SOUTH AMERICA HUB FY07 WORK PLAN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 BRASILIA 002419 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT PASS USAID TO LAC/RSD, LAC/SAM, G/ENV, PPC/ENV TREASURY FOR USED IBRD AND IDB AND INTL/MDB USDA FOR FOREST SERVICE: L MAHEW INTERIOR FOR DIR INT AFFAIRS: K WASHBURN INTERIOR FOR FWS: TOM RILEY INTERIOR PASS USGS FOR INTERNATIONAL: J WEAVER JUSTICE FOR ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES: JWEBB EPA FOR INTERNATIONAL: CAM HILL-MACON USDA FOR ARS/INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH: G FLANLEY NSF FOR INTERNATIONAL: H STOLBERG E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENVQGR EAID TBIO ECON SOCI XR BR SUBJECT: SOUTH AMERICA HUB FY07 WORK PLAN REF: STATE 177739 -------------- SUMMARY -------------- BRASILIA 00002419 001.2 OF 005 ¶1. In FY 07, the South America Hub will continue to work both regionally and with individual missions to support USG ESTH priorities within the region. Due to the large number of free trade and environmental cooperation agreements in the region, the Hub will devote considerably more energy and resources to those activities. Working within the new framework for foreign assistance and promoting our various partnerships in the region will also be priority areas for the Hub. The following work plan is not all inclusive, but illustrates the primary activities that will be the focus of the Hub during FY-07. END SUMMARY. -------------- Goals and Objectives -------------- ¶2. Support efforts to implement U.S./Chile Environmental Cooperation Agreement Work Program. Explore opportunities for partnerships with Chile on the work program projects and with expanding these programs to other countries in the region. Support individual project development, e.g., establishment of Sister Parks arrangement between Torres del Paine and Yosemite and the development of the judicial training program. Metric: Number of ECA Work Program projects implemented; number of projects implemented that include regional component. Torres del Paine/Yosemite Sister Parks arrangement concluded and have at least one visit from Yosemite to Torres del Paine. ¶3. Support development and implementation of ECA Work Plans in Peru and Colombia. Metric: ECA's are signed and ratified. Meetings begin in both Peru and Colombia and basic work plans are constructed. Initial activities take place. ¶4. Use Chile Sister Parks program to reinvigorate Pantanal-Everglades sister parks program in Brazil and expand this program to include Paraguay and Bolivia as well. Metric: Hold meeting in Pantanal with all three governments to go over type of MOU or LOA they would need with the Everglades. NOTE: This would BRASILIA 00002419 002.2 OF 005 necessitate additional funding to bring the participants together unless we worked this agreement bilaterally with each country. END NOTE. ¶5. Conduct Voluntary Visitor program for forestry professors together with USAID and the Tropical Forest Trust. Metric: Send 10 professors to the US and obtain training. Increased treatment of non-traditional forestry issues such as certification and the utilization of lesser known species in their courses. Increased cooperation between US Forest Service and national forestry programs in South America. ¶6. ESTH, Mission Planning and Foreign Assistance Reform: Actively engage and serve as a resource to ESTHOff's and USAID environment programs in advocating for inclusion of ESTH issues in Mission Strategic Plans and in Foreign Assistance Operating Plans. Metric: Number of MSPs addressing ESTH issues; Resources allocated for ESTH-related foreign assistance programming. ¶7. Wildlife Trafficking and Other Environmental Crime: Support expansion and implementation of CAWT initiative in the Western Hemisphere, pursuant to OES direction. Work with Venezuela, Colombia, and Bolivia (among others) through NAS to sponsor wildlife trafficking programs using the Brazil program as a model. Build on Chile's leadership of CITES General Standing Committee, ECA Work Program focus on wildlife trafficking, and interest in CAWT, to engage them as reliable partners in the region. Metric: Hold the wildlife trafficking training then conduct six month follow-up see that they are still capable of conducting operations. Partners added to CAWT depending on interest from OES. In addition, report on any anecdotal information in the region on successful anti-trafficking campaigns, and of linkages between wildlife trafficking or other environmental crimes and other types of