Recent News

Sharing Successes within Ecuador’s Biosphere Reserves
September/October 2009

NCI, the coordinator of the Ecuadorian Network of Biosphere Reserves, along with the municipal governments of Loja and Zamora and the Ecuadorian Environmental Ministry recently organized an event to share experiences, successes and environmental management practices within Ecuador’s four UNESCO biosphere reserves (Galapagos, Yasuni, Sumaco and Podocarpus-El Condor). The event coincided with the second anniversary of the establishment of the Podocarpus-El Condor Biosphere Reserve, which NCI successfully helped to create. Those in attendance included the mayors of the 23 municipalities that fall within Ecuador’s biosphere reserves, along with representatives of state institutions, public investment programs, NGOs, universities, international agencies, and others.

During the event, the mayors spent time discussing their successful experiences in urban environmental management, and the event presented an ideal opportunity for NCI to discuss public investment programs such as Socio Bosque, a forest conservation program, and FORAGUA, a trust fund in southern Ecuador for watershed conservation. A highlight of the meeting was a presentation from Clayton Lino, President of the Brazilian Network of Biosphere Reserves, who shared many of the initiatives developed in Brazil’s Biosphere Reserve of the Atlantic Forest, especially with regards to sustainable tourism. International agencies also spent some time explaining their policies and programs to support municipal environmental management. The program concluded with a visit to Loja’s El Carmen watershed, where NCI and the municipality were able to publicize Loja’s successful water resources protection program.

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