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Friends and colleagues,

This month highlights our regional work in Governance practice. We are at a crucial moment and our role is to continue to urge decision makers to increase political ambition.

In the Freshwater practice, an image analysis by MapBiomas concluded that Brazil has lost 15% of its water surface since the 1990s.

Concerning Forests, WWF-Chile presented its first guide to monitor forest restoration in Chile.

With work in the Food, Paraguay launched the Sustainable Livestock Self-Assessment System and the first edition of the "Champions of Sustainability" Recognition Program.

In the Wildlife practice, WWF-Bolivia was part of a new scientific expedition that will contribute to research for the conservation of the bufeo in Bolivia.

Regarding Governance, Colombia sponsored the Biodiversity PreCOP and WWF closely followed the negotiations and called for political ambition. On the other hand, in Brazil took place an unprecedented mobilization of indigenous peoples led by women. In addition, in Peru, the Native Community of Centro Arenal formed its control and surveillance committee to deal with environmental crimes that threaten their territory.

Concerning Markets and Finance, Fundación Vida Silvestre expressed its concern about the lack of funds for the protection of native forests from Argentina. On the other hand, Mexico launched a sustainable development campaign in collaboration with Airbnb.

Enjoy this new edition,

Roberto Troya

Vice president & Regional Director

WWF-LAC

Brazil has lost 15% of its water surface area since the 1990s

Brazil is drying up; this is the conclusion from an analysis of satellite images of the whole country between 1985 and 2020 made by the MapBiomas team. The data indicates a clear trend towards loss of water surface area in 8 of the 12 hydrographic regions, in all biomes in the country. The entire database is available for free on the platform's website.

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Chile launches its first guide to monitor forest restoration

As a result of an  unprecedented work by WWF-Chile, the first Guide for Forest Restoration Monitoring at the Site Scale published in the country, was presented by WWF-Chile. The publication collected updated information available in Chile and the world, as well as the vision of professionals, technicians and also local inhabitants linked to the subject. The guide marks a milestone not only in terms of the forestry sector, but also also regarding the climate action of Chile.

SAGAS and "Champions of Sustainability" Recognition Program launched

The Paraguayan Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (MPCS) and the Federation of Production Cooperatives (Fecoprod) created a tool for producers, a Sustainable Livestock Self-Assessment System (SAGAS), this platform will help identify factors that will help achieve the sustainability of livestock production of meat with added economic, social and environmentally viable value. This free, voluntary and confidential tool that provides immediate results allows for the evaluation of 6 basic principles: natural resources, individuals and community, animal health and welfare, food, efficiency and innovation, and economic viability.

By the end of 2021, these principles will be recognized and awarded through the "Sustainability Champions" program, which will evaluate those individuals, companies, cooperatives and/or production associations that have completed the Sustainable Livestock Self-Assessment System (SAGAS). Both initiatives were developed in collaboration with the multi-stakeholder platform Alliance for Sustainable Development, a project implemented by WWF-Paraguay where its stakeholders join with the support of USAID/Paraguay to promote a sustainable production model.

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Press conference

SAGAS tool

New priority data and information available for the conservation of bufeo in Bolivia

An expedition carried out by WWF and Faunagua, in the Ichilo River, on the border between the departments of Cochabamba and Santa Cruz, contributes to research on the movements of the Bolivian bufeo - a priority species for Bolivia classified as vulnerable to extinction in the country, and as endangered in the entire Amazon basin.

The study was carried out by attaching tags (satellite transmitters) to four bufeos to track their geographic location in real time. This monitoring will allow us to obtain more information about the species in an area that has not been previously monitored.

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Colombia sponsors biodiversity PreCOP

WWF-Colombia communicated the third session of the Open-Ended Working Group for the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and the Biodiversity PreCOP that took place in August and was sponsored by Colombia. The virtual meeting of world leaders aimed to give political support to the negotiations of the Framework. WWF-Colombia made an urgent call through media outlets to increase the ambition in the negotiations, to specify measurable actions and to ensure the funding that its implementation requires. They also invited the National Government to champion its role as leader of the negotiations, assuming key pending issues on the country's environmental agenda such as the Escazu Agreement and Heritage Colombia, and to recognize the role of indigenous communities in conservation. 

Centro Arenal Native Community creates its surveillance committee

After a year of training in indigenous territorial governance issues, the Centro Arenal Native Community managed to establish its monitoring and surveillance committee within the framework of their self-determination as indigenous peoples and their territorial governance. The community created in 1975, is located in the Maynas province in the Florido neighborhood next to the Amazon River. It has 1973 titled hectares and legally registered 78 native families.

WWF-Peru has been encouraging communities around the Peruvian Amazon to organize to face the threats suffered by their territories due to crimes such as timber trafficking, which put their lives and forest resources at risk.

Indigenous women protest for their rights

At least 5,000 representatives of 185 peoples were in Brasília between September 7 and 11 to protest in the capital city. On Friday Sep. 10, the group marched 11-kilometers in the central region of Brasília, expanding the demands of two other indigenous encampments: “Levante Pela Terra”, which came together in June, and “Luta pela Vida”, which started in August, both to monitor the processing of bills that threaten their rights in Congress and the judgment, by STF (Supreme Federal Court), of the timeframe thesis, which will affect land demarcations in the country. They drew attention to issues that concern women.

Lack of funds for the protection of native forests in Argentina

The 2022 national budget project assigned only 3% of what would correspond to the Forest Law. In this context, Fundación Vida Silvestre expressed its concern about the lack of funds for the protection of native forests from Argentina. Although the amount in pesos is the same as that assigned in 2021, the percentage decreases compared to the previous budget and is the lowest since the implementation of Law 26,331 in 2009.

WWF and Airbnb promote a responsible and sustainable tourism

WWF and Airbnb came together during World Tourism Day to announce the campaign "Sustainable Travel: Connecting with Life,” which includes a website and a series of workshops aimed at hosts, travelers and local communities, among others actions, seek to promote a sustainable recovery of the tourism sector. Airbnb and WWF joined forces to contribute to sustainable, safe, responsible and inclusive tourism through the Mexico for Land initiative, made up of five tourist routes (Guadalajara-Mazatlán, Mexico City-Acapulco, Tuxtla Gutiérrez-Calakmul, Mérida-Campeche and Cancún-Mahahual), located in critical areas for the conservation of the jaguar, a feline categorized as "threatened" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The “Sustainable Travel: Connecting with Life” campaign includes visual materials to encourage habits to preserve nature, such as caring for biodiversity and economic inclusion of communities locals that depend on the sector, which employs almost 4 million people in Mexico (according to INEGI data).