37472 MEDIUM-SIZED PROJECT PROPOSAL REQUEST FOR GEF FUNDING FINANCING PLAN (US$) AGENCY’S PROJECT ID: GM-P098732 GEF PROJECT/COMPONENT GEFSEC PROJECT ID: 2896 Project 949,981 Public Disclosure Authorized COUNTRY: Mexico PDF A approved Sep 26, 50,000 2005 PROJECT TITLE: Sacred Orchids of Chiapas: Cultural and SUB-TOTAL GEF 999,981 Religious Values in Conservation GEF AGENCY: World Bank CO-FINANCING (project implementation only, PDF and preparation counterparts no DURATION: 3 years for project implementation included). GEF FOCAL AREA(S): Biodiversity Federal Government 325,769 GEF OPERATIONAL PROGRAM(S): OP4 Mountain Ecosystems; OP3 Forest Ecosystems Municipal Governments 80,000 NGOs Pronatura Chiapas 227,308 GEF STRATEGIC PRIORITIES: Biodiversity Strategic TNC 173,452 Priority I. Catalyzing Sustainability of Protected Areas ARC 120,000 Systems: (a) Demonstration and implementation of Other 176,832 innovative financial mechanisms and (c) Catalyzing Sub-Total Co-financing: 1,103,361 Public Disclosure Authorized community–indigenous initiatives. Biodiversity Strategic Priority II. Mainstreaming Biodiversity in Production Total Project Financing: 2,103,342 Landscapes and Sectors: (b) Developing market incentive FINANCING FOR ASSOCIATED ACTIVITY: measures Pronatura Chiapas Environmental Enterprises Fund (500,000 USD) will ESTIMATED STARTING DATE: January 2007 facilitate access to small credits if IMPLEMENTING AGENCY FEE: needed. CONTRIBUTION TO KEY INDICATORS OF THE BUSINESS PLAN: The project will contribute to strengthening the subregional Protected Areas (PA) system by establishing partnerships with landowners to secure a more effective long-term conservation of 286,486 hectares (167,309 hectares in La Sepultura Biosphere Reserve and 119,177 hectares in El Triunfo B.R.) included in the global priority lists: the Central America Pine-Oak Forest Ecoregion, the Sierra Madre del Sur Pine-Oak Forest Ecoregion and the Public Disclosure Authorized Chiapas Central Depression Dry Forest. The landowners are indigenous and peasant communities who will benefit from extractive reserves while providing buffer areas for conservation. The project will develop a legal framework to enable certified trade of non- timber forest products (NTFP) for ritual use. The project’s local partners, in coordination with the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC), will involve religious groups to replicate the approach. Some 300 palm producers and over 400 collectors will receive training to improve their families’ livelihoods by creating nurseries, community botanical gardens and new community protected areas. RECORD OF ENDORSEMENT ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT: Claudia Grayeb Bayata, Director of Financial Date: August 4th, 2005 International Organizations, Ministry of Finance (Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público) Public Disclosure Authorized This proposal was prepared in accordance with GEF policies and procedures and meets the standards of the GEF Project Review Criteria for a Medium-sized Project. Jocelyne Albert Tel. and email: (5255) 5480-4266 Steve Gorman [email protected] Executive Coordinator Date: September 6, 2006 1 LIST OF ACRONYMS ARC Alliance of Religions and Conservation B-friendly Biodiversity-friendly CAS Country Assistance Strategy CBD Convention on Biological Diversity CEC Commission for Environmental Cooperation CEPIC Pronatura Conservation Information Center CDI National Commission of Indigenous Peoples CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna CLAI Latin American Council of Churches CONANP National Commission of Protected Natural Areas CONABIO National Commission for the Knowledge and use of Biodiversity COINBIO Project for Biodiversity Conservation by Indigenous Communities in the States of Oaxaca, Michoacan and Guerrero, Mexico CONAFOR National Forestry Commission ENRP National Environment and Natural Resources Program FSC Forest Stewardship Council GEF Global Environmental Facility ICCR Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility MIC Mexican Interfaith Council MSD Multi Stakeholders Dialogue MSP Medium Sized Project NOM Mexican Official Standard NTFP Non-timber forest products PA Protected Area PDF-A Partnership Development Fund (A or B) PES Payments for Environmental Services PET Temporary Employment Program PROCyMAF Project for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Forest Resources in Mexico PRODERS Regional Sustainable Development Program PROFEPA Mexican Federal Environmental Protection Agency PPSA Program for Environmental Services Payment SEMARNAT Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources SEPI State Secretary for Indigenous Peoples UMA Wildlife Management Units UACH University of Chapingo UNACH University of Chiapas 2 PART 1. PROJECT