With a focus on biodiversity in the lead up to the CBD next month, this week the Landscapes Blog takes a closer look at the motivations behind conserving the ecosystem services provided by agricultural landscapes. A pilot project in Uganda, just entering its initial stages, is seeking to assess the effectiveness of incentive payments as motivation for sustainable land use.
While in a country with more species of primate than any other, and a great diversity of wildlife and plants, Ugandan ecosystems also experience severe threats from deforestation and land degradation. A new project funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) is testing the feasibility of incentive payments as a means of preserving chimpanzee populations and the wild biodiversity of the country. Residents of the Hoima and Kibaale districts in Western Uganda, the area with the largest chimpanzee populations outside of protected areas, will fall into two groups – those who receive payments for avoiding deforestation, reforestation activities, and improved agricultural practices; and another that does not – and serve as the backbone of this experimental pilot payment for ecosystem services (PES) project ending in April 2014.
The three primary parties involved – Ugandan National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), the Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust (CSWCT), and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) – GEF – are interested to see whether a PES program will be the enticement needed to reduce deforestation and improve production practices; if successful, use it as a model on a national scale; and employ the data collected to inform future policy and projects beyond the Ugandan borders. PES is seen as one mechanism to achieve goals of both supporting rural incomes and conservation critical biodiversity and natural resources.
Farmers in the compensation group will receive payments for the area of forest preserved or replanted, encouraging riparian vegetation to act as buffers between working lands and waterways, and cultivating natural vegetation. Training will also be provided by NEMA on sustainable use of the land, and not just protection. Every village, even those not receiving payments, will also be part of capacity building exercises, including those on forest cover change and climate issues and sustainable forest use options. One of the farmers in this area receiving payments has diversified his cocoa plantation to also produce cereals and bananas, raise goats and cattle, and reduce environmental impacts through good management practice on the farm.
Read about the particulars on Ecosystem Marketplace or the GEF Project Document.
Photo credit: Neil Palmer/CIAT
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