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Case Studies:
Cuencas Andinas: Sustainable Land Use in Andean Watersheds. See cases of Colombia ( Fuquene ), Ecuador ( Ambato ) and Peru ( Alto Mayo ) for detailsCuencas Andinas is a German Government (GTZ) funded project aiming to promote sustainable land use in fifteen watersheds in the Andean region of Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, through the creation of Payment for Environmental Services (PES) schemes and other innovative management initiatives. The project will run for eight years and for the first stage (2003-2006) the objectives are to improve water management plans and implement PES schemes as a new institutional arrangement to manage the watersheds. The target groups are the technical and managing staff of the municipalities, local projects and NGOs, and the local communities. Activities began in 2003. The projects where development of PES schemes is most far advanced are Fuquene (Colombia), Ambato (Ecuador) and Alto Mayo (Peru) This is a cooperation agreement between the German Government (GTZ) and the International Potato Center (CIP). The implementing agencies are CONDESAN (Consortium for the Sustainable Development of the Andean Ecoregion), REDCAPA (Latin American Network for Capacity building on Agricultural Economics and Policy) and GTZ. SupplyThe project involves an initial physical and institutional assessment of the watershed, economic valuation of externalities and strategies to engage users in their internalization; in addition the project also aims to support political dialogue, dissemination of knowledge (for example though a regular electronic newsletter that informs on progress at each site) and capacity building. Currently, only three of the sites are already implementing the payment scheme, while the others are still at the initial preparation stage. One of the criteria to determine which watersheds to select was the presence of externalities and the possibility of creating strategic alliances with organizations working in the watersheds. These are:
DemandThe general guidelines for area selection mean that externalities must exist. Each case study has identified their potential downstream users although in some cases it is still unclear how they will work together. See individual cases for details. IntermediaryCONDESAN, and GTZ FacilitatorCONDESAN, the German government of the GTZ, REDCAPA (Latin American Network for Capacity building on Agricultural Economics and Policy), CIP.ServiceSee individual case profiles. CommoditySee individual case profiles. Payment mechanismSee individual case profiles. Type of paymentSee individual case profiles. Funds involvedSee individual case profiles.Analysis of costs and benefits See individual case profiles. See individual case profiles. See individual case profiles. See individual case profiles. CONDESAN's initiatives are interesting because they are trying to overcome the "anti-market" concerns associated with the term “payments for watershed services” . The areas where they work are poor and water is scarce. An interesting point is also the process by which PES is developing, and how it is helping to move the debate among stakeholders from a narrow focus on water towards a more holistic response to the watershed problems. Cuencas Andinas publishes a regular newsletter sharing information on the progress in each site. available at www.condesan.org/CuencasAndinas/boletin-descripcion.htm (in spanish) Cuencas Andinas: Marina.Kosmus@gtz.de ; Fernando Aspajo: fernandoaspajo@hotmail.com On-line information from links below and personal communication with Marina Kosmus. Cuencas Andinas website: http://www.condesan.org/CuencasAndinas |
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