Training workshop helps conserve dry forests

10-12-2004

During November, members of the BirdLife Secretariat office from Cambridge, UK, travelled to northern Peru for a 10-day training workshop as part of the winning 2004 Darwin Initiative project, 'DarwinNet – the Peru / Ecuador dry forest clearing-house mechanism'.

The project is centred on information exchange to enhance the conservation and sustainable development of the critically threatened equatorial dry forests of Peru and Ecuador, a region equivalent to the Tumbesian Endemic Bird Area. The region has exceptional levels of endemism, including 14 threatened species of bird unique to the region, among them the very unusual Peruvian Plantcutter Phytotoma raimondii.

Considered the first of its type globally, this multinational, transboundary and stakeholder-driven initiative will efficiently gather, repatriate, analyze and disseminate information about the region, raising awareness of its importance, establishing conservation priorities, and building capacity for its conservation among stakeholders.

BirdLife

The participants of the DarwinNet workshop
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"The workshop will help to promote a greater exchange of expertise and experience, and enhance the ability of the region to make a broader range of information accessible to support the implementation of activities related to biodiversity." —Hamdallah Zedan, Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity

Hosted by in-country project partner Nature & Culture International, the workshop brought together participants from regional NGOs in Peru and Ecuador as well as representatives of the ministries of environment from both countries. Training covered a range of database management and GIS techniques, and how to apply these to the information resources being identified through the project and web design principles.

Although at an early development stage, Ecuador and Peru will have taken a major, resource efficient and innovative step towards meeting their obligations under the CBD through DarwinNet. It will catalyze binational co-operation for management of biodiversity and will serve as a model for similar critical ecosystems shared by more than one country. By creating a greater awareness of the values, functions and services of forests amongst all stakeholders, DarwinNet will help promote their sustainable use. The outcome will be enhanced conservation of the region’s environment based on a fair and equitable sharing of knowledge and resources.

Funded by the Darwin Initiative of the British Government, the project is implemented by BirdLife International through local institutions and in collaboration with the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) National Focal Points of Peru (Consejo Nacional del Ambiente CONAM) and Ecuador (Ministerio del Ambiente).