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Home › List of Suitable Proposals › MDGF-1745: Conservación y Manejo Sostenible del Patrimonio Natural y Cultural de la Reserva de Biósfera Yasuní

MDGF-1745: Conservation and Sustainable Management of the Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Yasuní Biosphere Reserve

PLEASE NOTE THIS CONCEPT NOTE IS THE ORIGINAL SUBMISSION TO THE FUND. IN MANY CASES INDICATIVE BUDGET AMOUNTS APPROVED BY THE STEERING COMMITTEE ARE CONSIDERABLY LOWER THAN THAT REQUESTED AND INDICATED HERE-IN. FINAL BUDGET AMOUNTS WILL ONLY BE AVAILABLE AFTER APPROVAL OF THE FINALIZED DETAILED JOINT PROGRAMME DOCUMENT.
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English  (current), Spanish 

ID: MDGF-1745

Environment and climate change
Round 1
(26/04/2007 - 31/12/2009)
Ecuador
$6,308,928
36 Months
Conservation and Sustainable Management of the Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Yasuní Biosphere Reserve

Attached Documents:

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A. Applicant Information

Latin America and the Caribbean
  • Lower Middle Income Country
  • Medium HDI, according to UNDP's 2006 Human Development Report
  • Jose Manuel Hermida
  • jose.manuel.hermida@undp.org
  • Fernando Pachano
  • fernando.pachano@undp.org
  • Luca Renda
  • UNDP - United Nations Development Programme
  • Deputy Resident Representative
  • luca.renda@undp.org
  • Ivan Angulo Chacon
  • FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
  • Representative
  • ivan.angulo@fao.org
  • UNDP - United Nations Development Programme ($1,545,000)
  • UNIFEM - United Nations Development Fund for Women ($430,161)
  • UN-Habitat - United Nations Human Settlements Programme ($182,260)
  • UNESCO - United Nations Educational and Scientific Organization ($1,407,217)
  • FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations ($2,151,290)
  • UNWTO - United Nations World Tourism Organization ($593,000)
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B. Concept Note

The programme aims to support the conservation and management of the Yasuní Biosphere Reserve (YBR). The implementation of the programme will enable progress towards MDG 7 by contributing to the conservation of one of the world’s greatest areas of biodiversity through the implementation of community-based economic alternatives. Support will be given to actions designed to deal with climate change through the non-emission of greenhouse gases and adaptation. The programme will contribute to the compliance of MDG 1, giving priority to vulnerable populations. It will also contribute to the protection of the rights of indigenous populations living in voluntary isolation (PVI). The conservation of the YBR is one of the country’s national priorities and the Ministry of the Environment will be the programme’s main partner. The proposal falls in line with the priorities set out by the United Nations and the Spanish International Cooperation Agency (AECI), and participants include UNESCO, UNIFEM and UN-HABITAT in gender and land management matters, in a framework focused on fostering equity in natural resource management with the support of FAO, UNWTO and UNDP.

