stock recovery, and minimise the burden placed on fishers by limiting their access to this culturally and economically important fish. Stocks of hilsa and other species were reported to have increased, and hilsa catch weight to have roughly doubled, since the management plan’s inception. Communities are supported when fishing isn’t possible, particularly through a food-based scheme. This solution is published as part of the project Ecosystem-based Adaptation; strengthening the evidence and informing policy, coordinated by IIED, IUCN and UN Environment WCMC.

The solution addresses the challenge of how to identify and ensure that legal fishing vessels pay their license fees to district authorities, which are important as they fund fisheries management and enforcement efforts of local government structures. It uses a color coded small plastic zip-lock cable tie to identify licensed vessels, enabling fisheries officers and local community-based structures to determine if a vessel is legal and has paid the relevant fees for a particular district.

The ABALOBI initiative is a transdisciplinary research and social learning endeavour, bringing together stakeholders with traditional fishers taking centre stage. It is a participatory action research project with a strong community development component. ABALOBI, a free app/programme, is aimed at social justice and poverty alleviation in the small-scale fisheries chain, transformation in the way we produce knowledge, stewardship of our marine resources, and building resilience to climate change