The ICCF Group in Latin America and the Caribbean

Success Stories Across Latin America

The ICCF Group has facilitated the establishment of congressional conservation caucuses in Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Mexico and of a regional conservation caucus of countries belonging to the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). The ICCF Group is working with partners in the parliaments of Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, and Saint Lucia to support the launch of conservation caucuses in these parliaments.

The ICCF Group is collaborating with each of these coalitions of policymakers to provide them with comprehensive information and innovative solutions on issues of natural resource management. Equipped with objective information, these policymakers can make informed decisions and lead the way in forming sound, nonpartisan conservation policies that benefit their respective nations.

On the ground, experts from the ICCF Group’s International Conservation Corps work hand in hand with governmental and non-governmental partners in developing nations to achieve conservation priorities and develop institutional capacity to effectively manage parks and protected areas.

Brazil

ICCF in Brazil supports improved conservation governance by catalyzing dialogue in a multi-party parliamentary caucus. A comprehensive agenda builds capacity on sustainable development of agricultural, urban, and industrial livelihoods that have positive impacts on global biodiversity and climate change.

In PictureThe ICCF Group Vice President of Global Strategy Keith Alger addresses audience at the 2022 launch of the Multiparty Parliamentary Group for Conservation and Sustainable Production of the Congress of the Federative Republic of Brazil (Caucus Brazil).

Colombia

ICCF Colombia works with the Congress of the Republic of Colombia to strengthen political will surrounding development and conservation issues that are positioned on the legislative agenda in the Senate and the House of Representatives, with more than 70 Congressmen supporting these initiatives.

Experts from the ICCF Group’s International Conservation Corps are working with the National Natural Parks of Colombia (PNN) to strengthen its management capacity, especially improving the ability to sustainably support increased tourism to bring much-needed jobs to rural communities, developing a new institutional planning system, incorporating interpretation services at heavily visited parks, strengthening commercial services management, and developing a strategy for a new national training program.

In PictureSenator Germán Blanco, Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the two conservation caucuses in the Congress of the Republic of Colombia, attends an ICCF Colombia panel on Amazon conservation.

Eastern Caribbean

ICCF Caribbean works toward regional integration for the sustainable management of natural resources and better quality of life for the people of the OECS through facilitating dialogue among policymakers and between parliaments.

Experts from the ICCF Group’s International Conservation Corps are working with Ministries to enhance capacity for protected area management in Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, and Saint Lucia.

This includes:

• management and implementation plans for the Codrington Lagoon National Park in Antigua & Barbuda;
• business plan for Dominica’s Cabrits National Park;
• co-management agreement between the Fisheries Division and a third-party coalition of stakeholders in Grenada’s Grand Anse Marine Protected Area (MPA);
• management plan for the promotion of voluntary protection agreements with private landowners in Saint Lucia.

Mexico

ICCF Mexico works with the General Congress of the United Mexican States acting as secretariat of the Mexican Conservation Caucus (MCC) and the Mexican Ocean Caucus integrated by more than 40 parliamentarians from both the Senate of the Republic and the House of Representatives. A comprehensive agenda strengthens political will and builds capacities on biodiversity conservation, communitarian forest management, sound management of natural protected areas, as well as the path towards a sustainable ocean economy, including issues such as blue carbon, IUU fishing, ocean acidification, and others.

In PicturePark Ranger addresses participants of an ICCF-Mexico mission, highlighting the challenges and opportunities relating to protected areas, national parks, and sustainable tourism.

Paraguay

The "ICCF Food Systems, Land Use and Restoration Project," known as FOLUR in Spanish, seeks to transform food production and land use systems in rural Paraguay to better integrate its productivity, enhance its ecosystem services, and conserve its resources and natural capital. Co-funded by the Global Environment Facility and civil society, FOLUR is led by the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of the Republic of Paraguay (MADES) with the support of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

Experts from the ICCF Group’s International Conservation Corps are working in the Defensores del Chaco National Park as well as with the Directorate for Wild Protected Areas (DASP) of the General Directorate for the Protection of Conservation and Biodiversity of MADES.

The team works in 4 areas:

• DASP and Paraguay Wild Protected Areas
• Implementation Planning
• Education and Interpretation
• Ranger Law Enforcement and Visitor Contact Training

Peru

Peru’s congressional leadership continues to choose ICCF Peru as secretariat to its nonpartisan conservation caucus, catalyzing a positive and transformative policy environment for the future of its people and the country’s natural wealth. Recent successes include confirmation of PARLAMAZ in Peru and the introduction of a bill on fishing transparency in Peru’s Congress.

Experts from the ICCF Group’s International Conservation Corps are working in the National Parks of Paracas and Tambopata, on interpretative scripts and interpretative training for rangers. The team also visited the Tambopata National Park, with early conversations to improve ecotourism and birdwatching.

In PicturePeruvian Congressman Arturo Alegría discussing the bill on accountability and transparency of Peru’s fishing industry, at the ICCF panel in Congress.