Ecosystems and Natural Resources (ENR)
The UNDP Climate, Environment and Energy team supports the promotion of effective governance of terrestrial and marine ecosystems and fosters benefit sharing with local communities. The thematic area covers the following topics:
International Waters (IW)
Given the importance of water to poverty alleviation, human and ecosystem health, the management of water resources becomes of central importance. The current UNDP International Waters (IW) portfolio is centered on Pacific SIDS and East and Southeast Asia with a thematic focus on integrated coastal management (ICM), Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and developing institutional capacity for management of shared fish stocks and other marine resources. A priority is to ensure that these projects deliver tangible stress reduction on the marine and coastal environment as well as on scarce fresh water resources in SIDS, while also generating lessons and good practices that can be scaled up under the GEF programmatic approaches, such as the Pacific Alliance for Sustainability (PAS) and Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI).
Land Degradation
Land degradation has the potential to increase poverty, compromise food security, increase vulnerability and undermine human development, particularly for the rural poor in Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Land Degradation (LD) projects in Asia-Pacific focus on mainstreaming sustainable land management into national development and planning frameworks with a focus on LDCs and SIDS (see the LDC-SIDS Global Portfolio Project). The projects also aim to strengthen human, technical, and institutional capacities, bring about needed policy and regulatory reforms, and implement innovative sustainable land management practices. Main areas of work relate to sustainable agricultural practices, sustainable rangeland management and forest and woodland management systems.
Biodiversity
Poverty and biodiversity are intimately linked. The poor, especially in rural areas, depend on biodiversity for food, fuel, shelter, medicines and livelihoods. Biodiversity also provides critical 'ecosystem services' on which development depends, including air and water purification, soil conservation, disease control, and reduced vulnerability to natural disasters such as floods, droughts and landslides. Biodiversity loss exacerbates poverty, and likewise, poverty is a major threat to biodiversity. Biodiversity projects supported by the UNDP Climate, Environment and Energy team focus on the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, the maintenance of the ecosystem goods and services that biodiversity provides to society, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD)
Under current trends, tropical forest clearing could release an additional 320 to 477 Gigatonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by 2100, an amount equivalent to the carbon release from more than a decade of global fossil fuel combustion. In response to the COP13 decision, requests from countries, and encouragement from donors, UNDP together with FAO and UNEP, have developed a collaborative Reducing Emissions f
rom Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) programme (UN-REDD Programme). The UN-REDD Programme consists of two sets of activities (i) country actions which will assist developing countries prepare and implement national REDD strategies and mechanisms; (ii) international support functions which will support the development of normative solutions and standardized approaches based on sound science for a REDD instrument linked with the UNFCCC. The UNDP Climate, Environment and Energy team assists UN-REDD programmes to be rolled out in Asia Pacific, starting with Indonesia, PNG and Vietnam.
Mangroves for the Future
Marine and coastal ecosystems form an essential development infrastructure and many poor coastal communities are facing severe hardships because coastal resources no longer sustain their traditional or main livelihoods. Mangroves for the Future (MFF) is a unique partner-led initiative to promote investment in coastal ecosystem conservation for sustainable development. It provides a collaborative platform among the many different agencies, sectors and countries who are addressing challenges to coastal ecosystem and livelihood issues, to work towards a common goal. For more information see the MFF webpage.
Poverty Environment Initiative
The UNDP-UNEP Poverty-Environment Initiative (PEI) is a joint programme to provide financial and technical support to countries to build capacity for mainstreaming poverty-environment linkages into national development planning processes for poverty reduction and pro-poor growth For more information see the PEI webpage.
Key Contacts
- Anna TENGBERG (Land & Water)
- Joseph D’CRUZ (ENR & MFF)
- Sameer KARKI (Biodiversity)
- Paul STEELE (PEI)
- Doley TSHERING (Land)
- Tim BOYLE (REDD)
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