international crimes (drugs, TIP) and official corruption. ¶8. Support Paraguay/Brazil efforts to build environmental enforcement cooperation in follow up to 2006 training in Ciudad del Este. Metric: Increased cooperation in tri-border region as measured by meetings and enforcement activities. ¶9. New intranet website for Hub to compile ESTH information in a more user friendly format. Metric: Website populated and kept up to date through end of fiscal year. Positive feedback from users. BRASILIA 00002419 003.2 OF 005 ¶10. USAID Amazon Basin Conservation Initiative (ABCI) up and running. Continue to provide overall political advice to program and work with USAID as a member of the Advisory Panel. Metric: Buy-in by Government of Brazil to the program and design phase is successfully concluded without any political fall-out. Active and supportive role played by the Amazon Country Treaty Organization. ¶11. Continue to work on Avian Influenza issues and seek ways to improve regional cooperation. Metric: Posts in South America increase interactions with national POCs on Avian Influenza and conduct trainings or strategy meetings. ¶12. OES-I Programming: Metric: Successfully disburse all funding and work closely with OES Points of Contact to fulfill the mission of each project. Develop project proposals to support partnerships identified for OES funding in FY 07 and 08. ¶13. Work with Southcom on developing a South American-wide conference on environmental security issues. Metric: Conduct conference with not only mil-mil, but also civ-mil cooperation. Increase South-South cooperation on issues such as forest fire management. ¶14. Supporting S&T agreements and MOUs between governments in South America and USG technical agencies such as USGS. Metric: Signed MOU between Brazilian institutions and USGS. Signed S&T agreement between the US and Uruguay. ¶15. Earth Day activities (April 22) Metric: Earth Day activities in a majority of South American posts. ¶16. Attend Regional ESTH-related events throughout South America and provide OES with cables on these events. Metric: Overall increase in ESTH reporting from the region to OES. ¶17. Utilize Public Affairs to provide opinion pieces in local media. Metric: Place at least three opinion pieces related to ESTH issues in papers in South America. ¶19. Support partnerships such as ICRI, M2M, and others in the region. BRASILIA 00002419 004.2 OF 005 -------------- General Resources Needed -------------- ¶20. As was indicated in an earlier message, depending on the amount of support the Hub needs to provide for the creation and implementation of the work plans in Peru and Colombia, we would be able to send an FSN from the Hub for extended TDYs to Peru and Colombia to work on these issues especially the formulation of the Environmental Commission and the implementation of the work plan. In our earlier message we indicated that if Peru and Colombia could provide office space and a TDY apartment, we could provide an FSN a total of 6 times for two weeks each time for approximately 10,000. Without the additional funding, the Hub will be able to visit, but will not have the flexibility to spend a total of 6 weeks in each country only working on these issues. -------------- Calendar of Anticipated Events and Travel -------------- ¶21. Chile: FTA/ECA meetings October 23-31 Brazil: TEDs trip to Fortaleza December 2-6 Brazil: First South American Fishers Forum Meeting in Sao Paulo (OES-I Qded) December 11-14 Colombia: Jan. 15-19 FTA/ECA preliminary work Peru: ABCI planning meeting in Lima Jan. 21 Suriname: February NOAA/CDC project in Paramaribo Peru: February- 26-30 OES-I dolphin project plus FTA/ECA work Chile: March- Potential meeting in Torres del Paine regarding ECA work plan Bolivia: March Paraguay: April- Look at triborder environmental programs and follow-on to OES sponsored EPA training. Earth Day activity possible. Guyana/Venezuela: May Ecuador: June Brazil: July- Pantanal project if progressing Peru/Colombia: August- (6 months after preliminary meetings depending on where things stand with FTA/ECA) Brazil: August- Southcom meeting in Rio Argentina: September- 2nd Latin American Congress on National Parks and other Protected Areas. BRASILIA 00002419 005.2 OF 005 Uruguay: September- Add on to above trip to finalize S&T agreement (depending on status of negotiations). -------------- Training and Capacity Building -------------- ¶22. Larissa Stoner December 4-15 PE221 - ESTH Training for FSNs. Gislaine Disconzi September PE-305 ESTH Tradecraft if funds remain. CHICOLA