WHMSI Draft Tool Matrix Habitat: Establish Incentivs for Private Landowners

Draft Tool Matrix

Capacity Building
Western Hemisphere Migratory Species Initiative
Emerging Issues
Wetlands

II. Habitat
d. Establish Incentives for Private Landowners

Recovering Paradise is a silvipastoral project funded by the GEF in coordination with NGOs in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Colombia. It seeks to develop sustainable livestock operations that emphasize retention or development of significant percentages of coverage of pastures by trees, shrubs, hedgerows, and other forms of vegetative heterogeneity. The intent is to provide habitat for birds and other wildlife, to sequester greater amounts of carbon, and to create opportunities for landowners to reap greater long-term profits from livestock operations.
From: American Bird Conservancy, www.abcbirds.org.
Contact: David Pashley, dpashley@abcbirds.org.

BCI has publications on this topic (some in Spanish and Portuguese), including a video for private landowners on Vampire Bat Control.
BCI is in the process of developing an informational land-owner brochure on cave stewardship.
From: Bat Conservation International, www.batcon.org.
Contact: Carrie Robertson, crobertson@batcon.org.

BirdLife and its partners have experience developing and implementing incentives for private landowners to protect the natural habitats of their land and the species that occur within them.
From: Birdlife International, www.birdlife.org.
Contact: Dr. David Thomas, head of the Site Action Unit, david.thomas@birdlife.org.uk.

The Ministry of Atmosphere, Housing and Territorial Development has a program for private lands owners to register their property in the program of Private Reserves of the Civil Society, receiving some benefits like tax discounts.
From: Colombia - Direccion de Ecosistemas, Ministerio del Medio Ambiente.
Contact: Marta Suárez, msuarez@parquesnacionales.gov.co.

The Important Bird Area project (IBA) has developed a Stewardship program that includes private landowner incentives in northern Canada.
From: Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory, http://www.lslbo.org/.
Contact: IBA Conservation Educator, Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory, Education@lslbo.org, T: (780) 849-7117.

The U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Resources Conservation Service have private lands programs with various ideas for incentives.
From: Partners in Flight, www.partnersinflight.org.
Contact: Terry Rich, Terry_rich@fws.gov.

INRENA provides incentives for private landowners.
From: Peru – National Institute of Natural Resources (INRENA), http://www.inrena.gob.pe/
Contact: Dr. Cesar Alvarez Falcon (jefatura@inrena.gob.pe),

Sustainable Forestry Program and Sustainable Agriculture Program work with landowners interested in receiving SmartWood or Rainforest Alliance certification for their privately owned forests or coffee, banana, citrus, cocoa, or ornamental plant farms.
From: Rainforest Alliance, www.rainforestalliance.org.
Contact: smartwood.org; www.ra.org/programs/cap.

Resolution VIII.23 covers incentive measures as tools for achieving the wise use of wetlands and an electronic forum on incentives.
From: Ramsar Convention, www.ramsar.org.
Contact: Margarita Astrálaga, astralaga@ramsar.org.

Forest Service State and Private Forestry helps develop and delivers private landowner forest management assistance under national forestry incentive programs, including the forestry provisions of the Farm Bill.
International Programs works with governments to develop practicable incentives for natural resource conservation.
From: United States Forest Service, www.fs.fed.us.
Contact: Ted Beauvais, State and Private Forestry, T: 202-205-1190.

Shorebirds & Agriculture (USA) is a 4-page leaflet to educate landowners about shorebirds, detailing their habitat requirements and offering suggestions on how to maintain private agricultural lands without compromising landowner profits. It also has 2 regional inserts: a) Managing Prairie Potholes for Shorebirds, and b) Managing Wetlands of the Intermountain West Region to Benefit Shorebirds.
From: Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network, http://www.manomet.org/WHSRN/.
Contact: Heidi Luquer, Luquer@vermontel.net.

Biorights approach is a tool for developing agreements between local stakeholders, including communities, governments, private land-owners, and the global community (donors). This tool also includes promotion of public-private partnerships for addressing poverty-environment issues, in which public funds can be used to overcome or decrease financial risks for private investors. It also links to points 1) Land use planning and monitoring and 2) Involvement of communities. One of the three Biorights pilot projects is in development in Costa Rica (San Juan – La Selva) as a case for the Meso-American Biological Corridor. It could equally well be developed as a tool within a flyway.
From: Wetlands International, www.wetlands.org.
Contact: Melanie Steinkamp, Melanie_Steinkamp@fws.gov.

Last updated: November 20, 2008