Promoting sustainable landscapes in the Motagua River watershed

Objectives

Promoting sustainable food systems, restoring degraded ecosystems, and reducing deforestation in the Motagua River Watershed (MRW)

Other

Note: Disbursement data provided is cumulative and covers disbursement made by the project Agency.

Target Groups

122. The socioeconomic benefits to be delivered by the project at the national level consist of enhancing capacity of staff from public institutions (e.g., MARN, CONAP, INAB, MAGA, and Segeplán) for promoting sustainable production, biodiversity conservation, SLM, mitigation and adaptation to the impacts of climate change on land use planning, and for production-conservation conflicts, among other topics. At the local level, local governments and palm oil, coffee, and agroforestry producers, as well as small-scale producers of corn, beans, fruit trees, and other crops with high nutritional value and medium-scale cattle ranchers, will also participate in this training. In total, training activities will benefit 7,865 people, including women and indigenous peoples. The project will also strengthen local planning processes and governance for implementing ILM systems; this will include developing/updating and implementing five (5) micro-watershed management plans, six (6) PDM-OTs and PEI-POM-POAs at the municipal level, the operational strengthening of departmental, municipal, and community councils, and of governance associations of the MRW and micro-watersheds for implementing ILM systems. The project will strengthen and promote the diversification of coffee farming as a sustainable food production system, improving shaded areas through improved forest cover practices and fruit trees that will ensure the continuity of the coffee crop as an agroforestry system free from deforestation. This will benefit 1,502 coffee producers, including those most vulnerable to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Through an inclusive technical assistance program for palm oil, the project will benefit eight (8) producers covering 16,879 ha of palm oil plantations, to strengthen their socio-environmental responsibility and promote new sustainable food production systems in the direct areas of influence of the these plantations, thereby benefiting 2,000 small farmers. In addition, an inclusive production program to address production activities identified as causing deforestation and environmental degradation, primarily subsistence crops and cattle ranching, will result in sustainable food production systems with a focus on integrated landscape management that will benefit an additional 225 farmers. The project will also make available national forest cash incentives such as PINPEP and PROBOSQUE and other financial mechanisms (i.e., government, private, municipal, etc.) that will promote the conservation and restoration of natural habitats. These incentives are expected to benefit 3,344 small- and medium-scale producers and to contribute to the delivery of global environmental benefits such as enhanced habitat for biodiversity, restoration of degraded lands, and mitigation of climate change. In total, the project will directly benefit 12,966 people (40% women and 60% men).123. The expected economic benefits the project will generate include cash incentives to producers through the PINPEP and PROBOSQUE programs. The PINPEP program is directed to beneficiaries and landholders who lack legal ownership titles in the municipalities that are prioritized according to their levels of poverty. This program covers agroforestry activities, forest plantations (only native species will be used in this project), and forest management activities to reverse the processes of deforestation, reduce vulnerability to extreme weather events, mitigate or adapt to the effects of climate change, and reduce the level of extreme poverty in the country. Projects usually receive payments during 6 to 10 years. On average the PINPEP program has paid the following: a) Incentive amount for managing natural forests for protection purposes per year for 10 years: a) from 0.1 to 5 ha: $370 per ha; b) over 5 ha: $1,853.84 for the first 5 ha + $95.10 per additional ha; and b) Incentive amount for managing natural forests for production purposes (plantations with native species and agroforestry) per year for 10 years: a) from 0.1 to 5 ha: $396.86 per ha; b) over 5 ha: $1,984.28 for the first 5 ha + $110.78 per additional ha.[19] 124. The PROBOSQUE program provides cash incentives for managing natural forests to protect and provide environmental services, establishing and maintaining agroforestry systems, managing natural forests with production aims, and restoring degraded forest lands, among other things. The program is directed to a wide group of stakeholders such as municipalities, CSOs, cooperatives, individuals, and indigenous communities. Payments through the PROBOSQUE program for the restoration of degraded forestlands have averaged $225.54 per ha.[20] At least this level of payments (economic benefits) is expected through the project for those producers that will make use of these incentive programs. In addition, producers will benefit from commercial sales agreements established between national and international buyers of coffee and national producers for the development of sustainable value chains in the prioritized landscape of the MRW. Finally, coffee growers may benefit from the certification (premiums); benefits from coffee certified as sustainable will depend on market conditions.125. Other project benefits include improved water supply for producers and other stakeholders through the implementation of a pilot scheme for the compensation for water ecosystem services. Finally, through knowledge management activities and products, the project will benefit multiple stakeholders nationally by increasing awareness about mainstreaming biodiversity in production landscapes, SLM, climate change mitigation, and sustainable production; this will be key for replication and scaling-up of successful experiences in other production landscapes and watersheds. [19] Source: http://portal.inab.gob.gt/index.php/component/content/article/112-servicios/183-pinpep?Itemid=437 [20] Custodio De Leo´n, L. M. 2017. Boleti´n Estadi´stico 1998-2017. Departamento de Incentivos Forestales. INAB Guatemala.