FIRST AMAZON BASIN CONSERVATION INITIATIVE PARTNERS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 LIMA 000672

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: LIZ MAHEW
INTERIOR FOR DIR INT AFFAIRS: K WASHBURN
INTERIOR FOR NATIONAL PARKS SERVICE: J PUTNAM
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: HAROLD STOLBERG

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV EAID EAGR PE
SUBJECT: FIRST AMAZON BASIN CONSERVATION INITIATIVE PARTNERS
MEETING


1. SUMMARY: USAID held the first Amazon Basin Conservation
Initiative (ABCI) partners meeting from February 5-8 to lay the
foundation for developing detailed work plans to implement this
regional, five-year, $65 million dollar program. Over seventy
participants from the six partner consortia, USAID, Department of
State, Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) and the
Government of Peru discussed a wide range of conservation
challenges, opportunities and program management issues.
Participants agreed to carry out the following priority actions: 1)
formalize ACTO/ABCI relationship; 2) define priority basin-wide
policy issues; 3) produce ABCI briefing packages for Embassies; 4)
present ABCI program to national governments (by March 30),with
discretion given to any local sensitivities to the ABCI program; 5)
identify areas to support NGO partners in training and capacity
building, communication and knowledge management, and monitoring and
evaluation; 6) finalize life-of-project and first 18 month work
plans; and 7) launch ABCI program with public events in each
country. In addition to generating consensus on next steps, this
event provided an invaluable opportunity for participants to
identify synergies and outline priority actions. The design of this
landmark program aims at building the capacity of organizations and
public commitment for the effective stewardship of the Basin's
unique and globally important biological diversity. END SUMMARY.

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Discussion, Projects, and Partners
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2. USAID held the first partners meeting in Yucay, Peru (Feb. 5-8,
2007) to lay the foundation for developing detailed work plans to
implement the five-year, $65 million Amazon Basin Conservation
Initiative (ABCI). The opening speech was given by the Protected
Areas Manager of the Peruvian National Institute of Natural
Resources (INRENA),Mr. Luis Alfaro, who welcomed the visitors and
expressed support to strike the balance between biodiversity
conservation and sustainable livelihoods in the Amazon Basin. Over
seventy participants from the six partners (five conservation
consortia and the Program Secretariat; USAID (mission staff from
Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru); the Department of State Regional
Environmental Affairs Officer from US Embassy Brasilia; Amazon
Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO); and the Government of Peru
discussed a wide range of conservation challenges, opportunities and
program management issues. Each of the six partners presented their
consortium members, program objectives, geographic focus, planned
activities, potential for synergies and main challenges. A brief
description of each consortia program is provided below.


3. The "Challenging the Advance of the Deforestation Frontier in
the Brazilian Amazon" conservation consortium will be implemented by
Instituto Internacional de Educacao do Brasil (International
Institute of Education of Brazil-IEB),Instituto do Homem e Meio
Ambiente na Amazonia (Amazon Institute of People and the
Environment-IMAZON),Kaninde-Associacao de Defesa Etno- Ambiental
(Association of Ethno-Environmental Defense),and Conservation
Strategy Fund (CSF). The objective of this consortium is to
strengthen environmental governance and empower local stakeholders
to deal with the socio-environmental problems associated with
deforestation in the southwest Brazilian Amazon (Amazonas State).
This will be accomplished by building local capacity, monitoring
landscape trends, and establishing a framework for sustainable
learning.


4. The "Conserving the Madidi-Manu Landscape of Bolivia and Peru"
conservation consortium will be implemented by Wildlife Conservation
Society (WCS),Asociacion para Conservacion de la Amazonia (Amazon
Conservation Association-ACA),Fundacion Proteccion y Uso Sostenible
del Medio Ambiente (Foundation for Protection and Sustainable Use of
the Environment-PUMA),Fondo de las Americas del Peru (Fund of the
Americas of Peru-FONDAM),and Sociedad Peruana de Derecho Ambiental

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(Peruvian Society for Environmental Law-SPDA). The objectives of
this consortium are to improve landscape planning and
implementation, develop community-based eco-enterprises, and build
environmental governance in the southwest Amazon of Peru and
Bolivia. These objectives will be accomplished by assessing and
developing strategies to address the impacts of large-scale
infrastructure development, planning and managing conservation areas
at diverse scales, building local capacity for improved land
management, strengthening the financial sustainability of
community-based eco-enterprises, and building a shared landscape
vision with improved environmental governance.


