Andes (Latin America)

Current situation

– Very high inequity indexes and high natural resources degradation rates

– Water and Land tenure conflicts: Competition between sectors (food production, hydropower, mining, biofuels production)

Opportunity

• Favorable political context to make changes in agricultural and environmental sectors in order to conserve remaining natural capital and recover ES.

• Ministries of Environment leading policy making processes to ensure that society pays and rewards for ES (ie. Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, CA)

• Interest on investing in monitoring systems to track changes on natural resources

• Global pertinence: What lessons can be drawn from Lac, useful for other countries that may start facing economic growth without taking into account sustainability and equity criteria in their development strategies?

Development outcome

• Challenge: Reduce natural resources-related conflicts by balancing economic growth with more equitable distribution of income and natural resources

• Development outcome: Countries have better tools and information to guide land use and ecosystems management decisions and investment based on likely trade offs between income, gender-oriented equity, and ecosystem services

How?– Building upon CPWF experience and other initiatives in the region, and

from other regions as well• Synergies between agricultural production and agrobiodiversity and water

conservation (e.g. Bioversity experience in the Andes)

• IFAD – Peruvian Ministry of Agriculture experience: (MARENAS: Is a landmark project in involving grassroots in design and implementation of natural resources interventions)

• CIP and private sector: adding value to production of native products (rewarding for ES)

• Benefit- sharing mechanisms across sectors (lessons learned) (e.g CIAT, CPWF, FAO, Bioversity, NGOs)

– Institutional innovations are required– Actual land use/management alternatives validated to reconcile

economic growth, water conservation needs and inequity– Land use change scenario analysis

Where?• Intervention may need broadening the

geographical scope of interventions

• Why? Key ecosystems that provide multiple benefits to society are not only in the Andes

• Key interactions between Andes – Amazon: migration; natural resources conflict; expansion of urban areas, large infrastructure projects and extractive activities in one area affect the other

• Potential for scaling up and out within LatinAmerica : Central America and South America

• Opportunity for interaction and coordination across CRPs

Partnerships• Building upon partnerships from CPWF + new ones that ensure

engagement of WLE work with policy making and local decision levels

– IICA (Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture): Follow America’s countries mandate in their agricultural sector. On Sept 2013 is was decided that Water will be a priority in their agenda.

– CAN( Andean Community of Nations): Coordinates Andean countries efforts in their environmental sectors

– FAO: Rewards for Ecosystem Services Initiative

– Regional and local governments (with high investment capacity but low technical capacity to target effectively investment)

– Local organizations – Donors