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Friends and colleagues,

We are in the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Conservation and restoration work today means a healthy planet for the future, capable of providing fundamental ecosystem services for our own wellbeing. This month, in addition to other topics, the Amazon was an important axis of research and work for several regional offices:

In Freshwater, Peru strengthened the commitment to innovative, sustainable, resilient, and inclusive fisheries in the Amazon.

With regard to the Oceans Practice, Chile made progress on the creation of standards for Marine Protected Areas, and WWF-Mexico supported a training for fishermen in Nayarit to step away from ghost gear practices.

In the Forests Practice, local communities in Colombia’s Amazon region of Guaviare learned to use tools for monitoring and conservation. Meanwhile, Bolivian communities managed to cope with the pandemic's both health and economic difficulties, thanks to Amazonian fruits. And WWF-Mesoamerica worked to support the creation of regulations to protect mangroves in Belize.

In relation to the work in Governance, a study showed that fires in the Amazon were responsible for an increase of  hospital admissions in the last ten years in Brazil, due to respiratory problems. In addition, Vida Silvestre Foundation and CSOs and a national media, launched an Environmental Legislative Monitor in Argentina. Finally, the second phase of the “Alliance for Sustainable Development” project was launched in Paraguay.

Finally, regarding work with youth, WWF-Ecuador closed its first cycle of the Youth Community-Quito Initiative which seeks to transform the city in a more sustainable and environmentally friendly space.

Enjoy this new edition,

Roberto Troya

Vice president & Regional Director

WWF-LAC

Amazon fisheries strengthen commitment to innovation, sustainability, resilience and inclusivity
The fishing and aquaculture sector in the country was given a great boost through the implementation of actions that promote innovation, sustainable production, and the resilience of aquatic ecosystems, based on solid and cutting-edge information.

Within this framework, the first International Virtual Symposium "Researching and innovating: in search of the sustainability and resilience of Fisheries and Aquaculture in the Peruvian Amazon" was held, with nearly 300 participants.

Participatory construction of a Standard for Marine Protected Areas advances in Chile

WWF-Chile is working with the Government of Chile to create a Standard for the creation and management of Marine Protected Areas of Chile (MPA Standard). Its aim is to establish a public policy tool to meet the goals from the creation and management of these areas under agreed principles and criteria, considering the best practices and international guidelines on the matter, such as those provided by the green list of the IUCN.

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Fishing communities in Nayarit were trained in ghost gear recovery

Given the interest of the country's fishing sector to contribute more to the protection of the environment and the resources they use in their fisheries, the National Institute of Fisheries and Aquaculture carried out a training program to remove ghost fishing gear in Nayarit. During this training, fishers were able to locate, mark and remove abandoned fishing gear, such as hand lines with hooks, sinkers with lines and trolling, as well as pieces of gillnets that were left in the seabed. The training is a part of the WWF campaign aimed at addressing the problem posed by ghost nets at a national and global level, and mitigating the ongoing issue of lost fishing gear.

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Amazon communities learned to use tools for monitoring and conservation 

In May, a team from WWF-Colombia traveled to Guaviare, in the Amazon region, to strengthen communications capacities and trap camera monitoring for a group of local communities that seeks to protect this region, which is recognized for its natural wealth and for being one of the buffer zones of the Serrania de Chiribiquete National Natural Park. The workshop, conducted with the support of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, is the second phase of a communications training that some Environmental Explorers received virtually in 2020, due to Covid-19 restrictions. With this training, they reinforced their knowledge to make audiovisual records and learned for the first time to use trap cameras; two key skills to know the biodiversity of the region and conserve it. 

WWF supports Mangroves Regulations in Belize

As a follow-up to the achievement reached from the global campaign to remove the Belize Barrier Reef World Heritage Site from UNESCO’s in-danger list, WWF has continued supporting the actions that the Government of Belize has conducted since then. One of these actions was the review and enacting of the Forests (Protection of Mangroves) Regulations. Through support from organizations such as the Pew Charitable Trusts, WWF has promoted these regulations to civil society through a communications plan. Policy actions have also been conducted resulting in the acceptance from the Government of Belize to double the percentage of mangrove placed under protection as part of the target set in their National Determined Contributions (NDC).

A summary of the regulations can be consulted here: 

Amazonian Fruits offers an opportunity to overcome COVID19, boost local economies and protect our health.

The chestnut (Bertholletia excelsa) is undoubtedly the most important non-timber resource of the Bolivian Amazon forests. Its natural distribution occupies 10% of the national surface and annually generates an average of US$200 million in exports; 75% of the economy in the Northern Amazon depends on this resource.

Amazon forest fires increased respiratory problems

A study by Fiocruz and WWF-Brazil showed that the fires in the Amazon were responsible for the increase in the percentage of hospital admissions due to respiratory problems over the last 10 years (2010-2020) in the states with the highest number of hotspots: Pará, Mato Grosso, Rondônia, Amazonas and Acre. These hospitalizations cost almost 1 billion dollars to the public coffers.

Launch of the Environmental Legislative Monitor

Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina in partnership with La Nación, one of the major national newspapers, presented an Environmental Legislative Monitor developed together with other CSOs, after 7 months of integrated work. 

It collects the information about relevant bills for the environmental protection that are waiting to be debated and approved, and works as service tool, that bring access to public information and citizen participation to follow the course of environmental issues in Argentinian Congress.

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Alliance for Sustainable Development committed to the Chaco

The second phase of the “Alliance for Sustainable Development” project was launched last May 27, aiming to continue promoting the adoption of more sustainable production practices in Paraguay. It is an initiative of WWF and USAID-Paraguay together with the Freshwater Agricultural Association, the Association of Municipalities of the Central Chaco, the Federation of Production Cooperatives, the Paraguayan Sustainable Beef Table, Neuland Cooperative, the International Finance Corporation, the Wildlife Conservation Society and other strategic allies such as the Sustainable Finance Bureau and Agrienbechmark.

The event was attended by officials from the Embassy of the United States, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, the Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development and the National Forest Institute.

WWF-Ecuador closes its first cycle of the Youth Community-Quito

With the participation of civil society groups, private companies, municipal and government authorities, on Sunday, June 27, the WWF-Quito Youth Community celebrated the close of its first cycle with the presentation of the 5 projects managed by this group of young people who seek to transform their city into a more sustainable and responsible space with nature. The WWF Youth Community is a globally applicable and locally adaptable program that seeks to empower young people worldwide to take action for the planet. The WWF-Quito Youth Community is the first pilot launched by WWF Ecuador and it hopes to soon expand its scope with the opening of Youth Communities in other locations in the country.