Environment Peace Initiative for Colombia (EPIC) REPORTE Q2FY2016

The project's period of agreement spans from July 30, 2013, to July 31, 2020, and the reporting period for this report is from January 1, 2016, to March 31, 2016. The project's main objective is to address deforestation and forest degradation in two distinct geographic zones in Colombia: Caquetá and the Pacific region. In Caquetá, the project aims to contribute to the consolidation of bio-cultural corridors in the Piedemonte Andino Amazónico (Belén de los Andaquíes and San José del Fragua) and the establishment of reduced deforestation and sustainable natural resource management belts in the municipalities of Solano and Cartagena de Chairá (CdCH). The project seeks to implement strategies for sustainable community-based income generation, improve the livelihoods and well-being of rural communities, and support public and community governance arrangements, ultimately reducing deforestation rates in a strategic, biodiverse, and highly threatened area of the Caquetá department. In the Pacific region, the project aims to complete milestones associated with the verification of eight REDD+ projects. CL will support community governance agreements, strengthen and capacitate leaders and teams in 19 organizations (Afro-Colombian and indigenous), and complete specific requirements leading to the verification of REDD+ projects in the BioREDD+ Pacific portfolio, effectively reducing deforestation and forest degradation rates in key areas along the Pacific region. The project focuses on three main strategies: 1) promoting alternative, environmentally friendly, and low-carbon emission economic options; 2) strengthening and empowering local civil society and regional and local governments; and 3) generating enabling conditions for result-based incentives and other payment mechanisms. During the second quarter of 2016, the project advanced with direct actions in the Corredor Fragua-Churumbelos (CFC) in Caquetá. Plans were prepared for 7 new farms, completing a total of 312 plans, equivalent to 9,360.5 hectares. However, 12 plans were removed from implementation due to non-compliance with agreements, resulting in a total of 300 active plans for implementation (240 in peasant families with 8,862 hectares and 60 indigenous families with 324.5 hectares) for a total of 9,186.5 hectares under improved management. The project team conducted 172 visits to farms, implementing interventions such as isolation of rivers and streams, isolation of births, isolation of water sources, and establishment of productive trails, agroforestry systems, and living fences. Additionally, the project continued to update the Plans of Transformation of the Landscape (PTP) and used them as inputs for the construction of Municipal Development Plans (PDM) in Belén de los Andaquíes and San José del Fragua. In the Pacific region, the project finalized the design of productive and conservation projects for all beneficiary families in Solano and prioritized during Q1, including the improvement of productive systems through silvopasture, reforestation in degraded pastures, establishment of home gardens, and isolation of water sources. The project also made the first purchase of materials for technical implementations in farms and obtained native seeds for community viveros in Mononguete and Las Mercedes. In the CdCH area, the project prioritized and concerted the seven intervention veredas in farm (Café, Caño Tigre, Palmichales, Jardín-Camelias, Loma Larga, Miraflores, and Las Claras), located in the interfluvial area of the Caguán and Suncillas rivers. In the Pacific region, the project elaborated and concertated detailed action plans for the interventions, including the fortification of cacao and coconut production, ecotourism, and the establishment of banana plantations in open areas. The project also identified the lines of productive systems to be addressed during the bridge phase, as an alternative to deforestation and degradation activities. The project will work in four nodes: Tumaco, Buenaventura, Chocó Sur, and Carmen del Darién, focusing on the fortification of cacao and coconut production, ecotourism, responsible fishing practices, and the establishment of viveros and fences for silvopastoral systems.