Biodiversity and extreme poverty

• 1. Natural Valuesand Ecosystem Servicesin the Fight against Poverty
  • Jalpan de Serra, Quertaro, MxicoSeptember 2007

www.sierragorda.net Biodiversity Conservation in the Sierra Gorda 2. Sierra GordaBiosphere Reserve, Quertaro., Mxico www.sierragorda.net 3. Sierra GordaBiosphere Reserve www.sierragorda.net 4. The most ecodiverse biosphere reserve in Mxico. Tropical Forests Oak Forests Coniferous Forests Xerifilous matorral Mesophilus forests Gallery forests www.sierragorda.net 5. Local, national, and international partnerswww.sierragorda.net 6. The Sierra Gorda Consortium www.sierragorda.net 7. Monitoring of hydrology and soil erosion www.sierragorda.net 8. Runoff coefficient for an area without vegetation and in a pine forest in Pinal de Amoles, Quertaro Runoff Coefficient is the percentage of rainfall that appears as runoff Without Vegetation Pine forest www.sierragorda.net 9. Relative amount of soil loss for areas without vegetation compared to pine and oak forests Bars display weight of sediment (kilos) in every 100 m 3of runoff Without vegetation Without vegetation www.sierragorda.net Sediment Sediment Pine Pine 1 Pine 2 10. Volume of runoff in different vegetation types in the semi-arid zone of Quertaro (Cadereyta) Without vegetation www.sierragorda.net Volume of Runoff (m 3 ) 11. Carbon sequestration plots& weighing biomass www.sierragorda.net 12. Results of Carbon Inventory www.sierragorda.net 13. Total value (US Dollars) of ecosystem services per vegetation type www.sierragorda.net 14.

• PriceWaterhouseCoopers

• assisted management of

• Grupo Ecolgico Sierra Gorda I.A.P.,

• Bosque Sustentable A.C., and

• Productos y Servicios Tursticos Sierra Gorda, S.A. de C.V.

• with the preparation of an

• Integrated Strategic Plan.

www.sierragorda.net 15. Bosque Sustentable as an Aggregator www.sierragorda.net 16. Environmental Services Products www.sierragorda.net Product Type Geography Potential / Existing Market Financial Objective Status Reforestation Carbon sequestration Sierra Gorda International Cost recovering + some charity Existing product Commercial plantation Carbon sequestration Huasteca potosina International Profit generating Under development Assisted natural generations Carbon sequestration Sierra Gorda International Cost recovering Under development Gourmet product - Integrated ecosystem Biodiversity Sierra Gorda International Cost recovering + Profit generating Under development Avoided Soil Erosion Soil Conservation Sierra Gorda State and Local Generation of local employment Under Implementation 17. Sources of Competitive Advantage

• Sustainability

• Long history, tracing back to the grass root efforts of Grupo Ecolgico since 1987;

• Coordinated and successful efforts in environmental education, livelihood diversification, restoration, and plant and wildlife conservation programs;

• Well-tested, sustainable, and improving institutional co-management framework - public (Reserve) and private (NGO) partnership.

www.sierragorda.net 18. Sources of Competitive Advantage

• Social

• As an aggregator, Bosque Sustentable can enable the pooling of micro reforestation projects for the market, which helps to alleviate poverty.

• Compensation to locals for the opportunity costs of forestry conservation;

• Help the poor: the funding will be utilized for payment to land / forestry owners and also for employment for the forestry management program;

• Additional benefits of improved quality of life for communities and residents through participating in the programs.

www.sierragorda.net 19. Pricing Strategy www.sierragorda.net Product Cost Reforestation

• US$15-18 per ton of CO 2 e;

• 35-40 or 60-65 split between Bosque Sustentable and land owners;

• This effectively elevates the price of the product into the higher end of the market.The pricing strategy appears justifiable given the nature of micro products and the differential advantages.

Commercial plantation

• 10 to 30 percent discount to reforestation due to (1) the larger size of an individual project (normal is at least 50 ha above); (2) the economic value expected from future wood harvesting; (3) land owners are typically not as poor as those for reforestation projects.

Assisted nature regeneration

• Need further input based on the on-going baseline studies.

Individual customers

• Above US$20 per ton of CO 2 e (World Land Trust at 15 per ton of CO 2 e) because of the effort to aggregate customers.

20. Biodiversity ConservationGourmet Product www.sierragorda.net Factor Description Flat fee

• Based on the minimum cost needed for conservation.

• US$200,000 400,000 per annum when annual product sales do not exceed a certain amount (such as US$20 40 million, meaning one percent of sales, or US$40 80million at 0.5 percent of sales).

Progressive contingent fee

• A percent (0.5 - one percent) of any sales exceeding the amount defined above; the ratio may be reduced progressively as sales increase.

Cap or extension

• Determining a cap of fees at an amount that would be a sufficient payment to land owners and a complete forestry management program.The cap may be based on one of the market approaches (jaguar or carbon sequestration) previously described.

• Alternatively, no cap of fees but instead extend the area of conservation as fees reach a certain amount.(Amount to be determined after a detailed budgeting).

Rationale

• Start with a low entry fee that may entice new customers;

• The contingent fee portion provides additional income as arguably the biodiversity conservation image helps the success of commercial product sales.

21. Biodiversity Monitoring :Jaguar Range Determination www.sierragorda.net 22. Sierra Gorda Social Return on Investment Analysis: Change in quality of lifesince the creation of the reserve www.sierragorda.net 23. Desire to protect the environment,before and after training www.sierragorda.net 24. Rates ofgarbageseparationbefore and after training www.sierragorda.net 25. Gracias ! www.sierragorda.net