Meeting between the Bolivian Government, the European Union and its implementing agencies, together with representatives of projects financed by the European Union under the EUROCLIMA+ framework

February 26, La Paz, Bolivia. Bolivia has identified a great potential in its forests to carry out joint actions of climate change adaptation and mitigation. Starting in 2019, three projects will be implemented together with countries in the region, including Peru, Panama, Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil, through important actions that will generate synergies for the benefit of local communities and in the context of the fight against change climate.

Murielle Gurtner, coordinator of the Forests, Biodiversity and Ecosystems component of the EUROCLIMA+ programme funded by the European Union, said that the projects aim to improve the resilience of the local populations of these countries, promoting a sustainable management approach to forests and ecosystems. The coordinator added that these initiatives will specifically focus on analysing how non-timber resources (cocoa, chestnut and asai), and non-carbon benefits, contribute to and promote the capacity of local communities to adapt and cope with the effects of change climate based on pilot experiences.

In order to continue adding initiatives with other related projects, the Government of Bolivia is holding a meeting on February 26 between project managers, officials of Expertise France and GIZ, as well as representatives of the European Union Delegation, authorities of the Ministry of Environment and Water (MMAyA) and the Plurinational Authority of Mother Earth (APMT), the latter being the entity in charge of climate change matters.

During this meeting, the Vice-Minister of Environment, Biodiversity, Climate Change, and Forest Management and Development, Cynthia Silva, highlighted the importance of these projects to promoting resilience, understanding this as the combination of forest maintenance, diversification and production sustainability, strengthening communities in their rights and capabilities.

At the same time, the Executive Director of the APMT, Ivan Zambrana, emphasised that these projects represent the start of the implementation of EUROCLIMA+ in the Bolivian territory, and that they represent the beginning of inter-institutional coordination that will allow expanding the implementation of the Joint Mechanism for Mitigation and Adaptation approach to the integral and sustainable management of forests, as an alternative Bolivian proposal to REDD+.

The meeting also included the participation of representatives of the European Union in Bolivia, as well as the institutions Nature Land and Life (NATIVA) and Support for the Indigenous Farmers of Eastern Bolivian (APCOB), the Bolivian Association for Research and Conservation of Andean-Amazon Ecosystems (ACEAA), the Amazonian University of Pando, and others.

About the projects of the Forests, Biodiversity and Ecosystems (BBE) component

Through the Forests, Biodiversity and Ecosystems component of the EUROCLIMA+ programme, a total of nine projects will be implemented at the regional level. For more information about each project, visit this link: https://bit.ly/2HcNegp.

The projects that will be implemented in Bolivia will receive more than 2.5 million euros thanks to the financing of the European Union:

• [Bolivia and Peru] Management of non-timber resources in the Amazon forest: a strategy for climate change adaptation and mitigation from the Bolivian and Peruvian experience.

For more information: https://bit.ly/2E6dPsd

• [Bolivia and Panama] Institutionalise benefits not related to local carbon in national climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies. For more information: https://bit.ly/2EbJXJH
• [Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil] Management and restoration of forests in productive environments. For more information: https://bit.ly/2Tg0DZP

About EUROCLIMA+

EUROCLIMA+ is a programme funded by the European Union to promote environmentally sustainable and climate-resilient development in 18 Latin American countries, particularly for the benefit of the most vulnerable populations. The Programme is implemented under synergistic work between government representatives of Latin American countries and seven agencies: Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), French Development Agency (AFD), Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) ), Expertise France (EF), International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP), German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), and UN Environment.

Contacts

For more information about EUROCLIMA+, contact Alexandra Cortés (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), or the focal Points of the Euroclima+ programme in Bolivia: Vivian Castro (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), Ivan Zambrana (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

For press information, contact the communications area of the Forests, Biodiversity and Ecosystems component: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. o This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.