The Yasuní Biosphere Reserve (YBR) is considered one of the areas of greatest biodiversity on the planet. It is estimated to contain 4,000 plant species, 173 mammal species and 610 bird species. This Reserve is located in the Amazon region of Ecuador. The YBR has a surface area of 2 million hectares and has 3 management units, including the Yasuní National Park (details in Appendix 1). Within the subsoil of the YBR there are approximately 930 million barrels of crude oil reserves, representing more than 20% of the total oil reserves of Ecuador (4,200 million barrels). In addition to this natural wealth, there are communities in the area that have chosen to live in voluntary isolation – the Tagaeri and Taromenani clans – who, as native indigenous populations, are part of the tangible and intangible socio-cultural heritage of humanity. The population of the Reserve totals some 290 thousand people. In the most of the cases, their income is at the same level of those of populations living in situations of poverty or extreme poverty (figures in Appendix 1). The YBR is considered to be a highly vulnerable area which runs a high risk of failing to protect and maintain the cultural wealth and biological diversity in the mid-term. The existence of indigenous populations is currently under serious threat. This is particularly true for the Tagaeri and Taromenani populations, who have been victims of ethnocide and who suffer from the loss of the natural habitat. Many of the animal species in the YBR are included on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (almost 40%). These patrimonies are under threat as a result of productive processes, which are carried out in the area, and which have a serious impact on the environment, such as logging, the oil industry, hunting, fishing, illegal traffic of wild species, colonisation, uncontrolled tourism and extensive livestock and farming. In the area of influence, the majority of the inhabited centres are facing problems of environmental degradation related to the precarious situation associated with drinking water, sewerage and solid waste disposal services (figures in Appendix 1). Local governments in these centres are faced with the challenge of undertaking a number of environmental management responsibilities when Ministerial Agreement No. 106 comes into effect. In the buffer zone, the indigenous communities face difficulties when it comes to carrying out their traditional economic activities and have been forced to choose methods of subsistence which in some cases put pressure on natural resources. The conservation and management of the YBR is one of the Government’s priorities. As such, on the 18th of April 2007 the President of the Republic presented the National Policy on Populations in Situation of Voluntary Isolation (PVI) as a mechanism for taking responsibility for the protection of the rights of populations in vulnerable conditions in the Amazon region. The Government’s 2007 Multi-sectorial Environmental Agenda promotes the conservation of the YBR, and has also declared as a national priority the non-exploitation of the ITT oil field. This decision is subject to the development of markets that allow financial resources to be obtained, in order to partially compensate for the resources that the country would not receive because of the non-exploitation of this oil field. Also, it recognizes Ecuador´s contribution to the non-emission of greenhouse gases and the conservation of the world renowned biodiversity within the YBR. . The resources to be obtained from MDG-F are closely related to the priorities of the Government. The proposed intervention therefore includes: i) support to the RBY management through an integrated community-based approach for conservation and sustainable management of the natural and cultural heritage,, including support to ensure the rights of populations in voluntary isolation, the development of environmentally sustainable production activities in the YBR buffer zone, and assistance to the conservation and management of the Yasuní National Park; ii) support to the implementation of national and local policies for the conservation and management of the YBR, including regional planning and decentralisation processes for the environmental management competencies delegated to sectional governments; and, iii) support to establish innovative financial mechanisms which recognise national efforts to generate global environmental benefits. The proposal is in line with the AECI and UNDAF outcome of incorporating and applying the principle of environmental sustainability with equity in the country, and intends to promote synergies with other cooperation resources by establishing networks with the initiatives financed through the Gender and Culture and Development windows of the MDG Fund.

The following outcomes are planned in order to achieve the programme objective: Outcome 1: Conservation policies for natural and cultural heritage and for environmental quality have been integrated into the regional and local plans, as well as into the investments, of the sectional governments and social organisations in the YBR area. 1. An approved integrated land management plan in process for the sustainable development and conservation of the YBR, and environmental quality plans for populated centres, with the corresponding management tools have been discussed, validated and implemented. 2. The updating and harmonisation of legal frameworks relating to forestry matters and to the conservation of natural and cultural heritage has been carried out. 3. National policies and strategies for the protection of populations in voluntary isolation have been incorporated into regional plans and programmes. Outcome 2: The communities and sectional governments of the YBR implement replicable initiatives for the conservation and sustainable management of natural resources and biodiversity, and for improving environmental quality with a participative, agro-ecological, cultural and gender approach. 1. Socio-environmental participative studies on priority highly vulnerable areas in each YBR province have been carried out. 2. Community projects that contribute to the development of sustainable livelihoods for communities in the YBR have been executed. 3. Local organisations and regional institutions that implement and influence environmental management processes in the YBR have been strengthened from a gender perspective. 4. A comprehensive environmental education programme with a focus on gender and interculturality has been established for the YBR area. 5. Pilot projects within the framework of Ministerial Agreement No. 106 for the transfer of environmental responsibilities to provincial and municipal councils have been carried out. Outcome 3: Improvement of local and national capacities for decision-making and execution of activities for adapting to climate change and for the application of the CDM in the YBR. 1. Local plans for adapting to climate change have been designed and implemented in priority areas within the YBR. 2. National and local policies for application of the CDM have been established, based on environmentally and socially sustainable activities. 3. Local and national capacities for formulating and monitoring CDM projects have been developed, with an emphasis on environmentally and socially sustainable activities. Outcome 4: Innovative mechanisms for financing the sustainable management and conservation of the Yasuní Biosphere Reserve have been developed. 1. Financial mechanisms have been developed for covering the opportunity cost of not exploiting the oil reserves. 2. Financial sustainability mechanisms have been developed and implemented for the conservation and management of the YBR, based on the valuation of its ecosystem goods and services.

