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Latin American and the Caribbean Division (LAC)

Better forestry, less poverty – Supporting the sustainable management of forests in Latin America

Forest ecosystems, which cover a third of the Earth’s total land, are essential not only for its  functioning, but also for the livelihoods of nearly 1.2 billion people through the provision of multiple goods and services. Forests are particularly important in Latin America, where they cover 40% of total land in the region. Although several rural communities and indigenous peoples live and thrive in them, this vital resource is under threat due to land tenure issues, inefficient administration and pressures from agriculture, mining and other uses. New priorities in the international agenda, such as conservation of forest carbon, will provide fresh opportunities to use forests as an asset to reduce poverty, although challenges will remain.

Given the importance of forests for rural development and poverty alleviation, IFAD’s Latin America and the Caribbean Division, together with the Mesoamerican Alliance for Peoples and Forests (AMPB), ACICAFOC and the Ford Foundation, will hold a discussion panel on Community and Participatory Management of Natural Resources: Experiences from Mesoamerica’s Indigenous Peoples and Forest Communities during the 2012 Governing Council.

The panel will discuss key issues related to forests and rural development with representatives from Mesoamerica rural organizations and participants in the event. The dialogue will highlight critical issues that illustrate how forests and forestry can help reduce poverty. Recommendations to improve IFAD’s work in this area will also be provided.

Panellists

• Betanio Chiquidama is the General Chief [Cacique] of Embera Wounaan. Mr Chiquidama has served as Embera Coordinator in Panama’s Ministry of the Interior and Justice, Coordinator of the BioDarien Project, CPD Leader for the Pro Darien Project and legal representative to the Government of Panama for the implementation of government projects in the administrative region (comarca). Currently he is the Regional Chief of Sambú and President of the National Coordinating Office for Indigenous Peoples of Panama (COONAPIP).
• Marcedonio Cortave  is the Executive Director of the Association of Forest Communities of Petén (ACOFOP). Since 1990 he has been involved in environmental activities, particularly natural resource management and conservation, and has played a leading role in fighting for legal access by communities to the management and conservation of natural and cultural resources. He is the founder of ACOFOP, an association of communities that manages a system of community forest concessions in the Maya Biosphere Reserve. He has been the recipient of several awards for his work, including an Unsung Hero award from the United Nations in Guatemala, and a National Geographic award for conservation leadership in Latin America – the first of its kind awarded to a Latin American recipient.
• Victoria Flores Aguilar is the President of the Board of Directors of the Federation of Agroforestry Producers of Honduras (FEPROAH) and member of the San José Limited Agroforestry Cooperative for the past 17 years. She is a member of the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) Subcommittee of the National Climate Change Directorate (SERNA), Sub-Coordinator of the Forestry and Land Use Planning Panel for Region 2 of the Comayagua Valley (National Plan) and Vice President of the Indigenous and Campesino Coordinating Association for Community Agroforestry in Central America (ACICAFOC). She participated as a presenter at the United Nations in New York, USA on political lobbying for the National Forestry Project of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (PRONAFOR/FAO) in Central America and on local governance issues in 2005, and on forestry at the World Forestry Congress in New York on two occasions, in 2000 and 2005). She has represented Honduras on official government delegations at Conferences of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
• Gustavo Sánchez is the Chairman of the Governing Council of the Mexican Network of Campesino Forestry Organizations, also known as the MOCAF Network, a civil association set up in 1994 that brings together 50 local forestry organizations of campesinos and indigenous people. By promoting community-based development of forests, the MOCAF Network seeks to raise the standard of living for rural people, particularly those living in forest regions. In order to achieve its objectives, the MOCAF Network takes part in the discussion and design of public policy on rural and forest matters, and promotes the strengthening and creation of capabilities among its member organizations, as well as the dissemination among campesino and indigenous populations of relevant matters such as the debate around the National Strategy for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+). The MOCAF Network is part of the National Forestry Council (CONAF) and the Mexican Council for Sustainable Rural Development (CMDRS), and currently chairs the Mexican Network of Efforts to Combat Desertification and the Degradation of Natural Resources (RIOD-MEX).
• Levi Sucre Romero is a member of the Bribri indigenous culture of Talamanca (Costa Rica) and expert on indigenous organizational, cultural and environmental issues in Central America. She has more than 20 years experience in rural development and community organization, and more than 15 years of experience in the development, implementation and evaluation of projects in local communities and indigenous territories. She currently heads up the technical and organizational development of RIBCA, which brings together eight indigenous territories in Costa Rica, and coordinates the Executive Commission of the Mesoamerican Peoples and Forests Alliance   (AMPB). She is an agricultural producer and indigenous leader in the Bribri Territory of Talamanca.

Follow the webcast of this event at http://webcasting.ifad.org/gc2012_side