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The Equator Prize 2002 Jury has selected the following seven outstanding community initiatives for recognition with the Equator Prize 2002. These communities received the Prizes and international recognition at an awards ceremony held on 30 August 2002 at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa. Drawn from a pool of over 420 total nominations and 27 remarkable finalists, these communities represent outstanding achievements in reducing poverty and conserving and sustainably using biodiversity.
In recognition of outstanding community efforts for poverty reduction and biodiversity conservation:
In recognition of an outstanding community initiative associated with a World Heritage Site:
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The Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (TIDE) works in some of the poorest areas of Belize and, through the Maya Mountain Marine Sustainable Livelihoods Initiative, collaborates with local communities to promote sustainable income generation and conservation. TIDE has focused much of its poverty reduction efforts on certification programs and training, including an on-going program to train and certify flyfishing guides and an "ECO-OK" certification project for sustainably produced local timber. The project also supports microenterprise and ecotourism training through a tourism arm, TIDETours. TIDETours subcontracts with small community-based businesses trained by TIDE to return income to communities and promote local enterprise. Through promotion of participatory co-management of natural resources and development of community monitoring, the project has also reduced poaching of endangered manatees, the practice of gillnetting, and illegal hunting and logging.
Visit TIDE's Website |
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AVIVE was founded in the Brazilian city of Silves to defend and preserve the local environment and culture while also working to improve the quality of life of local people, especially women. Since being launched in 1999, much of AVIVE's work has focused on developing techniques for sustainable extraction of the Aniba plant, also known as pau-rosa, as well as other medicinal and aromatic native plant species. The project also promotes the home production of natural medicines and cosmetics as an economic alternative for the women of Silves. These products are now sold in stores, catering to local consumers and tourists, and are marketed abroad to generate income for local women. The organization also leads an important environmental education program and produces seeds for the replanting and recovery of regional forests, where extractive activities threaten biodiversity. To protect the endangered pau-rosa and other rare plant species, AVIVE highlights the importance of sustainable extraction and is actively involved in the creation of a Sustainable Development Reserve where these species can be cultivated in ways that do not imperil their existence.
Visit AVIVE's Website |
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In the Malaysian state of Sarawak, the Uma Bawang Resident's Association (UBRA) represents a community of less than 100 people that has successfully used blockades, and now innovative mapping efforts, to defend customary land rights and access to forest lands. Critically, since UBRA's first mapping workshop in 1995, this technique has been increasingly used by other communities to legally defend their borders and secure recognition of traditional lands. UBRA also helps communities learn a wide variety of skills that provide cash income, including communal rice farming and milling, pig-rearing, handicrafts marketing, growing pepper and fruit trees, and developing sustainable teakwood plantations. Projects supported by UBRA provide incomes without endangering forest resources and are complemented by work in reforestation and restoration of damaged forest lands. Since 1992, UBRA has planted 4,000 tree seedlings in degraded areas, with an average of 200 fruit trees planted per family, and is leading a new reforestation initiative focused on native species |
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Since its inception in 1999, the
Fiji Locally-Managed Marine Area Network has grown to include communities
in six districts and cover 10% of the inshore marine area of Fiji.
The involvement of communities in the network has led to increases
in the number and size of clams, crabs, and other species harvested
adjacent to tabu areas, where fishing is prohibited. As a result,
household incomes have increased 35% over three years and catches
have tripled. Much of the success of the network can be attributed
to its participatory and collaborative focus, which has ensured
that local people are at the center of the network's operations.
As a testament to the success of the network in protecting marine
biodiversity and alleviating poverty in fishing communities, the
government of Fiji has recently incorporated many of its approaches
into national policies designed to protect the coastal resources
of Fiji for future generations.
For more information on the Fijian branch of The Locally Managed
Marine Area Network, visit
website. |
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The Il Ngwesi Group Ranch on Kenya's Laikipia Plateau has had great success in reducing local poverty and conserving biodiversity through promotion of ecotourism and establishment of a community owned trust responsible for local land management. The ranch itself is a collectively owned initiative of 499 local households that incorporates an exclusive ecotourism lodge and a locally-led committee responsible for land and resource management. By limiting poaching through community patrols and leading efforts to sustainably manage local resources, the trust has helped to secure a more certain future for wildlife on Il Ngwesi and neighboring reserves. Poverty at Il Ngwesi has been tackled through the redirection of tourism revenues back to the local community. By adopting a collaborative approach to resource management, Il Ngwesi has achieved remarkable success in promoting local livelihoods without compromising the integrity of the natural environment.
Visit Il Ngwesi's Website |
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Harnessing their knowledge of the species-rich Miombo forests of Tanzania's Arusha region, the Suledo Forest Community has established an effective system of village-based forest management that meets the diverse needs of local people. After being spurred into action in 1993 by government plans for use of local forests, communities have regained control over land management and have devised a system of unique forest planning zones. To add weight to community anti-poaching rules, area villages have passed supportive by-laws and members of local communities now patrol each forest zone to ensure enforcement. As a result of these interventions, villagers have access to a greater range of forest products, including sustainable timber and products such as fruits, nuts, mushrooms and medicines. Water supply has also been improved, sustainable tree nurseries, vegetable gardens and orchards have been introduced, and maize production has increased from 15 to 25 bags per hectare. |
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A collaborative partnership of three community-focused organizations - ANAI*, APPTA**, and CBTC*** - the Talamanca Initiative has worked since 1983 to integrate biodiversity conservation and socio-economic development in the Talamanca region of Costa Rica. The initiative's biodiversity conservation efforts include establishment of Gandoca-Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge, a last sanctuary for the endangered Manatee, and development of Central America's only permanent raptor migration monitoring program. To encourage sustainable socio-economic development, the initiative has promoted crop diversification and organic agriculture, with APPTA's processing system becoming the largest volume producer and exporter of organic products in Central America. Since 1991, the initiative has also run a Regional Training Center and has helped establish 13 local ecotourism ventures. As an example of the gains that have been made through the initiative's work, scientific research, conservation and ecotourism have become the main economic activity in the village of Gandoca, generating 6 times the income previously produced through the poaching of turtle eggs. Through the Talamanca Initiative's work, communities have been able to engage in sustainable income generating pursuits that also work to protect their natural environment.
Visit the Talamanca Initiative's Website
(*Asociación ANAI, **Asociación de Pequeños Productores de Talamanca, and ***Corredor Biológico Talamanca-Caribe). |
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