The three priority countries of SDC in the Andean region of Latin America; Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru, are among the so-called megadiverse countries in terms of biological diversity, as defined at the Johannesburg Earth Summit in 2002. All three countries have identified their richness in cultural and biological diversity as one of the key potentials for the diversification of their economies and for pro-poor growth. Recognizing that the extraordinary biodiversity and the resulting economic benefits and environmental services must be preserved on a long-term basis the three countries have declared between 12 and 18% of their surface as protected areas. However, this alone will not allow to maintain existing degrees of biodiversity: A substantial part of the overall biological diversity is located outside protected areas, in particular in the cultural landscapes of agro, silvo and pastoral ecosystems. A high number of rural, resource-poor people are associated with these systems and directly benefit from the improvement of management of them. Because of the potentially important added value that can be expected through a systematic enhancement of regional exchange and joint activities, BioAndes is designed as a regional program for Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru promoting the sustainable management of biodiversity in non-protected areas. The characteristics of the program have been defined according to the winning proposal of a regional bid. The winning consortium is led by the public University of Cochabamba-based AGRUCO (Bolivia) and is further composed of Ecociencia (Ecuador) and ETC (Peru). AGRUCO and Ecociencia are longstanding partners of SDC. The Center of Development and Environment (CDE) of the University of Berne will provide a backstopping to the consortium and ensure the integration of BioAndes in the international exchange of knowledge.
The vision of the program is that stakeholders of biodiversity in the three countries have significant impacts on the respect and valorization of the bio-cultural heritage of the Andes through an increased human and institutional capacity for the sustainable management of biodiversity in non-protected areas. The mission is to enhance inter-institutional collaboration through the creation of functional platforms at sub-national, national and regional levels that promote joint learning processes, communication, empowerment, economic development and policy incidence, based on the recognition of the multidimensional nature of biodiversity. Special attention is paid to the sustainable management of bio-cultural production systems in non-protected areas. By focusing on the sustainable management of bio-cultural systems, the program is complementary to the SECO-programs, which emphasize trade-related issues.
The program understands its role as a facilitator of what is called the “dialogue of between different forms of knowledge” (dialogo of sabidurías) in order to promote synergies and complementarities of local knowledge, science-based knowledge and institutional norms and regulations at different levels. National and regional key players for the implementation of the Convention for the Conservation of Biodiversity (CBD) are among the program’s stakeholders. Main actors are therefore governmental and non-governmental institutions and organizations operating at municipal to regional or departmental level. The program activities will be carried out through competitive grants managed under the supervision of national boards in the three countries in the following three fields: 1) Action-research and knowledge management, 2) Policy processes emphasizing in empowerment and 3) Education and communication. These activities aim at fostering changes in attitudes and practices at all levels, but especially within institutions concerned with biodiversity issues such as local governments, administrations of indigenous areas, and farmers organizations. For SDC, the support to BioAndes represents a key contribution to the implementation of the CBD by Switzerland.
The program is expected to have duration of 10 to15 years. The present proposal covers its first phase of implementation, from November 2005 to October 2009. SDC supports the program with 4.22 Mio. Swiss francs out of the NRU Global Environmental Program budget.
www.agruco.org
