Guianas & Amazon North Eastern Conservation Alliance (GANECA) Declaration of Intention - 2015
Map 1 : Protected areas and indigenious lands of the guianas and North Amazonian region Stopping tropical deforestation could mitigate approximately 30% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, by maintaining and adding to the amount of carbon that is stored in forests. Containing over 25% of the worlds remaining intact rainforest, the Guiana Shield stores over 25 billion tons of carbon and absorbs 1.3 billon tons of carbon each year as much as all the carbon emissions of Japan. The North Eastern Amazon biome adjacent to this area is similarly important. This region is protected by several very large conservation areas such as the Parque Nacional de Montanhas Tumucumaque (PNMT - Br), the Parc amazonien de Guyane (PAG - Fr), the Central Suriname Nature Reserve (CSNR - Su) and the recently initiated South Suriname Conservation Corridor (SSCC - Su), as well as several other protected areas, indigenous lands and protected forests (see map 1). Totaling over 30 million ha (eastern part), these protected areas, indigenous and managed lands can safeguard the integrity of the largest track of pristine primary tropical forest in the world. The proposed Guianas and Amazon North Eastern Conservation Alliance aims at ensuring the best conservation outputs in this globally important sub-region, through active trans-border protected area and REDD+ co-operation, initially in the eastern part of this region. Protected areas and other lands further west will be invited to join as capacities build up. A common declaration of intention is signed here between parties to establish, secure funding and launch such a regional initiative in 2016-2017. 2
THE CONTEXT As the largest remaining block of primary tropical forest on Earth, the Guiana Shield and North Eastern Amazon has the potential to play a critical role in mitigating climate change and conserving globally important biodiversity and livelihoods. The region contains the highest percent of primary forest cover (over 90% is intact tropical rainforest), the lowest human population density of any major tropical wilderness area in the world, and produces up to 15% of the world s freshwater. The region is furthermore of crucial importance for climate change adaptation. Due to its huge area of intact forest, the core of the Guiana Shield and parts of Amapa and Para forests are predicted to be especially resilient to climate change, providing refuge for biodiversity, and ensuring the protection and production of critical ecosystem services such as the world s most voluminous water cycles, in perpetuity. Indeed, more than 70% of region has been considered priority areas for biological and ecosystem services conservation. In sum, the Guiana Shield and adjacent North Eastern Amazon demonstrates how nature is an essential piece of the world s approach to solving the climate crisis. In one place, it shows the importance of simultaneously adapting to and mitigating the impacts of climate change. With roughly 0,5 million km 2 (twice the size of Portugal), the Eastern part of the Guiana shield comprises, the southern parts of Suriname and French Guiana and northern parts of Amapa and Para states of Brazil. It is unique in having over 40% of its ecosystems under some form of protection, forests in a pristine conservation state, and isolated populations and cultures. 3
But the forests of the Guiana Shield and North Eastern Amazon are under threat. The region has the largest portion of recognized investment opportunities based on extractive industries, while isolated communities lead culturally rich yet globally threatened livelihoods. Characterized by immediate availability of investment funds and global demand, intensive extraction of natural resources such as mining and logging are among the few immediate economic development opportunities perceived to be available. Illegal mining is also widespread in the region. In a context of a rapidly growing population, the urgent need for electricity and other services for isolated villages and towns is driving investments, while improved roads will lower transportation costs and increase access to and pressure on the region s natural capital. While these developments will generate income, they come at a high price. We are running the risk of unplanned and unregulated, destruction of critical ecosystems that mitigate global climate change, provide food, freshwater, and support local livelihoods, ultimately making people exceedingly vulnerable to external shocks and placing the long-term sustainability of the region at risk. The opportunity : Promoting a trans-boundary alliance between large conservation areas, such as the PNMT (Br), PAG (FGuy), and SSCC (Su), and potentially other protected areas in the region, ensuring the integrity of the forest and river ecosystems and its associated livelihoods, through dialogue and technical co-operation. Economic development and wellbeing of the people of the Eastern Guiana Shield and adjacent North Eastern Amazon must be fostered. But in doing so, we must ensure that a long-term sustainable future is not traded-in for short-term economic development that has long-term negative impacts on the ability of the region to support livelihoods, mitigate climate change and provide freshwater and other ecosystem services. Eco and cultural tourism, freshwater markets, ecosystem-based adaptation, reduced impact logging, effective protected areas, non-timber forest products, and REDD+ are all routes that can provide a low carbon, biodiversity compatible, sustainable economic development path. Fostering such activities is an important step towards a more prosperous and longstanding future. 4