The programme promotes equity in the use of, access to and management of natural resources in an inter-agency manner, by influencing public policies and actions at a local and community level with the support of FAO, UNESCO, UNWTO and UNDP. In addition, the proposal involves the participation of UN-HABITAT and UNIFEM to provide support for mainstreaming and investments in land administration and gender-related matters, within the framework of an intervention inspired by the principles of protection and promotion of the world’s natural and cultural heritage with the guidance of UNESCO. In order to achieve the objective of the programme, policies for the conservation of the natural and cultural heritage of the YBR are set to be integrated into regional and local plans and investments. For this purpose, the programme will drive the development of regional and local legislation, the development of a participative plan on land administration in the YBR under the leadership of the Ministry of the Environment (MAE), the strengthening of the YBR governing bodies, and the development of incentives for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and water and forest resources. Also, the MAE will be supported in the development of a forestry control system, and the capacities of the MAE, the local and provincial governments and the communities will be strengthened in order to carry out clean development mechanism projects. Within this programme, great emphasis will be placed on supporting the YBR communities in developing community-based production activities, which are environmentally sustainable, in the buffer and influence zones of the YBR. To do this, the programme will promote the strengthening of local capabilities for developing sustainable livelihoods based on non-timber forest products; sustainable community-based tourism; forestry and agro-biodiversity management; and management of water resources. This component will include actions to support the strengthening of organisational capacities, environmental education and the financing of pilot projects, capitalising the experience of best practices. Equally, support will be provided to the implementation processes for the new environmental management responsibilities of sectional governments with an emphasis on those which have an impact on improving environmental quality and adapting to climate change, such as the execution of regional and local environmental plans, land administration, forestry management and promoting the participation of citizens in the improvement of environmental quality. This will be complemented with the support to pilot initiatives in these areas to be carried out by local governments and communities. Finally, the programme will support the establishment of innovative financial mechanisms to finance the conservation and management of the YBR. To do this, it will strengthen the capabilities of both the MAE and the Ministry of Energy and Mining for the development of international markets that recognise the national efforts made to not exploit the oil reserves in the YBR. To do this, financial mechanisms will be developed to cover the opportunity cost of not exploiting the oil reserves in the YBR, along with financial sustainability mechanisms for the conservation and sustainable management of the Yasuní National Park, based on the valuation of its ecosystem goods and services. Programme sustainability In order to contribute to the sustainability and possible replication of the programme, a shared component for knowledge management will be implemented as an activity across all interventions in order to highlight best practices and to document lessons learned from the process. In order to make the programme actions sustainable, the development of innovative financial mechanisms for the conservation and sustainable management of the YBR are included as part of the programme and will provide a resource base that will last after the regular financing of the programme has concluded. For this same purpose, the programme also includes support for income generation in vulnerable populations through community-based projects. Equally, the focus on creating national, regional, local and community capacities is intended to provide an additional degree of sustainability to the programme, as is the strategy to foster ownership processes by the governments and communities, along with the establishment of strategic regional and local alliances which will promote networks for the conservation and sustainable management of natural resources.

In order to measure the impacts of the programme a monitoring matrix will be applied which will include indicators, a baseline, the situation expected at the end of the programme and a description of the indicator measurement methodology. Medium term and final evaluations will use a participative methodology to gather the opinions of the programme beneficiaries. Inception, experience sharing and closing workshops will be held. The main indicators by output are (for details of the corresponding baselines please see the Results Framework): Outcome 1: 1. Municipalities and provincial councils incorporate and implement 7 management ordinances for the Yasuní Biosphere Reserve (YBR) as a result of the land management plan, including the establishment of 7 agreements with sectional governments. 2. Declaration of Intangible Cultural Patrimony within the framework of the National Policy for (PVI). 3. Updated and agreed Forestry Bill. 4. Land administration plan for the YBR harmonised with the management plan for the Yasuní National Park (YNP). 5. Management and control tools to be implemented in regional development are available to members of the YBR Management Committee. Outcome 2: 1. 30 communities implement replicable community initiatives for the sustainable management of natural resources 2. 15 social organisations include the environmental issue on their agendas. 3. 7 sectional governments incorporate environmental issues in their sectional development plans and policies focused on the promotion of activities for the sustainable management of natural resources. 4. 20 schools and 30 communities implement the environmental education programme with a gender and interculturality perspective. Outcome 3: 1. 7 sectional governments adopt measures for adapting to climate change. 2. 5 local communities implement projects which adopt climate change measures. 3. 10 proposals are designed for application to the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Outcome 4: 1. 20 decision-makers and civil servants trained to develop new markets for financing sustainable development (bonds for non-exploited crude oil, ecosystem services and goods). 2. 8 communities that implement pilot projects for the recognition of ecosystem goods and services. 3. 2 proposals discussed and agreed within the country for financing the management of the YNP. The measurement methodology will consist of field visits, technical meetings with the National Government and sectional governments, participation in local and community assemblies, progress report analysis and verification of official records.

