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Message from the First Congress of Latin American Ecosystem Service Networks
 11 - 13 November 2009, La Paz Bolivia
The degradation of the environment, which sustains human life through crucial functions, such as the regulation of water cycles, the benefits of biodiversity, and the ability to manage forest climates, represents a threat to the quality of life in many rural and urban areas in Latin American and the rest of the world.
But in the Para region of Brazil, innovative, incentive-based initiatives aimed primarily at watershed protection offer hope. The professionals from 13 countries who gathered at the event agreed that in addition to environmental policies, complementary financing mechanisms must be put in place at all administrative levels to support environmental services.
Four key challenges were identified at the congress:
- Changing current legal frameworks to allow for the adoption of flexible solutions that support the diverse activities of ecosystem services and local needs.
- Strengthening institutions responsible for formulating and implementing environmental policies with a focus on promoting their integration with civil society to ensure transparency and participation.
- Involving other government sectors responsible for formulating development policies that are environmentally friendly.
- Ensuring that conservation incentives promote sustainable and equitable local development.
The First Conference of Latin American Ecosystem Service Networks reached the conclusion that existing ecosystem service networks can collaborate on two levels – by promoting the transfer and management of environmental information and data and by supporting the decision-makers who confront these challenges.
This conference represents the first step toward the creation of a strategic collaboration network.
Link to the full event description: http://www.katoombagroup.org/~katoomba/event_details.php?id
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