The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) recently won approval from the CEPF Donor Council to expand to the Eastern Himalayas, a biologically rich region comprising Bhutan, northeastern India and southern, central, and eastern Nepal.

CEPF will begin implementation with introductory workshops in select areas and a first call for proposals.

The rapid rise of the magnificent Himalayas results in a diversity of ecosystems, ranging from alluvial grasslands and subtropical broadleaf forests to alpine meadows above the tree line.

The region is also home to 163 globally threatened species, 76 of which CEPF grants to nongovernmental groups, communities and other partners will focus on as the highest priorities for conservation efforts.

These include species unique to the Eastern Himalayas such as the Critically Endangered pygmy hog (Sus salvanius), Namdapha flying squirrel (Biswamoyopterus biswasi), and other species at risk such as Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), tiger (Panthera tigris), and dozens of birds, reptiles, and amphibians.

Plants are not included among CEPF focal species for this region because information is lacking about their needs, but reassessing the conservation status of the region’s plants is a priority.

CEPF investment will focus on the priority species as well as the key sites and larger landscapes that sustain them by supporting conservation efforts that transcend protected area boundaries and engage local people in natural resource management.

WWF, in partnership with the BirdLife Indochina Program, led an extensive participatory research and consultation process drawing together more than 145 experts and stakeholders in the three countries to develop the new CEPF ecosystem profile and $5 million, five-year investment strategy for this region.

Final endorsement of the Eastern Himalayas ecosystem profile is expected from Global Environment Facility focal points in the relevant countries in the near future, which would clear the way for CEPF to begin disbursing grants in this region.

A landmark report by scientists in 95 countries issues a stark warning about the declining health of the planet and the impact upon human well-being.

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Synthesis Report details the results of the most extensive study ever into the world’s ecosystems and the services or benefits they provide to people, such as food, water and air cleansing, and regulation of natural hazards and pests.

The experts found 60 percent of the services are being degraded or used unsustainably.

In addition, the reliance of the rural poor upon these life support systems is rarely measured and hence is typically overlooked in national statistics and poverty assessments.

“Any progress achieved in addressing the goals of poverty and hunger eradication, improved health and environmental protection is unlikely to be sustained if most of the ecosystem services on which humanity relies continues to be degraded,” the scientists state.

They conclude that the full costs of humanity’s conversion of the planet are only now becoming apparent and, if the degradation continues, could grow significantly worse.

Conducted under the auspices of the United Nations, the four-year, $21 million project received major funding from the Global Environment Facility and the World Bank – two Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) founders – as well as from the United Nations Foundation and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

A 53-member board of directors representing international conventions, U.N. agencies, international scientific organizations, governments, the private sector, nongovernmental organizations, and indigenous groups directed the study by more than 1,300 scientists.

The directors issued a 31-page statement alongside the report. They characterized the results as “much more red than black on the balance sheet” and the poor as the hardest hit, making efforts to address the threat to the planet’s natural assets part of the fight against poverty.

They said a sustainable future lies within the power of human societies but requires “radical changes in the way nature is treated at every level of decisionmaking and new ways of cooperation between government, business and civil society."

Integrating modern and traditional conservation in Kenya’s Kaya Kinondo forest is a challenge, one that can even involve community consultation with oracles or foretellers.

So when more than 250 people recently gathered to celebrate the opening of a new visitor center and community bank in the village of Kinondo, it was clear that years of research, planning, community engagement and hard work had finally paid off.

The celebration capped what Elias "Kim" Kimaru of the National Museums of Kenya’s Coastal Forest Conservation Unit described as “an extraordinary experience.” The outcome: conservation that benefits both the sacred forest and communities.

A small nongovernmental group in Bahia, Brazil is helping the local population of mangrove mud crabs (Ucides cordatus cordatus) recover after an estimated 30 million of them mysteriously died near Canavieiras in the southern part of the state.

While scientists have been unable to agree on the cause of the disaster, a team of biologists from Instituto Ecotuba gathered data during the 2004 season to establish just how many had died while also working to convince the area’s hard hit crab catchers not to take crabs during breeding time and to avoid female and undersized specimens.

Earlier this year, however, tragedy struck again as the phenomenon spread from Canavieiras to the previously untouched area of Caravelas. Working together with partners such as Instituto de Estudos Sócio-Ambientais do Sul da Bahia (IESB), Ecotuba found that 21 percent of mangrove mud crabs in the area had died and 65 percent of burrows were empty.

Most important of all, however, was the discovery that the mud crabs were hatching on the landward side of the mangroves and are therefore dependant on both the Atlantic Forest and coastal ecosystems.

As Anders Schmidt of Ecotuba noted: “Further destruction of coastal mangroves or neighboring areas of the Atlantic Forest will definitely put the population at additional risk. The link between the ecosystems couldn’t be more clearly demonstrated.”

