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Dear friends and colleagues,

This month, we made progress in the conservation of our forests and other priority ecosystems.

In relation to Forests, the General Management Plan of the largest protected area in ​​the Gran Pantanal was updated in Bolivia. The managers of protected areas in Brazil, Bolivia and Peru also met. And a BBC international press trip took place in the Brazilian Cerrado.

In Wildlife, forest degradation was reduced by 57% in the monarch butterfly forests in Mexico. Meanwhile, for the first time, the satellite monitoring of eight river dolphins began in the Peruvian Amazon. And WWF-Chile organized the Chilean Hake Day.

Regarding Oceans, 16 communities participated in the development of the Management Plans for two marine reserves in Ecuador.

In work related to Climate and Energy, Colombia prepared to join the Talanoa Dialogue. Meanwhile, in the Markets Practice, WWF-Paraguay signed a cooperation agreement for sustainable development with a major national meatpacker. Finally, Vida Silvestre carried out the first edition of "Yurumí: chats with the feet on the Earth" in Argentina.

Enjoy this edition of our monthly newsletter,

Roberto Troya

Vice president & Regional Director

WWF-LAC

Updates in the Management Plan of the San Matías Protected Area

WWF Bolivia and the Noel Kempff National History Museum have updated the General Management Plan for the San Matías National Area for Integrated Management. This update includes a new tourism development plan, which will be brought into effect in 2019, aimed at generating resources for supporting the financial sustainability of the protected area. The protected area covers 2.9 million hectares and is both the largest protected area in the Gran Pantanal – which includes Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay - and the largest RAMSAR site in Bolivia.

International Press Trip to the Cerrado Region

BBC, WWF-UK and WWF-BR joined efforts to organize an international press trip to Cerrado region. The press trip allows the BBC media team to understand the process of soybean expansion and livestock production in areas of Cerrado native vegetation in MATOPIBA region.  This area is considered the last Brazilian agricultural frontier in the Cerrado biome and, in recent years, has presented the highest rates of deforestation, as well as the social and environmental impacts on the local communities, and pressure on protected areas and biodiversity. The material will be released by BBC by the end of October, supporting the Living Planet Report distribution.

Forest degradation was reduced by 57% in the monarch butterfly forests

The core area of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, where the monarch butterfly hibernates after traveling from Canada and the United States, suffered damages in 6.7 hectares (ha) of forest land between February 2017 and March 2018, which represents a 57.6% reduction in degradation compared to 15.8 ha in 2016-2017. Despite the reduction in degradation, there was an increase in illegal logging from 0.6 ha in 2016-2017 to 1.4 ha in 2017-2018, which was primarily concentrated in the San Felipe de los Alzati community in the state of Michoacan.

Satellite monitoring of river dolphins helps protect their home

To further our understanding about the population status of this species, a scientific expedition aimed to install satellite transmitters on 8 pink river dolphins, for the first time, within the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve in Loreto (Peru’s Northern Amazon). Dolphins monitoring not only addresses the urgent need to conserve this amazing species, but also provides vital information for the conservation of freshwater ecosystems. Dolphins travel long distances along large rivers and their tributaries. Thus, while learning about their behavior, we can also get first-hand information about the conditions of its ecosystems, threats and conservation options, and can serve as a reference for policymaking processes.

WWF-Chile celebrated Chilean Hake Day

For the second consecutive year, WWF-Chile organized the Chilean Hake Day. This initiative seeks to highlight the state of exploitation in which this fishery resource stands, highlighting that it is 100% Chilean. In this way, the call in this celebration was to consume responsibly and support measures that seek sustainability of this fishery. Chilean Hake Day is carried out at the end of hake season, which had a positive evaluation, given that the hake seizures decreased by 86% even though citizen complaints increased. "This shows the effectiveness of informational initiatives, both from government entities and NGOs such as WWF Chile, which have managed to raise awareness in the community to not consume this resource while it is restricted," said Valesca Montes, coordinator of Sustainable Fisheries of WWF Chile.

16 communities participated in the creation of Management Plans

The participatory process to elaborate management plans for the Bajo Copé and Cantagallo-Machalilla Marine Reserves has concluded. 500 people from more than 16 communities in the Manabí and Santa Elena provinces collaborated in the process with the technical support of the Ministry of the Environment and WWF-Ecuador. These management plans recognize and respect the rights of the communities to access and use marine-coastal resources, guaranteeing that these uses are developed in a sustainable way to benefit and protect the ecosystems and their biodiversity. Lastly, the two management plan proposals will be presented to the Ministry of the Environment to be reviewed and approved. Once approved, they will go into effect for their immediate implementation.

Colombia is preparing to join the Talanoa Dialogue

Within the framework of the I Week of Climate Action in Colombia that took place from October 8th to the 12th in Bogotá, the Ministries of Sustainable Development and External Relations, the Klimaforum Latin America Network and WWF-Colombia, developed the Talanoa Dialogue, an inclusive, participatory and transparent discussion space about climate action, which brings together non-state actors (NGOs, academia, private sector and civil society organizations) and sub-national governments (governorships and municipalities).

Paraguayan meatpacker and WWF signed a cooperation agreement

WWF-Paraguay and Frigorífico Guaraní, one of the leading Paraguayan companies in the industrialization and exportation of meat, have signed a cooperation agreement. This cooperation agreement is a first step towards sustainable practices in the retail sector. Through this agreement, Frigorífico Guaraní will be contributing with the McDonald's Corporation global commitment for Beef Sustainability by being one of its main suppliers in Paraguay. 

"Yurumí: talks with the feet on the Earth"

Last September 5th, Vida Silvestre held the first edition of "Yurumí: talks with the feet on the Earth", an open and free event that was attended by 250 people. The meeting had two thematic blocks with participants from the academic, public and private sector, including Vida Silvestre representatives focusing on two central topics: climate change and plastics in the sea. Also Nina Gualinga -indigenous leader of the Kichwa people of Sarayaku, Ecuador - and Manuel Pulgar-Vidal - leader of the Climate & Energy Practice for WWF International - were present at the event.