Forest Conservation and Sustainability in the Heart of the Colombian Amazon
Start & End Date: 2014-2024
Country/Countries: Colombia
Multilateral Institution(s) Involved: World Bank
The Amazon region hosts a vast amount of the world's remaining rainforests and an extraordinary variety of species. This biodiversity plays a critical role as part of global systems, influencing the global carbon cycle, climate change, as well as hydrological systems, and, thus, South American climate and rainfall. In recent years, threats like deforestation for agriculture and infrastructure development are on the rise that put the Amazon biome increasingly under pressure. Therefore, the concerned countries (Brazil, Colombia and Peru) and partner agencies have joined forces with the Amazon Sustainable Landscapes (ASL) Program to protect this globally significant biodiversity and implement policies to foster sustainable land use and restoration of native vegetation cover. At the country level, the ASL has implemented four national projects by the government agencies in partnership with local governments, research institutions, private organizations and civil society. It is funded through a commitment of $113 million in Global Environmental Facility (GEF) resources drawn from each country’s allocation, a programmatic financial incentive, as well as an expected $683 million leveraged in additional financing from countries’ budgets, NGOs, the private sector, and donors.
The Forest Conservation and Sustainability in the Heart of the Colombian Amazon project aims to improve governance and promote sustainable land-use activities to reduce deforestation and conserve biodiversity in the project area. The project has four components. (1) Protected areas management and financial sustainability component will: (a) strengthen the management effectiveness of the Natural Chiribiquete Mountain Ridge National Park (PNNSCH) and its buffer zone through inter alia, the design and implementation of a management plan for the PNNSCH; and (b) increase the financial sustainability of about 2.7 million hectares of Protected Areas within the PNNSCH and its buffer zone. (2) Forest governance, management, and monitoring component seeks to: (a) enhance the institutional capacity and financial sustainability for sustainable landscape governance, management, and monitoring; (b) enhance the institutional capacity to monitor greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions; (c) enhance the capacity of indigenous peoples’ authorities for sustainable land-use practices and forest governance within indigenous territories; and (d) support the disclosure of data on reduction of deforestation. (3) Sectoral programs for sustainable landscape management component seeks to: (a) support improvement of crosssectoral policy coordination and consistency to achieve long-term reductions in deforestation; (b) support the development and adoption of guidelines and programs in, inter alia, the agriculture, extractive industries and infrastructure sectors, aimed at reducing pressures on forests and biodiversity, and GHG emissions and restoring ecosystems; (c) support the promotion of sustainable land-use and natural resource management practices that contribute to the restoration of vegetation, reduce pressure on forests and advance the livelihoods of local communities in the municipalities of San Jose del Guaviare, Calamar and Cartagena de Chaira. (4) Project coordination, management, and monitoring and evaluation component will strengthen the Project Coordination Unit (PCU) to ensure coordination, management, monitoring, evaluation, and communication in connection with the implementation of the project. It is implemented by the World Bank Group via the GEF and executed by the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development and Patrimonio Natural Fund.
As of December 2020, the project has helped to strengthen capabilities of environmental authorities for forest monitoring, increase the area of sustainably managed forest, increase the number of agreements with sectors driving deforestation, policies/regulations and strategies for integrated landscape management, establish annually GHG emission levels for the Amazon Region and increase the number of people in project areas with improved access to conservation-friendly livelihood activities. The project continues its role as a key contributor of the Colombian Government Vision Amazonia strategy, with its results contributing to achieving national biodiversity and climate change commitments, as well as regional ones included in the Leticia Pact for the Amazon. The project has contributed to strengthen the National Restoration Strategy and its implementation in the Amazon. It is also providing technical inputs that enrich the National Biodiversity Law being prepared by the government and the implementation of the regional climate change strategy for the Colombian Amazon. Implementation owill continue strengthening the governance mechanisms and capacity of regional and local institutions, and specially the community organizations that will develop sustainable forest management practices. However, security conditions in the Colombian Amazon deteriorated, demanding an increased effort from the project team to mitigate related risks and continue its field work only where feasible.