Local Communities Address Drivers of Biodiversity Loss: Iguana Habitat in the Dominican Republic-Integrating Biodiversity, Climate Risk Management, and Sustainable Landscapes
Funding Approach: Single Funded with Co-benefits. Geographic Approach: Co-located. Sectors Integrated: Biodiversity and Climate Change.
The Caribbean Development Program’s Iguana Habitat Restoration small grant activity aims to ensure Ricord’s and Rhinoceros iguanas thrive in the country’s remaining dry forests by addressing drivers of biodiversity loss and working with local communities to restore forests. This story illustrates how this activity integrates biodiversity conservation, climate risk management (CRM), and sustainable landscapes — activities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the land use sector.
In the Dominican Republic, drivers of biodiversity loss in the country’s biologically significant dry forests include illegal charcoal making, unsustainable agriculture, poaching, and climate stressors. The mission identified the ways climate change impacts biodiversity conservation through its CRM assessment, which found a high risk of drought in dry forests. To address these challenges, USAID assists local communities in restoring tree cover and planting native and preferred iguana plants, which support the local iguana populations by improving their habitat. This work has an additional positive benefit of reducing desertification and increasing carbon storage. The activity also plants drought-tolerant, wildlife-friendly fruit trees, such as prickly pear cactus, which serve as a key water source for dry forest wildlife species, especially during the dry season. These efforts are resulting in a biodiversity-funded activity that is simultaneously conserving biodiversity while improving climate resilience for non-target wildlife species and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Lessons Learned
Use CRM findings to identify areas for integration.
Engage mission staff in CRM assessments and share findings to highlight opportunities to address climate change in existing programming. The activity’s integrated nature allows the mission to address climate impacts, even without climate change funding.
Use geospatial analysis and map activities to engage mission colleagues and facilitate discussion on collaboration and integration.
Map mission interventions and use the results to inform a mission-wide stocktaking exercise. Encourage mission staff to share activity details with their colleagues to increase understanding of different types of programming. Use this information as the basis for collaboration and to identify opportunities for integration across sectors and mission development objectives.
Consider integration at the strategy and project level.
Use a whole-of-mission approach early in the design stage to consider opportunities for integration. Design integrated activities from the beginning, by identifying opportunities for integration during development of both the Country Development Cooperation Strategy and the Project Appraisal Document.
Learn More
Explore more case studies on the USAID Biodiversity Integration Case Competition website.
Learn more about biodiversity integration with other USAID technical sectors on the Biodiversity Conservation Gateway.
For more information on USAID/Dominican Republic’s work on biodiversity conservation, climate adaptation, and sustainable landscapes, please visit USAID’s country page and the climate resilience page.
Contact
Karen Pannocchia, Project Management Specialist, Agriculture and Environment Office, USAID/Dominican Republic
There are two rock iguana species endemic to Hispaniola living sympatrically around the area of Lago Enriquillo, the critically endangered Ricord’s iguana (Cyclura ricordi) and the threatened rhinoceros iguana (Cyclura cornuta). Photo by: Fundacion Grupo Jaragua.
