Recent Events
May 19, 2011 - Sarah Frazee, Conservation South Africa
South Africa and Costa Rica, Applying PES for Healthy Watershed Ecosystems
Conservation International is working with communities, government, development banks and the private sector in South Africa to address the serious challenges posed by the growing demands for and limited supply of water. CI and its local affiliate Khusel'indalo (Conservation South Africa or CSA) recently facilitated a South-South Knowledge Exchange Programme between officials from South Africa and Costa Rica designed to support South African development of strategies for water-related Payment for Environmental Services (PES). The exchange enabled participants to learn firsthand from the national PES programme of Costa Rica and officials responsible for that program.
Sarah Frazee described the challenge in South Africa, strategies to meet the challenge as well as the exchange in greater detail and provided an update of South Africa's work on PES.
ABCG Thematic Meeting
On 15 December 2005, the Africa Biodiversity Collaborative Group (ABCG) held a meeting at World Resources Institute on "Payments for Environmental Services (PES) and Poverty Reduction".
The objectives of the meeting were to:
· learn about Payments for Environmental Services (PES), what are the steps involved in setting up PES, and how PES fits with other conservation activities and mechanisms;
· understand the barriers, opportunities and lessons learned for making PES pro-poor;
· hear examples of how PES has contributed to poverty reduction and/or to improved natural resource management; and
· discuss what are the prospects for PES in Africa.
Talks included:
A panel discussion was held on "Lessons from the Field on making PES pro-poor" with presentations on:
A roundtable discussion enabled conservation non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and partners to provide examples of specific PES projects (e.g. Carbon, Biodiversity, Water) and how they contribute to poverty reduction and/or to improved natural resource management.
photo credit: J. Doremus, USAID