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United Nations Environment Programme

TEEBAgriFood Colombia

In Nature Action

Wetland Conservation and Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture in Kampala – TEEBAgriFood Uganda

Scope of work

1. Land-use planning (Putumayo)

UNEP supported the Humboldt Institute – the scientific arm of the National Environmental System – to institutionalize comprehensive food systems evaluations into national and subnational decision-making processes.

Agriculture and food system decision making is often based on farm level data, delivering an incomplete and biased picture of impacts. In response, UNEP has built capacity to develop predictive models that incorporate landscape interactions among socio-economic and environmental drivers, sectors, policies and land-cover impacts. This allowed the integration of the high heterogeneity of the landscape in policy recommendations for promoting a shift towards nature-positive land management, both at the national level as well as at subnational level in the Putumayo department – a biodiversity hotspot with relevance in terms of indigenous land.

Cross-sectoral actors have been brought together at the national and subnational level to prioritize different future policy pathways for assessment : i) good agricultural practices, ii) better technology at stages of the agricultural value chain, iii) better construction and road infrastructure, iv) Incentives for product transformation, v) Incentives for restoration, vi) conservation incentives, and vii) strengthening of indigenous practices. Those scenarios were assessed on their changes in the provisioning of a wide range of ecosystem services: food, water supply, carbon regulation service, erosion control, water regulation, pollination, habitat services, cultural services (nature tourism)

2. Developing biodiversity centered value chains and a bioeconomy strategy for the Amazon region

Adequately recovering from the impacts of Covid-19 largely depends on the identification of sustainable and viable livelihood options. The bioeconomy has the potential to address multiple objectives: livelihoods, health, education and food security, while protecting biodiversity and ecosystem services.

The Amazon region of Colombia, with its high biodiversity, presents a wide range of options with bioeconomic potential such as fruits, fiber and essential oils, amongst others. One of the most frequent and abundant botanical families are the native palm species, with various potential uses (food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical) and multiple opportunities for transformation and added value.

In collaboration with Fundación Natura, The TEEBAgriFood Evaluation Framework was applied to the following bioeconomy development scenarios in the Amazon region (with focus on palms native to the Amazon):

  • What would happen if less sustainable livelihood options, focused on short term economic recovery, persist?
  • What would happen if we developed native palm value chains without an integrated vision of the bioeconomy (ie. not including social component)
  • What would happen if we only focused on biodiversity conservation efforts?

The evidence generated through this scenario analysis showed the need for an integrated vision on the bioeconomy, including an environmental, social and economic component).

Publications and resources

Synthesis report and factsheet: Land-use Planning (Putumayo region) - forthcoming

Synthesis report and factsheet: bioeconomy and palms native to the Amazon region - forthcoming

Interim reports for land-use planning in the Putumayo region

Interim reports for bioeconomy in the Amazon region

Events and meetings

#MakeNatureCount Colombia Forum (November 2021) [Recording] [Infographic panel 1; panel 2]

Bioeconomy in Amazon region

Land-use Planning (Putumayo region) 

In Nature Action

Topics

Related Sustainable Development Goals

Goal 15

Goal 15: Life on Land
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80 per cent of agricultural land is used for livestock feed.

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