5. The "Indigenous Landscapes: Strengthening Indigenous
Organizations in the Amazon Basin" conservation consortium will be
implemented by The Nature Conservancy (TNC),Instituto del Bien
Comun (Institute for the Common Good-IBC),Fundacion Sobrevivencia
Cofn (Foundation for the Survival of the Cofan-FSC),Coordenacao
das Organizacoes Indigenas da Amazonia Brasileira (Coordination of
the Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon-COIAB),and
Instituto Internacional de Educacao do Brasil (International
Institute of Education of Brazil-IEB). The objective of this
consortium is to strengthen environmental management of indigenous
lands at four landscape-level sites - two in Brazil and one each in
Peru and Ecuador. This will be accomplished by strengthening the
capacity of Amazonian indigenous organizations, improving protection
and environmental management in four target indigenous landscapes,
and catalyzing conservation and sustainable development coalitions
with indigenous Amazonian organizations as core members.


6. The "Environmental Governance in the MAP Region of Peru, Brazil
and Bolivia" conservation consortium will be implemented by The
University of Florida (UF),Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC),
Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazonia (Institute for
Environmental Research in Amazonia-IPAM),SOS Amazonia, Herencia,
Universidade Federal do Acre (Federal University of Acre-UFAC),
Universidad Amazonica de Pando (Amazonian University of Pando-UAP),
Universidad Nacional Amazonica de Madre de Dios (Nacional Amazonian
University of Madre de Dios-UNAMAD),and Instituto Nacional de
Desarrollo - Projecto Especial de Madre de Dios (National Institute
of Development-INADE)- Special Project of the Madre de Dios-PEMD).
The objectives of this consortium are to reduce the loss of
biodiversity and environmental services in the southwest Amazon of
Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, and to serve as an example for international
collaboration on trans-boundary issues across the Amazon Basin.
These objectives will be accomplished by developing collaborative
management plans for trans-boundary watersheds, promoting
participatory planning along the trans-boundary highway, and
expanding environmental governance capacity.


7. The "Sustainable Livelihoods in the Western Amazon" conservation
consortium will be implemented by Rainforest Alliance, Fundacion
Natura (Nature Foundation-FN),and Conservacion y Desarrollo
(Conservation and Development-C y D). The objectives of this
consortium are to reduce environmental degradation and improve
community livelihoods in the western Amazon of Colombia, Ecuador,
Peru, and Bolivia. These objectives will be accomplished by
increasing the sales volume and revenue of certified sustainable
timber, non-timber, agriculture and tourism products.


8. The ABCI Program Secretariat will be implemented by
International Resources Group (IRG),Academy for Educational
Development (AED),Instituto Internacional de Educacao do Brasil
(International Institute of Education of Brazil-IEB),Sociedad
Peruana de Derecho Ambiental (Peruvian Society for Environmental
Law-SPDA),and Social Impact (SI). The Secretariat will ensure that
programs carried out by the conservation consortia are mutually
reinforcing by organizing regular participant meetings and
supporting capacity building, communications, and dissemination of
lessons learned. The Secretariat will also build linkages to other

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regional stakeholders by strengthening public-private partnerships
and building regional dialogue, and will assure program-wide
cohesion by working with NGO consortia to prepare comprehensive work
plans and progress reports.

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Putting ABCI into the regional context
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9. The keynote speakers provided insights and innovative ideas on
meeting the challenges of the agro-industrial explosion in the
Amazon Basin, learning from multi-country programs and developing
effective communication tools in a regional context. The working
groups focused on compliance with USAID regulations as well as how
to increase synergies and opportunities between and among the
consortia so that the sum of all projects would be greater than any
individual project. USG representatives from USAID and the
Department of State also met with the ACTO to discuss nextsteps and
the roles and responsibilities of the management team and Advisory
Panel, both charged with ensuring this project fulfills its
ambitious regional mandate.


