ENVIRONMENT: Market-Based Conservation Brewing in Nairobi

• by Stephen Leahy* - Tierramérica (nairobi)
• Tuesday, June 01, 2010
• Inter Press Service
• Tierramérica

By 2020, as much as five billion dollars a year could flow through the Green Development Mechanism (GDM) directly into the hands of those doing conservation work on the ground, says Francis Vorhies, of Earth Mind, a non- governmental organisation whose stated mission is 'enhancing synergies for sustainability.'

'It's a market-based approach designed to mobilise money for conservation. And lots of this money will also be invested into good development,' Vorhies told Tierramérica.

The GDM is promoted as an attempt to halt the destruction of forests and wetlands, for example, which are often part of profitable extractive industries. Through the proposed mechanism, a community, organisation or government wishing to conserve a forest, wetland, coastal region or coral reef would create a 10-year sustainable use plan.

After an independent audit, the conservation plan would be certified and its 'biodiversity-protected hectares' would be put on the market for purchase, according to the project presented in the third meeting of the Working Group on Review of Implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity, held May 24-28 in Nairobi.

This is not just about protecting untouched areas. The GDM is aimed at anything that protects and enhances biodiversity, from a sustainable cattle ranch to organic farms to community-based aquarium coral reef fish harvesting to a housing development that protects a wetland.

Who might the buyers be? Corporations looking to fulfil their mandates for corporate social responsibility or members of the public wanting to buy a hectare of rainforest or coral reef that they know will be properly managed and conserved, Vorhies said.

'If the top 500 companies globally were to commit just one hundredth of one percent of their annual revenues it would generate 2.5 billion dollars for conservation annually,' he added.

Simone Lovera of the Global Forest Coalition, an environmental NGO in Paraguay, calls such speculation 'naive.' If this corporate interest in biodiversity conservation existed, 'there would not be a problem with biodiversity financing in the first place,' Lovera told Tierramérica.

Creating a financing system for protecting biodiversity similar to the Clean Development Mechanism, as set out under the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, is in itself problematic, she said.

Market-based solutions to combat climate change were firmly rejected by many Latin American countries and civil society at the World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth, held Apr. 19- 22 in the central Bolivian city of Cochabamba.

However, Lovera's main criticism of the GDM is the apparent omission of 'any references to the rights and needs of indigenous peoples, women, farmers or local communities.'

Vorhies responded to Lovera's comments, saying she is completely wrong because the GDM is not just about conservation but equitable benefit sharing and sustainable use for and by local peoples.

'We want to invest in the guardians of the landscape, to give them the resources to enable them to continue to be guardians,' said Vorhies.

Where there are contested land rights, the GDM would not be possible: 'There has to be clear ownership and it has to be very clear who is responsible for managing the landscape, otherwise the market will reject it,' he said.

As for the CDM for climate change, it 'mobilised 25 billion dollars in funding' and much has been learned about what not to do, said Vorhies.

In his opinion, corporations and the public are willing to make investments in biodiversity protection, but are lacking a strong guarantee that their money will go directly to good management.

The GDM would need to have compliance verification and penalties in order to offer those assurances, he acknowledged.

When the issue was raised at the Working Group, James Seyani, a delegate from Malawi, said 'It could be a good thing, but there are a number questions and issues that need to be clarified.'

At last week's meeting of the Working Group, they formulated a biodiversity target for 2020, and considered ways to move more resources to protect flora and fauna, which will be submitted to member countries Nagoya, Japan, where the 10th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity will meet Oct. 18-29.

Although the Convention would not be involved in implementation of the GDM, it seal of approval would mean that governments support the idea, and the market would pay attention, Vorhies said. 'We hope to have six pilot projects operational over the next 24 months,' he added.

Meanwhile, Filipina activist Joji Cariño, of the indigenous Tebtebba Foundation, said that if land tenure and property rights are secure and supported by the state, then there might be some benefits for indigenous peoples.

But 'without those rights it is hot air and could be another form of land grabbing,' Cariño told Tierramérica.

(*This story was originally published by Latin American newspapers that are part of the Tierramérica network. Tierramérica is a specialised news service produced by IPS with the backing of the United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Environment Programme and the World Bank.)

© Inter Press Service (2010) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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