Gef-iw5 etps mangroves

Y.Sustainability

This project will take place within the framework of a region where existing initiatives, regional scale projects and national investments have contributed within the last decades to set up enabling conditions that help ensure success of new conservation initiatives. Despite challenges, governments of the region are generally increasingly willing and committed to support conservation efforts recognizing to some extent the role and general value of ecosystems for human well-being.

The development of long-term financing mechanisms for sustainable initiatives and adoption of sustainable practices within national planning frameworks and local management policy are two mechanisms by which the project aims to encourage a long-term improvement in mangrove coverage across the region. The financial sustainability of the regional network of marine protected areas has received increasing attention from national authorities and philanthropy. For instance, all four countries have set up instruments and initiatives such as national funds (Forever Costa Rica in Costa Rica, Fundación Natura in Panama, Fondo Acción in Colombia, and Fondo Ambiental Nacional in Ecuador) that provide a foundation for the financial sustainability of national networks of protected areas and surrounding areas.

The Walton Family Foundation (WFF), which has been investing in supporting the consolidation MPAs and the conservation of surrounding areas, including most of the key mangrove areas included in the proposal, has great interest in the long-term financial sustainability of the network. In fact, to ensure sustainability of its past and current “investment” in the region, WFF and CI are planning in developing strategies and support the development of financing mechanisms for the long-term financial sustainability of key MPAs, and secure new financing sources during the 2014-2017 period. Over the project lifetime, CI will work at ensuring that key areas, including areas identified in this project, will have strategies for increasing and diversifying the revenue streams (public, philanthropy, trust funds, site generated incomes, etc) to cover long-term management of the areas.

At a technical level CPPS will assume coordination of the Regional Mangrove Plan beyond the lifetime of the project as part of its annual operation where a portfolio of active interests is supported for and by its member governments. Action plans developed from the regional initiative will be assimilated by each country authority. The regional mechanism also acts as a buffer in the event of shifts in governance between countries and will provide consistency by helping to encourage a progressive conservation agenda for the region.

The environmental policy framework in general and the conservation of mangrove ecosystems specifically, is increasingly comprehensive in each of the four countries. In Ecuador for instance, mangrove protection is embedded in the National Constitution (mangroves are recognized as fragile ecosystems that deserve priority protection) as well as in a series of existing legislation establishing provisions for their protection. In general, the project will look to support improvements to existing policy frameworks.

The project adopts an approach where technical information and expertise generated during the project is consolidated across the region through a regional coordination such that positive examples of sustainable business incentives and/ or mangrove remediation from the small scale demonstration projects (Outcome 3.4) are widely demonstrated through outreach and trans-boundary interchanges. Where possible and practical these can be supported within national frameworks that streamline project results into inter-annual government plans, policy and budgeted actions.

The project aims to promote the sharing of generated results. These materials will be widely distributed to NGOs and government authorities and maintained through web presence of long term information repositories for the region such as the CPPS-UNESCO/IOC SPINCAM marine-coastal indicator system. Technical capacity in the region is also increasingly improving; thanks in part to initiatives like CI’s ETPS program, which through support from the Walton Family Foundation has contributed widely through a sub-granting strategy. Nearly a hundred local partners from various sectors (academia, civil society, and public institutions) across the 4 ETPS countries have benefited from this program since 2005. This project aims to consolidate these achievements through continued work with regional, national and local actors and stakeholders.

At local levels the approach is to encourage business incentives that are favorable for local communities and that have a strong likelihood that they be adopted such that they provide continuity. These successful examples will be shared widely. To ensure that results of this project are long-lasting and that the tools and instruments developed within the project are implemented, close working relationships are expected between on-the-ground CI-teams and the very communities that will be involved in the protection, restoration and maintenance of mangrove ecosystems.

Z.Project Catalytic Role: Replicability and Potential for Scaling Up

The CPPS mangrove strategy, national level policy and site-specific actions implemented with support from this project will provide the foundation for rapid and comprehensive expansion of mangrove conservation across the region. These policy and management tools will have country and regional commitment for implementation and will involve Action Plans that provide the roadmap. Further, these actions will be immediately available for integration into other relevant regional planning activities such as the GEF TDA-SAP LME process for the Pacific Central-American Coastal LME.

The results from this project will be immediately applicable globally to advise high mangrove-area countries, regions, and cooperating groups of countries. For instance, examples of integrated reef-to-ridge policy for mangrove conservation will be immediately useful to advise governments and other agencies in South East Asia where pressures on mangroves have resulted in extensive loss. The tools, communications products, and capacity building approaches developed and tested in this project will be made available for government and non-governmental agencies to support scaling up in these areas.

The project results will be coordinated with a number of related projects (see Sections 3G and 4F) to ensure maximum potential scaling-up through these other efforts. For example, the Blue Carbon Initiative will use the results of this project to advise mangrove conservation activities globally, particularly including the integration of the carbon value of coastal ecosystems in policy. The project will also ensure the results contribute to the 50 in 10 initiative³, specifically with respect to small-scale fisheries recovery dependent on mangrove areas.