REDD+ is an important and cost effective strategy for generating the finance to mitigate climate change by safeguarding otherwise threatened forests, with key social and ecological co-benefits. Income from REDD+ can be used to support forest conservation as well as the critical and important adaptation and development needs of its People. The REDD+ mechanism expressly includes forest conservation as a REDD+ activity for high forest/low deforestation countries, but insufficient attention has gone to making this operational. Leakage 1 is one of the issues that have not been adequately addressed in REDD+ international agreements, which do not provide guidance on how to monitor and address deforestation displacement at any scale. There is a clear need to further develop approaches and guidelines on how to deal with leakage on every scale, as well as to recognize in international agreements the fact that leakage does not respect country limits and that REDD+ mechanism should at the very least provide eco-regional integrity to be considered effective. 1 Leakage happens when greenhouse gas (GHG) net emission reductions in one area are affected by project-attributable emissions outside of targeted mitigation areas. Leakage can occur whenever the spatial scale of intervention is inferior to the full scale of the targeted problem. Carbon mitigation is a global goal, so leakage can occur at various scales-farm-level, local/regional, or international/global - and in many sectors, including energy and forestry mitigation projects. 5
Protected areas is another instrument for which scale related improvements, trans-border technical co-ordination, planning and research, as well as experience sharing and exchange of staff has delivered key positive results at regional level in other parts of the world. The track record of trans-border protected areas coordination in moist tropical forest is however still limited, especially in the Amazon. Innovative integrative approaches, such as that fostered by Integracion de Areas Protegidas de Amazonia (IAPA; EU funding), provide a useful framework for calibrating and disseminating such co-operation initiatives. Such regional protected area coordination between federal, state, or local initiatives of different countries are essential to safeguarding the integrity of the globally important Guianas and North Amazon biomes. It is the key step that is required for the region to play its globally significant contribution to the climate and biodiversity crisis, as well as to secure unique local livelihoods, people and culture. Aware of the urgency of these needs, governments, global conservation organizations and protected area managers have identified the Eastern Guiana shield / North Eastern Amazon as the perfect region to implement a combined Protected Areas and Redd+ trans-border initiative. Implementing a trans-boundary conservation and REDD+ strategy in this highly biodiverse and carbon rich yet threatened region, on an area totaling more than 30 million hectares, will allow partners to provide a much needed contribution in meeting global conservation and mitigation targets. A regional strategy and its implementation is, without a doubt, the most effective and visible - way of preventing deforestation in the Guiana Shield and North Eastern Amazon. International organizations have a long history of success in the region in conservation and sustainable development, and are trusted advisors to the region s governments and communities. They have already contributed to the Guiana Shield and Amazonian countries integrated visions. They can play a key role in ensuring the long term integrity of ecosystems in the region and setting, implementing and facilitating regional conservation and forest initiatives. 6
DECLARATION OF INTENTION We, the under signed and protected area managers as well as Federal and National governments and State representatives and organizations and global conservation organizations hereby commit to : explore key opportunities for shared and coordinated action between protected areas and forested lands of the Guianas and North Eastern Amazon region, building on existing initiatives, identified opportunities and new possible actions by public, private and civil society organizations of the region; define a Protected Areas Regional Programme and a REDD+ Regional Programme, including inter alia common biodiversity, ecosystem services and carbon follow-up protocols, compatible MRVS, technical thematic exchanges (eco-tourism, local livelihoods and sustainable development green growth principles, inclusive governance), innovative problem solving and coordinated policy changes on key issues, and mechanisms to avoid trans-boundary leakage. seek funding for initiating, implementing and ensuring the long term financial sustainability of such collaborative actions, especially through REDD+ mechanisms, and access to the Green Climate Fund and other international, national, public and private funds that support carbon sequestration, biodiversity protection, sustainable development and protected areas. 7
disseminate information and foster strong regional and global mobilization for the Guianas & Amazon North Easter Conservation Alliance (GANECA), through meetings, participation in global fora and conferences, production and dissemination of documents, and interaction with key actors from the public, private, corporate, civil society, indigenous and sustainable development sectors, at international, regional, national and local scales. establish a regional working group with country representatives at appropriate level, articulated with existing regional initiatives (GSF, IAPA etc.) and active organisations and networks (WWF Guianas, CI, UICN, REDPARQUES) to organise and activate such initiative. 8
SIGNATORIES THE FOUR INITIAL GANECA CONSERVATION AERAS South Suriname Conservation corridor Central Suriname Nature Reserve Mount Tumucumac national Park (Brazil) Guyana amazonian Park (France) OTHER KEY GANECA PARTNERS Guyana Shield Facility Conservation international Suriname / Arlington WWF Guyana / Brazil / France IBAMA (Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente) Instituto Chico Mendez de Conservaçao de Biodiversidade Conseil régional de la Guyane Parc naturel régional de Guyane...... 9