Project

A landscape approach to the conservation of threatened mountain ecosystems

Lead country

Cuba

Participating countries

Cuba

Project status

Under implementation

Implementing period

From December 11, 2014 to December 11, 2022

SDGs addressed by this project

SDG targets

  1. 15.4 Conserve mountain ecosystems, including their biodiversity
  2. 15.5 Reduce habitat degradation, halt biodiversity loss, extinction
  3. 15.a Mobilize resources for biodiversity conservation, sustainable use

Project ID: 4716

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Technical team

  • Ecosystems and Biodiversity Programme

Technical area(s)

  • Strengthening conservation areas

Sub-area(s)

  • Ecosystem-based mitigation

Landscape(s)

  • Forests
  • Conserved areas

Sub-landscape(s)

  • Montane forests
  • Terrestrial protected areas
  • Specially protected areas (SPAs)

Transformed sector(s)

  • Forestry and other land use

UNDP role(s)

  • Capacity development / Technical assistance
  • Data collection and analysis
  • Innovative approaches

Strategy

  • Management operation
  • Enabling
  • Mitigation adaptation

Sub-strategy

  • Conserved areas/ protected areas management
  • Ecosystem and ecosystem services conservation/restoration
  • Mainstream
  • Ecosystem mitigation and adaptation

Social inclusion

N/A

Gender equality

  • Women farmers

Gender result effectiveness scale

  • Gender targeted

Pathway(s)

  • Systems pathway

Risk reduction target(s)

  • Hazard control/mitigation
  • Reduce exposure
  • Improve resilience

SDG target(s)

  • 15.4 Conserve mountain ecosystems, including their biodiversity
  • 15.5 Reduce habitat degradation, halt biodiversity loss, extinction
  • 15.a Mobilize resources for biodiversity conservation, sustainable use

Conventions and protocols

  • Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
  • National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs)

Private sector(s)

N/A

Hot topic

N/A

About this project

Description

1.This project will make a paradigm shift in biodiversity conservation and protected area management in Cuba, from a site based approach to a landscape approach that integrates PAs into the surrounding areas. This is necessary in order to protect core refugia for biodiversity, while addressing fragmentation from production practices in the landscape as a whole, and countering threats such as fire and pollution which have their origins in the practices employed in the production landscape. Hence, the strategic landscape approach supported through this project will constitute an innovative approach and contribute to strengthen the management effectiveness of the PA system. The project will focus on threatened mountain ecosystems located in the principal mountain ranges of the country, which are legally considered as Special Sustainable Development Regions (REDS) and managed by Mountain Organisms (multi-institutional entities directed by a Tripartite Commission composed by the Ministry of Agriculture MINAG, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment CITMA, and the Ministry of the Armed Forces (MINFAR). It will work across altitudinal gradients reaching from mountain ridges to foothills in order to maintain functional connectivity. The project will take a combined BD SO 1 and SO 2 approach, to strengthen the management of PAs, expand PA coverage and ensure the compatibility of PA management with the conservation of BD in production sectors and landscapes.

Objectives

Biodiversity effectively buffered from current and future threats across mountain landscapes, from the foothills to the mountain ridges.

USD $7,581,819

Grant amount

USD $41,024,100

Leveraged amount (co-financing)

1

Source(s) of fund

Sources of fund

 

  • Global Environment Facility – Trust Fund ($7,581,819)

Implementing partner(s)

  • Government of Cuba

Project metrics

Outcome 1:

Systemic landscape management framework

 Indicators:

O.1 Area of major vegetation types in the four target REDS
O.2 Índex of ecosystem integrity in 6 of the priority PAs (covering 155,559ha) of importance as refuges in prioritized connectivity zones within the REDS
O.3 Indexes of species diversity and abundance in the priority areas for the connectivity of the four REDSs focused on some target groups (functional or taxonomic)
O.4 Cumulative width of non-forest gaps separating habitat blocks in prioritized connectivity zones
1.1: Area in the target REDS that is covered by environmental land use plans that incorporate considerations of biological connectivity and ecosystem resilience
1.2: Number of institutions in each massif (IES, CNAP, territorial delegations of IPF, INAF, IGT, INRH, Mountain bodies, DNF, SEF, CITMA delegations and local authorities and NGOs) that effectively coordinate and integrate activities vis-a-vis the landscape approach, specifically in relation to the following factors:
(i) Sharing and facilitating access to information;
(ii) Monitoring activities
(iii) Research
(iv) Enforcement
1.3 Increase in investments with a landscape focus on forestry
2.1 Average METT scores of declared target PAs in prioritized connectivity zones
2.2: Area of new PAs declared in prioritized connectivity zones, facilitating biological connectivity between existing core refuge PAs
2.3 Average METT scores of new PAs to be established in prioritized connectivity zones
3.1 Area of (i) forest plantations and (ii)water protection belts and (iii) enriched connectivity forests
3.2 Area of agroforestry farms and silvopastoral spaces that incorporate agro-ecological management measures
3.3 Maintenance of coffee areas under diverse shade
3.4 Application of clean production practices in coffee and pig production units, with emphasis on those located in priority connectivity zones
3.5 Number and area of fires in target REDS
3.6 Number of illegal activities registered per unit time of Forest Guard Corps patrols affecting the environment in the target areas
3.7 Number of families in the REDS that receives an incentive >25% from FONADEF for applying environmentally friendly production systems and that have access to the soil improvement and conservation program of soil improvement and conservation
3.8 Increase of direct beneficiaries of the project who are women
Outcome 2:

Management effectiveness for core PAs within the context of the landscape as a whole
Outcome 3:

Conservation compatible production systems in threatened mountain ecosystems and conservation corridors leading down to the coast
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Project reports and documentation

 

Project Document (ProDoc)