In June, GCF Task Force member states in Mexico continued in their efforts to reduce deforestation, increase development opportunities, and exchange experiences through the UCLA-hosted remote sensing training and through an interchange of experiences between Caquetá, Colombia and Chiapas during Environment Week. Pronatura Sur, our coordination entity in Mexico, published this newsletter with more details.
A translated summary of the Caquetá/Chiapas exchange is included below:
As part of the efforts made by the Ministry of Environment and Natural History (SEMAHN) in the state of Chiapas, one of the GCF Task Force member jurisdictions in Mexico, to work on the implementation of policies and actions that promote an environmental culture with social responsibility, Environment Week was held from June 5 to 9, 2023. The event took place at the facilities of the Institute of Science, Technology and Innovation (ICTI) in the city of Tuxtla Gutierrez and had an agenda with different activities, including the Environmental Congress 2023. A space that brought together civil society organizations and experts in biodiversity conservation, watershed management, waste management, identification and management of fauna in urbanized areas and climate change mitigation.
The keynote address at the congress, entitled “Strategies for Environmental Care in the Colombian Amazon, the case of Caquetá”, was given by Lorenzo Andrés Vargas Gutiérrez, Regional Coordinator of the Foundation for Conservation and Sustainable Development and delegate from Caquetá at the GCF Task Force.
The Colombian delegate presented a detailed overview of the strategic lines that have been implemented in the department of Caquetá, focused on rural, urban, mining-energy, infrastructure, and ecosystem management and conservation development, which together seek to generate low-carbon and climate-resilient development. He also shared how some strategies have been thought out and developed, such as the social innovation model for multilevel governance that seeks to generate spaces for dialogue between government, civil society organizations and communities living in the territories, to talk about common goods such as the forest and its care.
“We have worked to form a team of academics, government agencies, research institutes, civil society, indigenous and peasant communities, which can articulate the issues of planning, planning and land management between the different levels of government,” said Vargas during his presentation. He also mentioned the territorial management model implemented for land use planning in Caquetá, which promotes endogenous productive activities to take advantage of the wide variety of fruit and food species that grow in the Colombian Amazon.
In another part of his presentation, Lorenzo Vargas spoke about the importance of protecting ecosystem services, in order to give value to the use of natural areas and at the same time, protect them from the pressure of urban expansion. To conclude his lecture, he emphasized the relevance of the organization of spaces such as the Environmental Congress, since they provide the opportunity to broaden knowledge to improve decision-making on environmental preservation, as he stated that “knowledge is the path”. Likewise, these spaces allow us to think of solutions and concrete actions that can be carried out jointly among countries of the South.
If you want to know more about the experience of Caquetá and its work within the Governors Group for Climate and Forests visit the following link https://www.gcftf.org/where-we-work/colombia/