The Amazon Initiative (IA)

The Amazon Initiative International Consortium for the Conservation and Sustainable use of Natural Resources in the Amazon (AI) was launched in 2004, in line with the policy framework of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO), with the objective of elaborating and implementing collaborative programs that identify and promote sustainable land use systems in the Amazon. Founding members of the AI include six agricultural research institutions of member Amazonian countries, four centers of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), and the Inter-American Institute for Agricultural Cooperation (IICA) through its Procitrópicos program. The AI promotes and implements training and consulting activities along with its primary research foci. In 2008, the AI launched its Amazon Initiative Eco-Regional Program (PER-IA) which aims to contribute to the improvement of rural livelihoods and conservation of Amazonian ecosystems through research for development. Currently the AI coordinating office resides in the Brazilian Eastern Amazon Agricultural Research Cooperation (EMBRAPA).

http://www.iamazonica.org.br/

The Network of Environmental Services Practitioners (RISAS)

The Network of Environmental Services Practitioners – RISAS – was established in 2005 as a partnership of organizations and professionals dedicated to discussion, analysis and research into the financial mechanisms available for ecosystem services protection and restoration. The organization’s mission is to provide a network open to individuals and institutions involved in financial initiatives supporting ecosystem services conservation. Based in Quito, Ecuador, RISAS’ sphere of influence extends throughout the Andean region. The network uses different tools usch as meetings, emails, workshops, the website and this newsletter, to support learning and discussion around current themes and experiences related to financial mechanisms for conservation and protection of environmental services.

http://www.redrisas.org/quienes.php

The Katoomba Group

An initiative of Forest Trends, the Katoomba Group is a global network of practitioners working to promote the use and improve capacity for payment for ecosystem services (PES). Since its founding in 1999, the Katoomba Group has addressed key challenges to developing markets and payments for ecosystem services, from enabling legislation through establishment of new market institutions to testing methods for successful project design. The organization has held 15 global conferences and dozens of training workshops, published and contributed to key publications and tools, and supported the development of PES schemes, among them the BioCarbon Fund at the World Bank and the Mexican PES Fund. It has also advised national policy discussions on financial incentives for conservation in China, Brazil, India, Colombia, and other countries. In 2005, the Katoomba Group launched the Ecosystem Marketplace, a leading source of information on environmental markets. In 2006, the Tropical America regional Katoomba was formed to strengthen regional PES capacity and facilitate ecosystem services transactions throughout Latin America.

http://www.katoombagroup.org/

The ‘Compensation for Environmental Services’ Learning Network ((RACSA)

RACSA was established in 2006 to promote dialogue around the use of economic incentives to achieve conservation objectives and improve the wellbeing of Bolivia’s poor. Through learning and networking events , and the exchange and diffusion of information in digital and print format, RACSA seeks to increase understanding of compensation for environmental services and climate change and promote the development of successful policies and initiatives. RACSA’s members include governmental, non-governmental, private, and civil society actors dedicated to the development of environmental services in Bolivia. For more information, please visit the website of the Fundación Natura Bolivia, which currently coordinates RACSA, at http://www.naturabolivia.org./

REDIPASA

REDIPASA is a network of researchers from Latin American countries that are involved in PES, the management of hydrological catchment areas, rural development and management policies, and natural resource conservation. Researchers work together and exchange experiences to: standardize criteria, design and execute joint research projects; produce studies that propose mechanisms to improve PES and PES methodologies; and monitoring, evaluation, and methodologies of experiences adapted to different situations. REDIPASA aims to provide regional managers with tools to facilitate rural development and environmental sustainability over a wide area, by, compensating rural inhabitants (who are often impoverished) for conservation measures. The network also hopes to develop PES models that can be replicated and expanded elsewhere in Latin America.