File

Community Action to Conserve Biodiversity: Linking Biodiversity Conservation with Poverty Reduction

Community Action to Conserve Biodiversity: Linking Biodiversity Conservation with Poverty Reduction

Author(s): GEF Small Grants Programme, Equator Initiative, UNDP

Publication Date: 2006

Location: Latin America: Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Dominican Republic, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Peru.

DOWNLOAD FILE

Key points in document

  • The report describes community-based enterprises and the enabling conditions that are required for their success.
  • Many community-based enterprises included are directed towards the triple bottom line of economic, social, and environmental outcomes.
  • The report hosts 30 case studies from Central and South America. Though regionally focused, the lessons and feedback are valuable for community-based enterprises worldwide.
  • The report is careful to point out that the “success” of a given project and enabling conditions that contributed to that success were largely synthesized from perceptions of community members consulted during field visits to these case study sites; therefore, the study does not provide a concrete definition of “success.”
  • Lessons related to enabling conditions were split into two categories; internal and external.
  • Analysis of the case studies suggest four categories of internal enabling conditions, including effective governance structures like strong community leadership and transparency, as well as equitable benefit sharing.
  • The case studies highlighted the community’s relationships with the outside world as external enabling conditions. These conditions are characterized by access to capital and technical assistance (e.g., government-led technical trainings), and local or national partnerships (e.g., donors, NGOs).

Information relevant to Learning Questions:

Are enabling conditions in place to support a sustainable enterprise?

  • Stakeholder alignment
  • Market demand, access to credit/capital
  • Ownership, governance
  • Government requirements, policies for enterprises, business alliances
  • Financial management capacity, technical capacity
  • Equipment
  • Benefit sharing, targeted participants, biodiversity linkage, policies for and enforcement of resource use

Does the enterprise lead to benefits to stakeholders?

  • Increased income for participants
  • Non-cash benefits

Do the benefits lead to positive changes in attitudes and behavior?

  • Attitudes regarding sustainable use of resources
  • Behaviors regarding sustainable use of resources

Does a change in stakeholders’ behaviors lead to a reduction to threats to biodiversity (or restoration)?

  • Residential and commercial development
  • Agriculture and aquaculture
  • Energy production and mining
  • Biological resource use
  • Pollution

Does a reduction in threats (or restoration) lead to conservation?

  • Forest ecosystems
  • Freshwater ecosystems
  • Grassland ecosystems
  • Marine ecosystems
  • Species
0 0
Back to Top