State of the regional environment

GEO 2000 State of the Environment: Latin America and the Caribbean

Global Enviroment Outlook 2000. GEO is:

GEF Projects in the region

Projects under implementation

UNDP - GEF - International waters:
Environmental Protection of the Rio de la Plata and Its Maritime Front: Pollution Prevention and Control and Habitat Restoration
The Project will contribute to the mitigation of current and emergent transboundary threats to the waterbody by assisting Argentina and Uruguay to prepare a Strategic Action Programme as a framework for addressing the most imminent transboundary issues. Activities would defray the transactions costs of developing a joint management paradigm, by i) raising awareness of priority transboundary concerns, ii) the catalysing of enabling policy, institutional and financial reforms, iii) strengthening stakeholder communications, iv) identifying innovative management tools that may later be applied towards SAP implementation, including economic instruments, v) training resource managers to prepare and implement the SAP, vi) programming targeted investments and vii) supporting "deal flows" by matching sources of capital with investment opportunities. Preparation of the SAP would be preceded by finalisation of a Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA), building on assessments already completed during the Block B stage, by prioritizing issues, filling data gaps, and performing an in depth systems analysis of cause/effect variables, including socio-economic and ecological factors.

UNEP - GEF - International waters:
Strategic Action Programme for the Binational Basin of the Bermejo River
This project intends to develop a Strategic Action Programme that will promote environmentally sustainable development within the Bermejo River Basin, taking into consideration the programme of investments being prepared by the Binational Commission for the development of the Upper Bermejo and Grande de Tarija River Basins.

World Bank - GEF - International Waters:
Coastal Contamination Prevention and Sustainable Fisheries Management
The project objectives are to promote the conservation of biodiversity along the Patagonia coastline and to protect the Patagonian Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem through the prevention and mitigation of coastal pollution and the sustainable management of fisheries resources. To achieve this goal, the project's components would strengthen institutions and implement priority investments to: (a) address the threats from land-based contamination in the Patagonia coastal area; (b) improve fisheries management policy to prevent overharvesting in the large marine ecosystem, which is adversely affecting marine and coastal biodiversity; and (c) safeguard coastal and marine biodiversity from accident and pollution risks resulting from increased commercial traffic, which carry hazardous substances. The main project outputs are the establishment of an integrated, operational strategy for coastal pollution management; the design and installation of an electronic marine information infrastructure; and the development and implementation of a sustainable fisheries management program.

UNEP - GEF - International waters:
Integrated Watershed Management Program for the Pantanal and Upper Paraguay River Basin
This project catalyzes implementation of a detailed watershed management program for the Pantanal and the Upper Paraguay River Basin. Project activities will enhance and restore the environmental functioning of the system; provide protection to endemic species within the wetland; and implement strategic activities, identified in the World Bank-financed PCBAP program, that address the root causes of degradation. These actions with incremental costs will complement basin-scale interventions by the Government of Brazil, financed in part from national and state sources and by international loan funding, and sub-basin scale activities conducted under the World Bank-UNDP PRODEAGRO program, many of which address expected baseline activities. Strengthening of basin institutions, building of agency and organizational capacity, and integration of environmental concerns into economic development activities on a sustainable basis are the key elements of this project.

UNDP - GEF - Biodiversity:
Patagonian Coastal Zone Management Plan
Preservation of Patagonia's biodiversity and protection of this economically-important area through enhancing sustainable management of coastal resources. By strengthening institutions, developing human resources, and contributing valuable environmental information, project will establish integrated coastal zone management plan which will enhance existing capacities and decision-making.

UNDP - GEF - Biodiversity:
Consolidation and Implementation of the Patagonia Coastal Zone Management Programme for Biodiversity Conservation
This project is aimed at the improvement in the quality of life of human communities who depend on coastal resources while maintaining biodiversity and productivity of Patagonia's ecosystems.

UNDP - GEF - Biodiversity:
Conservation of Biodiversity in the Eastern Wetlands, Uruguay
Development of a Regional Wetlands Management Program including management strategy, water authority, and financial incentives to landowners. Project catalyses formation of local resource users group, develops more sustainable methods of rice cultivation, trains professionals in conservation techniques, analyzes government policies, and engages local municipality, land owners, and university to document and understand region's ecology.

UNDP - GEF - Biodiversity:
Consolidation of the Banados del Este Biosphere Reserve
The ultimate objective of the proposed project is to consolidate the effective and sustainable conservation of this globally significant mosaic of habitats and its biodiversity through the successful implementation by of land-use practices that serve both ecosystem conservation and sustainable economic resources use.

Project concepts in the pipeline

UNEP - GEF - International waters:
Implementation of the Strategic Action Program of the Bermejo River Binational Basin
This project will facilitate actions by the governments of Argentina and Bolivia to promote sustainable development in the binational basin of the Rio Bermejo (BRBB).

World Bank - GEF - International Waters:
Environmental Protection and Sustainable Integrated Management of the Guarani Aquifer
The main objective of the proposed initiative would be to support Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay in jointly elaborating and implementing a common institutional framework for managing and preserving the Guarani Aquifer.

World Bank - GEF - International Waters:
Maritime Management Project, Uruguay
The project activities will (i) improve water quality/ecosystem health of the Southeast South American Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem (LME) shared with Argentina and Brazil, and (ii) promote conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in maritime and near-in coastal area of Uruguay.

UNDP - GEF - Biodiversity:
The Pantanal: Ecosystem Management of a Major Center of Wetland Biodiversity
This preparation project will design a project proposal for future funding that will present an ecosystem approach to integrating biodiversity conservation within sound development in the Pantanal region.

Other actors, initiatives and resources

Rio de la Plata estuary and sustainable development
This initiative is part of the UNESCO Programme Environment and Development in Coastal Regions and in Small Islands (CSI). See for example the ECOPLATA Programme — Towards an integrated management of the coastal zone of the Rio de la Plata.

Patagonian Shelf - a Large Marine Ecosystem (LME)
A Large Marine Ecosystem, LME, is a "region of ocean space encompassing coastal areas from river basins and estuaries to the seaward boundary of continental shelves and the seaward margins of coastal current systems. It is a relatively large region characterized by distinct bathymetry, hydrography, productivity, and trophically dependent populations." See also Rhode Island University map of LMEs.

GIWA Subregional Task Team