Global Environment Facility Supports Participatory Management To Conserve Biodiversity In Peru

WASHINGTON, March 18, 2003 — The World Bank has approved implementation of  a project financed with a $14.8 million grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), to ensure biodiversity conservation by involving civil society and the private sector in the management of biodiversity-rich protected areas in Peru.

The Participatory Management of Protected Areas Project, which is also financed by contributions of $2.5 million from Finland, $6.6 million from Germany and $4.4 million from the Netherlands, will increase the involvement of civil society institutions and the private sector in planning and sustainable management of up to six protected areas.

The protected areas selected for the project are Tambopata-Candamo National Reserve, Bajuaja-Sonene National Park, Salinas and Aguada Blanca National Reserve, Huascarán National Park, Manglares de Tumbes National Sanctuary, and the Morona Pastaza prospective protected area.

This project builds on experience gained in the implementation of a previous GEF grant to help establish the Peruvian National Trust Fund for Protected Areas (PROFONANPE).  It will provide an additional endowment of $6 million to PROFONANPE, to help sustain the institution’s operational costs.

“Peru is one of the world’s great centers of biodiversity,” said Pierre Werbrouck, the project’s manager at the World Bank.  “This project offers local communities a way of participating directly in the conservation of a global treasure.”

Peru’s rich store of biodiversity includes the world’s largest number of species of butterflies, orchids and endemic invertebrates.  It also boasts 460 mammal and 1,705 bird species, respectively 10 and 19 percent of the world’s total.

For more information on the World Bank’s work in the Latin America and Caribbean region, please visit: http://www.worldbank.org/lac.