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| 1. TACKLING POVERTY |
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For years, the World Conservation Union has made explicit the links that bind the fates of people and nature. Based on that knowledge, we work on global policy and local actions for poverty reduction through and with biodiversity conservation.
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Last year our message that biologically diverse ecosystems are the foundation for a sound and equitable economy sank in with decision makers. IUCN convened 450 participants from 60 governments and civil society to better integrate biodiversity into development aid. In low-income countries, 25% of total wealth comes from nature, more than all development cooperation combined. To ensure that we can reap the dividends of that natural wealth, development must give people control over nature and the EU must conserve biodiversity through its aid packages. The EU welcomed this ‘Message from Paris,’ and we will help translate it into policy.
To prove the environment is an investment for development, IUCN launched the Conservation for Poverty Reduction Initiative . It includes 120 projects that produce outputs relevant to rural poverty reduction. Last year, we had 70 interventions planned or under way, making up more than 20% of IUCN’s entire Programme.
It consists of six major regional or global sub-initiatives, 31 regional projects in Africa, Asia, Latin America and West Asia, 20 global thematic projects, four global cross-cutting areas, and 14 actions delivering enabling tools. Next year IUCN will engage more new partners to expand and upscale the initiative to finally improve the livelihoods of 50 million people.
CREATIVE USE OF WETLANDS FOR INCOME GENERATION IN BANGLADESH
Poverty reduction and biodiversity conservation must sometimes happen in ecosystems where people compete over access and resources. A creative solution can achieve both.
Haors – wetland and floodplain complexes in Bangladesh – produce fish, maintain swamp forests and regulate water. But they are also coveted as arable land for crops. Conflict ensued. IUCN introduced a traditional practice of floating gardens from southern Bangladesh to the country’s north. We used invasive water hyacinth weeds to construct thick floating platforms, or baira , to cultivate vegetables in the growing season and seedlings in the rainy season. Our pilot trained 12 women and nine men to cultivate 27 baira units, each costing about 200–250 Taka or CHF 4.60 on average. The resulting crops were worth up to BDT 3,000 or CHF 55 per unit, a tenfold profit over four months. Now marginalized landless people can produce a baira in the haor during the wet season, use its waste as an organic fertilizer for winter homestead gardening, and control water hyacinth year round. The project’s success prompted the donor to scale up the concept.
MAKING WOMEN PART OF THE SOLUTION
Women account for 70% of the poor, and half of poor women depend intimately on healthy biodiversity. Our actions help them help themselves for a better livelihood.
IUCN seeks gender equity worldwide for justice and sustainability. We forged women’s coalitions, established ‘golden rules’ for development agencies, and distributed position papers on gender in energy and climate change. Our interventions increased the number of female entrepreneurs and brought more equitable land distribution. We addressed women’s issues through micro credit, and elevated women’s household income from 25% to 30%. In West Africa, we helped fishermen’s wives to obtain small equipment, microcredit grants and form local women-led cooperatives. They improved the volume, quality and sale of fish products and won greater economic autonomy.
RESTORING LANDSCAPES FOR REFUGEE SECURITY AND INDEPENDENCE
Refugees may put untenable pressures on their environment around the assigned area of shelter. But with some expertise and support, we can restore the environment, secure their vital resources, and improve a dire existence.
IUCN and the United Nations High Commission on Refugees provide environmental planning services for refugee areas in Sudan. Our introduction of 2,300 fuel-efficient stoves and cooking techniques led to a reduction in fuel wood consumption of up to 40% and cash savings for other investments.
In addition, we helped plant 100,000 seedlings in homesteads, communal areas and ten hectares of irrigated agroforestry plots. From these, the sale of vegetables contributed up to 70% of the annual earnings of disadvantaged families, showing how environmental restoration brings immediate and positive impacts on livelihoods and development. Next year, the IUCNUNHCR partnership will expand to refugee hosting areas of Djibouti, Ethiopia and Uganda.
HARVESTING LOCAL KNOW-HOW FOR SUSTAINABLE TRADE
Many people already know how to manage resources sustainably, and that know-how can be used elsewhere to generate income and market opportunities based on the sustainable management of valuable natural resources.
The Orang asli community in Malaysia have long known how to manage the harvest of agarwood, a valuable aromatic wood used in medicine and perfume. Their traditional knowledge was brought to the fore and combined with knowledge from other stakeholders to develop management guidelines for Malaysia, a major agarwood exporter. These guidelines were then sharpened at the international level through a collaborative process with governments and the CITES Secretariat. Through the Traditional Medicine Advisory Group in China, commitments were secured to source medicinal species from sustainable sources. In southern Africa, we helped promote sustainable management of Devil’s Claw and were asked by governments to begin work on Hoodia, as the trade in both medicinal plant species provide an important source of income to the San people of the Kalahari.
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