CONCEPT A. PROJECT SUMMARY Rationale Religious practices in many parts of the world are linked to the use of wild species that are collected for ceremonial purposes. In the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, various species of bromeliads, palms, orchids and cycads are collected for use by traditional indigenous religious groups as well as by Christian churches, both locally and internationally. In terms of biological diversity, Chiapas is the second most important state in Mexico; there ceremonial plants are found in forested areas (including cloud forests, tropical mountain forests, pine- oak forests and dry forests); in buffer zones and core areas of biosphere reserves (La Sepultura and El Triunfo); and in one of the least protected ecoregions in Mesoamerica, the Central American Pine-Oak Ecoregion. The project will develop strategies for managing and conserving the wild populations and habitats of some of the relevant species, including at least one in each of the following groups: Bromeliads (Tillandsia guatemalensis, Tillandsia eizii), Palms (Chamaedorea quetzalteca, Ch. ernesti- agusti, Ch. Oblongata), Orchids (Oncidium leucochylum, Lealia superbiens), and Cycads (Dioon merolae). The conservation of these habitats will contribute to conserving a whole set of globally significant biological diversity found in Chiapas. Approximately 150,000 bromeliads are collected annually for ceremonial purposes: more than 600 cycads are impacted by Mexico’s May 3 celebration; nearly 1000 orchids are used during the Christmas season and for the celebration of La Calendaria on February 2; and more than 80 tons of xate1 palm of the genus Chamaedorea spp. are exported annually from Chiapas to the United States, where an estimated of 300 million palms are imported annually, with 37% of the demand concentrated during the Holy Week for use by Christian congregations. Churches spend over 27 million US dollars every year on palms alone. The project aims to mobilize religious congregations and traditional community organizations in favor of biodiversity conservation to achieve concrete action for the sustainable management of species of global interest. It proposes to do so while conserving the habitats where these species are naturally found, thus broadening the benefits of conservation. The project strategies include: raising awareness among the religious groups of the Maya Tzotzil indigenous communities as well as among Christian congregations; and training communities and strengthening local grassroots organizations in sustainable management of the species and their habitats. The project will support increased social participation and involvement at all levels of management and conservation of species, and will implement in situ conservation mechanisms, such as community botanical gardens and extractive reserves. With regard to the palms of the genus Chamaedorea spp., the project will also focus on strategic interventions that will result in the creation of sustainable markets, thereby increasing the social and economic benefits to the rural communities and protecting the habitat ecology. The project will support improvements in: management of Chamaedorea species and their habitat; palm leaf classification; and commercial contracts and agreements with Christian churches (specifically Lutherans) to promote fair and sustainable palm trade. Ultimately, the Chiapas project will seek to demonstrate the economic and conservation benefits of linking religious and cultural values to biodiversity conservation, while securing the provision of plants for religious purposes, analyzing the potential for scaling up such an approach to the national level and deriving lessons for the global work of the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC). 1 Throughout the document, the term xate or camedor palm is used to refer to the various species of the genus Chamaedorea spp. 3 Project Development Objective Reduced pressure on endangered forest species used for religious ceremonies and improve livelihoods of local communities and partnerships with religious groups Global Environmental Objective Areas under sustainable management and protection status increased, in sites of ecoregions of global importance in Chiapas. Intermediate Results 1. Legal national framework and knowledge for management improved for the conservation and sustainable use of NTFP of ritual and ceremonial value. 2. Indigenous communities and rural peasants’ capacity and organization strengthened for sustainable harvesting of NTFP and conservation of habitats. 3. International and national religious groups, communities and other stakeholders partnerships developed for sustainable consumption of forest species. Project components: 1. Knowledge management for the conservation of species