The programme will be implemented in accordance with national priorities and with the mandates of the participating agencies. The UN agencies that will implement actions in this joint programme are: FAO, UNESCO, UNDP, UNIFEM, UN-HABITAT and UNWTO. These agencies comprise the UN team in Ecuador and, in accordance with the guidelines, have been responsible for designing this proposal. The resources used by these agencies on environment and climate change matters in recent years are as follows: Performance 2005/2006 FAO 4,300,000 UNWTO 350,000 UNDP 13,379,000 UNESCO 1,800,000 UN-HABITAT 830,000 UNIFEM 1,999,000* *This amount refers to the total resources used by UNIFEM, which had no environmental expenditure during this period. In the proposed programme (2007-2010), FAO (US $ 2.15 million dollars) shall be responsible for executing local projects for generating sustainable livelihoods in favour of the communities located in the YBR in terms of agro-forestry, agro-biodiversity, non-timber forest products and river basin management, as well as for providing technical guidance on public policies regarding forestry and CDM. UNDP and the Small Grants Programme (US $ 1.55 million dollars) will support initiatives that promote equity in the use of, access to and management of natural resources through community-based projects on biodiversity management, as well as the implementation of the public policy on environment at a sectional government level, and the development of innovative financial mechanisms to support the management and conservation of the YBR. UNESCO (US $ 1.41 million dollars) will carry out actions with local partners to support the conservation and sustainable use of the YBR – including issues related to the adaptation of communities to climate change - and will provide guidance for the protection of their natural and cultural heritage. UNIFEM (US $ 430 thousand dollars) and UN-HABITAT (US $ 182 thousand dollars) will support mainstreaming and investments relating to gender and land administration, whilst UNWTO (US $ 593 thousand dollars) will execute sustainable tourism pilot projects at a community level and support policies for this type of tourism in the YBR. The Ministry of the Environment will be the programme’s main partner, and the programme will be run in coordination with the processes driven by the Ministry of Energy and Mining, the National Secretariat for Planning and Development, CONAMU (National Women’s Council of Ecuador), CONCOPE (Union of Provincial Councils of Ecuador) and CODENPE (Council for Development of Nationalities and Peoples of Ecuador). It will also coordinate the provincial and municipal governments of Orellana, Sucumbíos and Pastaza, and will carry out its actions with a focus on the development of national, regional and local capabilities, within a framework that aims to make the programme replicable. To this end, during the feasibility phase of the project, the possibility of identifying similar interventions in other regions of the country, particularly those especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change, will be explored by the Ministry of Environment and other partners. . International partners include the governments of partner countries with an interest in the conservation of this globally significant biodiversity (e.g. Norway and Denmark). Parallel financing will also be applied for from the Global Environment Fund (GEF), particularly for the incremental costs of this project, given its growing interest in innovative projects which protect emblematic biodiversity, and generate global environmental benefits due to the non-emission of greenhouse gases. Execution, management and coordination arrangements In order to execute this programme, the UN agencies will use their execution arrangements, including the mobilisation of expertise of non-resident agencies in the country, particularly UNEP. For this purpose the areas and modalities of cooperation will be agreed with the UNEP at the project design phase. The programme will have the following bodies for execution purposes: • Programme Steering Committee: comprised of the Resident Coordinator, the Minister of the Environment or her delegate, the Representative of the Spanish International Cooperation Agency and a representative from each of the UN participating agencies. This strategic steering body will be responsible for defining the policies and guidelines of project activities, and will provide political support, advise on and approve the work plans, and review and approve the progress of the Programme Management Unit. • Local Committee for Technical Guidance: This body will provide the Programme Management Unit with the technical guidelines for the performance of activities and will act as a consultation service on technical aspects arising during execution. It is comprised of experts from the Ministry of the Environment, CEDENMA (Coordination of Ecuadorian Organisations for the Defence of Nature and the Environment), CONAMU, CONCOPE, CODENPE and UN agencies. • Project Management Unit: This will be lead by the project Coordinator and will be responsible for the planning, supervision, control, monitoring and accountability of all programme execution activities. It will act as a link between the different UN agencies implementing the project and their counterparts at the Ministry of Environment.
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C. MDG-Related Indicators

  • Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
  • Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
  • 1. Proportion of population below $1 (PPP) per day
  • 25. Proportion of land area covered by forest
  • 26. Ratio of area protected to maintain biological diversity to surface area
  • 30. Proportion of population with sustainable access to an improved water source, urban and rural
  • 31. Proportion of population with access to improved sanitation, urban and rural
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D. Formulation Advance

Yes
$20,000
UNDP - United Nations Development Programme
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E. Resident Coordinator's Undertakings

  • The Concept Note has been reviewed by the national government and the UN Country Team.
  • If approved by the MDG-F Steering Committee, the UN Participating Organizations undertake to submit a draft Joint Programme Document within eight weeks of notification.
  • All UN Participating Organizations have or will sign the global Memorandum of Understanding with the Multi-Donor Trust Fund Office.