10. Daniel Nepstad, Senior Researcher at the Woods Hole Research
Center and Amazon Institute for Environmental Research, described
alarming deforestation trends in the Basin and highlighted
opportunities for establishing economic incentives to maintain
forest cover, e.g., environmentally-sound soy bean certification and
carbon markets. Global markers and consumer demands are forcing
producers to obey the law and apply best practices. He advocated
both efforts to transform industry by rewarding good behavior, and
the importance of working with large actors, such as banks and
private sector.


11. John Pielemeier, former USAID Brazil Director, outlined lessons
learned from the Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment
(CARPE) and other regional programs. These included the need for
simple governance structures, balancing participation with
efficiency, applying a long-term planning horizon, e.g., 20 years
attracting outside financing to supplement USAID funds, and
especially working through a regional organization such as ACTO.


12. Anthony Collins, Specialist in Information Technology at the
International Potato Center, highlighted key lessons and best
practices in sharing knowledge and communications, including the use
of new collaboration tools. He focused on the importance of keeping
tools simple and demand driven.


13. Working groups focused on: training and capacity building,
communications and knowledge management, monitoring and evaluation,
emerging regional policy issues, program management, and synergies
among program partners. Presentations also included an overview of
USAID's environmental compliance requirements and a uniform template
for work plans and performance reports. Participants met in working
groups, informally and in plenary sessions to identify potential
areas of synergy and collaboration, as well as to explore actions to
achieve a broader, Basin-wide impact.

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Next Steps
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14. The participants agreed to carry out the following priority
actions: 1) formalize the ACTO/ABCI relationship; 2) define priority
basin-wide policy issues; 3) produce ABCI briefing packages for
Embassies; 4) present the ABCI program to national governments (by
March 30),with discretion given to any local sensitivities to the
program; 5) identify areas to support NGO partners in training and
capacity building, communication and knowledge management, and
monitoring and evaluation; 6) finalize life-of-project and first 18

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month work plans; and 7) launch the ABCI program with public events
in each country.


15. USG points of contact: Connie Campbell, LAC/RSD is the
Cognizant Technical Officer (CTO) for the cooperative agreements
that fund the "Indigenous Landscapes: Strengthening Indigenous
Organizations in the Amazon Basin" and the "Environmental Governance
in the MAP Region of Peru, Brazil and Bolivia" conservation
consortia, and the USAID contract that funds the Program
Secretariat. Julie Kunen, LAC/RSD is the CTO for the cooperative

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agreements that fund the "Challenging the Advance of the
Deforestation Frontier in the Brazilian Amazon" and the "Sustainable
Livelihoods in the Western Amazon" conservation consortia. Laura
Cornwell, LAC/RSD is the CTO for the "Conserving the Madidi-Manu
Landscape of Bolivia and Peru" conservation consortium. USG points
of contact within the Basin are: Ricardo Roca, USAID Bolivia, for
activities in Bolivia; Ernani Pila, USAID Brazil, for activities in
Brazil; Bruce Bayle, USAID Colombia, for activities in Colombia;
Doug Mason, USAID Ecuador, for activities in Ecuador; Steve Olive,
USAID Peru, for activities in Peru; and James Story, Department of
State Regional Environmental Affairs Officer US Embassy Brasil, for
activities in other Basin countries.

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Comment
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16. The participants left with a strong sense of ownership of the
overall program and commitment to collaboration in order to achieve
a significant conservation impact across the Amazon Basin. The role
of the USAID missions in the region, as well as the Department of
State Regional Environmental Hub and individual Environment,
Science, Technology, and Health (ESTH) officers at post (especially
those without a USAID presence),is to ensure that this program is
fully explained to those government ministries with mandates that
cover the subject areas considered in the ABCI program. Early and
frequent interactions with the governments in the Amazon Basin will
ensure political buy-in throughout the process and offer an
opportunity for increased dialogue on environmental issues in the
countries. (These activities should be coordinated through the ABCI
overall coordinator, Connie Campbell at LAC/RSD in Washington as
well as through the individual points of contact in each country and
the CTOs charged with making final decisions on work plans, etc. for
each of the consortia.) In addition, keeping government
interlocutors involved in this process may generate the kind of
synergies envisioned by the ABCI through such activities as
increased Global Environmental Facility programming in biodiversity
conservation in various countries and other similar activities. END
COMMENT. STRUBLE