World Bank Global Wildlife Program - Newsletter July 2022
GWP NEWSLETTER | JULY 2022
Dear GWP Friends and Colleagues, The past few months have been bustling with knowledge exchange activities and capacity development as we hosted a series of technical workshops for GWP project teams on themes such as corridors and connectivity, gender mainstreaming, reducing demand for illegal wildlife products, and law enforcement interagency collaboration. As many of you already know, knowledge exchange forms an integral part of the GWP’s mission and you can read about how the GWP stayed engaged with the projects in virtual times in this story. Moving away from virtual settings and into the Congo Basin, take a look at how biodiversity conservation efforts can help improve livelihoods for forest-dependent communities in the Republic of Congo in this newly released project video. The wide-ranging nature of GWP projects and activities have been captured in the renewed GWP brochure and GWP program video: Working Together for Wildlife, People and Economies. You can also view some of the GWP’s activities in Asia in this picturesque story developed by the UNDP. Please share these resources with your peers and reach out to the GWP coordination team for collaboration opportunities. Finally, we commend the leadership and commitment of countries who have pledged more than $5.33 billion for the Global Environment Facility’s (GEF) eighth replenishment (GEF-8). The investments will help halt biodiversity loss and safeguard land and ocean habitats, securing countries’ natural capital and supporting local economies. We are particularly excited by the inclusion of the Wildlife Conservation for Development Integrated Program as one of the GEF's 11 Integrated Programs. The GWP Program Steering Committee has started discussing lessons from the GWP that can inform the development of the new program. Warm regards, the GWP Team
GWP Brochure: Updated and available in three languages
The GWP’s new brochure highlights our projects across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the global knowledge platform. It summarizes our impact, approach, and four pillars—with country examples from each to give a sense of the diverse portfolio of projects within the GWP.
Check out the new GWP brochure in English, French, and Spanish The GWP has also updated our program video: Working Together for Wildlife, People and Economies
A community of wildlife conservationists: Staying engaged in virtual times
The experience built by the GWP hosting a range of in-person and virtual events has taught us important lessons on building an effective atmosphere for peer-to-peer knowledge exchange. Our virtual annual conference included a “knowledge market” for projects to share information with each other. For example, the GWP Indonesia project shared their experience of establishing their first women-led ranger group after they learned how successful this effort was when they attended an in-person GWP conference in Zambia hosted in partnership with the governments of Zambia and Zimbabwe. Find out more about how the GWP has coordinated and shared lessons with projects virtually over the last few years. Read the feature story here
Conservation clinic:
Unlocking the potential of Collaborative Management Partnerships to advance protected area management and development in Africa
The GWP, with the Lion Recovery Fund, is hosting an event at the IUCN Africa Protected Areas Congress (APAC) in Kigali, Rwanda, on the value of collaborative management partnerships (CMPs) for strengthening protected area management, and practical tools and guidance for exploring, implementing, and sustaining CMPs. The in-person event for APAC participants will take place from 2–3:30 p.m. CAT on Wednesday, July 20, 2022, in Room AD12 in the Kigali Convention Center. You can register at: https://apacongress.africa
From GWP projects & partners
GWP Congo: Nature’s Future, People’s Future
The Republic of Congo hosts abundant biodiversity and globally significant rainforest of the Congo Basin, which serves as an essential carbon sink. This rich ecosystem provides livelihoods for indigenous and local populations and is threatened by increasing deforestation and a growing population. Through the Forest and Economic Diversification Project under the GWP, local communities living in the vicinity of Nouabalé-Ndoki and Ntokou-Pikounda National Parks have found new opportunities to protect nature and to benefit from it.
GWP Bhutan launches awareness campaign on conservation issues
The GWP Bhutan project executed by the Tourism Council of Bhutan with support from UNDP, will be publishing a series of articles from June–December on conservation, human-wildlife conflict and coexistence, ecotourism, and biodiversity conservation in general in the Bhutanese perspective. The first article appeared in Bhutan’s national newspaper: Buddhist Wisdom on Conservation with Buddhist scholar Lopen Karma Phuntsho.
Wave of Solidarity: GWP countries across Asia working together to fight the illegal wildlife trade
GWP countries across Asia supported by the UNDP are working to combat the illegal wildlife trade through strategies like enhancing collaboration, enforcement, governance and tourism development to ensure that IWT and human-wildlife conflict don't set back conservation, development, and economic goals.