The project aims to conserve the mangrove area and improve the quality of life of the crab catchers who rely on it for their livelihoods. It is being supported by IESB, which manages a CEPF small grants fund for institutional strengthening in the Central Corridor of the Atlantic Forest Hotspot.

Hot on the heels of last month’s announcement about Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) support to small grant funds in the Mountains of Southwest China and Succulent Karoo hotspots comes news of a new $1 million fund in the Caucasus Hotspot.

This new fund becomes the ninth to receive CEPF support and help implement specific strategic components of the initiative’s regional ecosystem profiles. For each one of the nine, CEPF has delegated responsibility for outreach, decisionmaking, and management and distribution of grant monies to a locally based partner to enable swifter action and a broader reach where it matters most.

Swift it is: WWF-Caucasus, which also coordinates CEPF’s overall investment in the region, recently awarded the first 28 small grants. These include support for training projects, conferences, protected area management reviews and species protection efforts, among others.

Some of the first grantees include the Armenian Botanical Society, The Sumgayit Center for Environmental Rehabilitation in Azerbaijan, the Society of Green Artvin in Turkey, the Mta-Bari Society for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development in Georgia, and the Russian nongovernmental organization (NGO) Kadastr.

Further support will be given to small-scale projects that aid the conservation of 50 globally threatened species in the region, such as the Siberian crane (Grus leucogeranus) and the Armenian birch mouse (Sicista armenica).

The Fund will also support at least 20 projects that develop alternative livelihoods with the help of local organizations, such as ecotourism, non-timber forest products and sustainable hunting and fishing. A third focus is to help at least 60 local groups or NGOs contribute further toward local conservation.

To avoid duplication of effort and build stronger relationships throughout the local conservation community, WWF also specifies that news of at least 50 percent of the projects must be reported to partner organizations, relevant government agencies and donors, as well as in local or regional media where possible.

WWF-Caucasus recently held an initial project planning, communications and budgeting workshop for five of the new grant recipients in Tbilisi, Georgia. Similar meetings will be held for grantees in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia and Turkey in the near future.

A Sumatran Tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) caught out on the prowl by an infrared camera trap is putting his powerful weight behind a conservation campaign in the Tesso Nilo - Bukit Tigapuluh area of southern Sumatra.

Angered by a flash going off, he recently took a swipe and a bite at the camera like a publicity-shy celebrity. The startling series of photographs is proving a big hit with communicators, tiger conservationists and educators.

As part of a capacity-building project in the area funded by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, WWF-Indonesia has installed 30 camera traps to help monitor tiger populations as the fight against poachers is stepped up.

“It’s fortunate the camera survived the attack so we could retrieve the film,” said Sybille Klenzendorf, lead scientist for WWF’s tiger program. “We’re confident that over the next year, the cameras will continue to yield new information about tigers in Sumatra and which forests most urgently need to be protected.”

The project features a number of other important elements, including creation of two patrol units with six community members and two Department of Forestry staff in each. The patrol members are newly trained in patrol planning, field navigation, recognition of tiger and other animal signs, evidence gathering and report writing.

Outreach workers have also created educational materials with local teachers that showcase the ecology of tigers as well as their wider role in maintaining the diversity of forests.

• CEPF ecosystem profile for the Eastern Himalayas Region (PDF)

Fact sheets:

• CEPF Eastern Himalayas Region fact sheet (PDF)

Final project completion reports:

• Assessment of the Environmental, Economic And Quality Control Issues Of Wild-Harvesting Medicinal Plants Centella asiatica and Drosera madagascariensis in Madagascar (PDF), L'Homme et l'Environnement
• Building Awareness of the Vilcabamba-Amboró Corridor in Peru and Bolivia (PDF), International Center for Journalists
• Enhancing Public Awareness for Improved Management of the Machu Picchu Sanctuary and its Surrounding Environment, Español (PDF), Instituto Machu Picchu
• Ensuring Effective and Sustainable Management of the Tiwai Island Wildlife Sanctuary, Sierra Leone (PDF), Environmental Foundation for Africa - Sierra Leone
• Madagascar Community-Based Wetlands Conservation Project (PDF), The Peregrine Fund
• Organizational Strengthening of the Council of Tacana Indigenous Peoples for Natural Resource Management and Conservation, Español (PDF), Wildlife Conservation Society
• Prevention of Human-Induced Forest Fires in Madidi and Apolobamba National Parks, Español (PDF), Care Bolivia
• Reducing Deforestation in the Buffer Zone of Bolivia's Madidi National Park: Promoting the Cultivation, Manufacture and Use of Bamboo Products, Español (PDF), Central de Pueblos Indigenas de La Paz
• Strategy Development for Sumatra's Newly Declared Batang Gadis National Park (PDF), Yayasan Bina Ketrampilan Desa

• Brown Hyena Research Project Newsletter Issue 9, March 2005 (PDF)

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