March 24, 2003—Extending from the southeastern states of Mexico to Panama, the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor (MBC) hosts a rich environmental and human diversity, with some 400 indigenous languages spoken throughout the region, and seven to eight percent of our planet’s total biodiversity concentrated in less than one percent of the earth’s land area.

But the MBC, an area the size of the United Kingdom, is much more than a great environmental reservoir. It is also a flagship of international cooperation and public-private partnership, as well as one of the best examples of harmonizing economic, social and environmental aspirations in development and linking global issues to the interests of poor people, said Ian Johnson, the World Bank Vice President for Sustainable Development.

As shown by the exhibit "The Jewels of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor", displayed until last Wednesday at the main complex of the World Bank in Washington DC, the MBC is an important show case of how these partnerships, along with cutting edge technology, can empower policy-makers to make sound decisions that will positively impact the future of environmental projects.

"If we were to focus on one area of the world where social and environmental needs are closely intertwined, one would be hard pressed to find a better example than the Mesoamerican Biological corridor," said David de Ferranti, Vice President for the Latin America and Caribbean region.

In the same line, Johnson pointed out the relevance of protecting fragile and precious ecosystems, as well as encouraging economic growth that is socially and environmentally responsible.

"The project matters not only to the people in the region, today and in the future. It also helps in setting the trend for implementing the outcomes of last year’s Johannesburg commitments in the rest of the world," he explained. "This initiative is showing how multi-stakeholders coalitions in which governments, civil society organizations, private sector and other entities supported by enlightened public policy interact to achieve tangible results on the ground."

Specific results

And the results speak for themselves. The MBC countries, which include Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and the five states of southeastern Mexico, have managed to put one fifth of their territory under special environmental protection. Furthermore, a growing number of sustainable productive activities, such as ecotourism, organic farming, agro-forestry, bio-prospection, and butterfly farming are being promoted. Just in the Panamanian Atlantic portion of the MBC, for example, there are 80 projects of this kind directly benefiting more than 40,000 rural men and women.

With US$ 470 million committed by bilateral and multilateral development institutions, the MBC has been supporting, since 1997, responsible economic growth based on social equity and environmental conservation, establishing a regional system of protected natural areas, buffer zones, and connectors. It contains nearly 24,000 species of flora, 21 percent of them endemic. It is also the world’s richest region in mammal species (521).

From 25 protected natural areas, they have moved to 600 in less than 10 years. In some of these countries, the deforestation rates were arrested or even reversed. And civil society organizations are directly involved in the management of 79 of these areas.

Some of these achievements are the result of the dynamic partnership among the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Central American Commission on Environment and Development (CCAD), and the World Bank.

Dr. Ghassem Asrar, NASA associate administrator for Earth Science Enterprise, said that the space technology developed by NASA aims at improving the quality of life around the globe, through technologies that generate knowledge to preserve and protect the cultural heritage and resources in any region of the world.

"Our partners at NASA have developed cutting edge technology that can illustrate everything from the occurrence of forest fires and weather events, to detecting trends in deforestation," said de Ferranti. "The information gathering and data integration technology empower policy-makers to make sound decisions affecting the future of the many jewels of the corridor."

Shengman Zhang, World Bank Managing Director (far right), David de Ferranti, LAC VP (far left), with Sylvie Durán, Director  Asociación Cultural InCorpore (owners of the mask collection), and Armando Guzman, exhibit coordinator.

Ian Johnson, ESSD Vice President with Ghassem Asrar of NASA

Lee Morrsion and Chris Neal, World Bank Latin America and Caribbean Region, with the NASA

Butterflies and masks from the MBC exhibit

Butterflies from the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor on exhibit at the World Bank