View the UNDP photo story here
International Maritime Organization adopts guidelines to combat wildlife smuggling
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted the new Guidelines for the Prevention and Suppression of the Smuggling of Wildlife on Ships Engaged in International Maritime Traffic. The guidelines—available to IMO members with access—include measures to prevent, detect and report wildlife trafficking within the maritime sector, with an emphasis on due diligence, responsibility-sharing and cooperation between all stakeholders along the supply chains. WWF will engage with the stakeholders by providing expertise and support in awareness-raising, training relevant staff, policy advocacy and adapting the sector’s practices. Efforts to establish the guidelines were led by the government of Kenya with a working group from UNDP, WWF, TRAFFIC, and the United for Wildlife Transport Taskforce. Photo: Juozas Cernius / WWF-UK
GEF-funded African nature-based tourism platform
Looking for information on the current state of nature-based tourism in Africa? The African Nature-Based Tourism Platform, supported by the GEF and WWF, is collecting data on how local communities and small and medium enterprises in nature-based tourism are being impacted by COVID-19. For example, of the 633 tourism enterprises surveyed, total staff employment has dropped from 30,000 before the pandemic to 13,000 currently. Check out the data and country summary reports from Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
ICCWC launches new videos and success stories
The World Bank’s work on national risk assessment tools has been captured as an International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC) success story. This highlights the importance of efforts to combat financial crimes linked to wildlife crime through an example rolled out in Côte d’Ivoire that helped wildlife stakeholders better understand the scope of the proceeds generated by wildlife crime and the associated money laundering and terrorist financing risks. Other ICCWC success stories highlight Operation Thunder—a global crackdown on wildlife and forest crime across borders, Wildlife Inter-Regional Enforcement (WIRE) meetings that connected 200 criminal justice practitioners from 34 countries in Africa and Asia, and how ICCWC's Wildlife and Forest Crime Analytic Toolkit was applied in Mozambique. ICCWC's success stories can be found by scrolling to the bottom of the website’s ‘Action’ section (soon available in French and Spanish too).
You can watch ICCWC’s new videos here: · About ICCWC · ICCWC's Approach: Deter, Detect, Detain, Dismantle · ICCWC’s tools and their partners · Operation Thunder 2021 You can also follow ICCWC on LinkedIn and Twitter
Recent publications and news
Reducing risks of emerging infectious diseases and improving pandemic prevention in Asia
These twin reports, prepared jointly by the World Bank and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), explore the root causes of disease emergence in East and South Asia and the Pacific, review existing strengths and gaps of One Health systems, and provide recommendations to improve their performance, with a focus on domestic animals and food systems, wildlife, and the environment. Read the reports here: From Reacting to Preventing Pandemics – Building Animal Health and Wildlife Systems for One Health in East Asia and Pacific Reducing Pandemic Risks at Source – Wildlife, Environment and One Health foundations in East and South Asia
Making the case for investments in protected areas in Zambia and Nepal
These two new World Bank publications highlight the positive ripple effects of protected area tourism to local communities and encourage governments to invest in protecting its natural assets—wildlife and habitats. For example,the reports show the estimates of economic returns are 28 kwacha per 1 kwacha of government spending on Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park, and in Nepal's Chitwan National Park the economic return per rupee is conservatively estimated as 7.6 rupees per 1 rupee of government spending.
Assessing the Economic Impact of Tourism in Protected Areas on Local Economies in Zambia Economic Impacts of Protected Area Tourism on Local Communities in Nepal
WildCheck: Assessing risks and opportunities of trade in wild plant ingredients
A new collaborative report by TRAFFIC, FAO, and the IUCN Species Survival Commission Medicinal Plant Specialist Group looks at why governments, the private sector, and consumers need to care about precious yet often overlooked plant ingredients and how responsible sourcing can support broader wildlife conservation and marginalized livelihoods.
Tune in to the GWP's Virtual Knowledge Events
Sharing Tourism Benefits with Local Communities around Protected Areas July 27, 2022 @ 7:30 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
(After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.)
Replay prior events:
May 2022: Sharing Successful Experiences of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities' Engagement in Conservation (co-hosted with the Amazon Sustainable Landscapes Program) Presentations: · Legado Initiative · Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and WCS Toolkit · SECURE Himalaya Project, Government of India and UNDP Other past webinars can be found here. To receive regular updates about virtual events email: gwp-info@worldbank.org
Follow the GWP on Twitter via @WBG_Environment
www.worldbank.org/global-wildlife-program Subscribe to the GWP Newsletter here GWP Brochure: English I French | Spanish GWP Program Video (updated May 2022): Working together for wildlife, people and economies
This newsletter is published by the GWP Coordination Team We welcome your submissions of news, events, and publications at gwp-info@worldbank.org