Noticias de otros medios

Un día para reflexionar sobre entornos urbanos más abiertos e innovadores.

Bernarda Pessoa, lideresa de una comunidad del pueblo qom, denuncia la marginación de las mujeres y los indígenas

Ganar espacio para los viandantes en las ciudades no es fácil. Muchas lo intentan. El municipio mexicano de Xalapa pone en marcha innovadores sistemas para privilegiarlos

La plataforma digital Mlouma facilita la compraventa ‘online’ de hortalizas en siete regiones del país y contribuye a poner fin a las pérdidas poscosecha

El trabajo realizado por tres artistas visuales y un antropólogo mexicano denuncia el estereotipo de la mujer indígena

CIF Grant: US$ 19.62 million equivalent Project ID: P156719 Project Description: This project will scale-up renewable energy investments in Haiti in order to expand and improve access to electricity for households, businesses, and community services. Contact: Christelle Chapoy 2024582656 cchapoy@worldbank.org For more information, please visit here: http://projects.worldbank.org/P156719?lang=en  

CIF Grant: US$ 15.65 million equivalent Project ID: P154351 Project Description: This project will accelerate private sector-driven, renewable energy-based off-grid electrification in rural and peri-urban areas of Haiti. Contact: Christelle Chapoy 2024582656 cchapoy@worldbank.org For more information, please visit here: http://projects.worldbank.org/P154351/?lang=en&tab=overview

WASHINGTON, October 26, 2017— The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved two grants totaling US$35 million to improve access to electricity for more than two million Haitians, and to scale-up investments in renewable energy in underserved rural and urban areas. “Haiti has significant untapped sources of renewable energy”, said Anabela Abreu, World Bank’s Country Director for Haiti. “The country is taking an important step in creating the enabling environment for private investors and in boosting access to electricity. The World Bank Group will continue to support the country in providing sustainable renewable energy to increase access for families, businesses and community services in underserved areas, diversify its energy mix, and reduce electricity cost”. Renewable energy sources such as solar, hydropower, wind and biomass, and off grid electrification have great potential. Over five million people could be reached through solar photovoltaic (PV). Yet, only one in three Haitians has access to electricity and access is very limited in rural areas. More specifically, the two projects, “Renewable Energy For All” and “Haiti Modern Energy Services for All,” will help:Improve the environment for private investment in clean energy;Expand access for rural households through leveraged investments in micro and mini-grids, and village level systems;Strengthen the capacity of local institutions and develop awareness of local communities on how to use renewable energy;Finance private operators, NGOs and Community Organizations to provide solar lanterns, and individual and home-based solar systems. Both projects will be implemented by the energy cell of the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Communications (MTPTC in French). The Renewable Energy for All project is financed by a US$ 19.62 million grant from the Scaling-up Renewable Energy Program (SREP); and the Modern Energy Services for All project is financed by a US$ 15.65 million grant from the Clean Technology Fund (CTF). Both grants are from the Climate Investment Fund (CIF) and are part of the World Bank’s accelerated effort to provide clean energy and resilient infrastructure. —————————– Learn more about the work of the World Bank in Latin America and the Caribbean: www.worldbank.org/lac Visit us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/worldbank Be updated via:  Twitter: @WBCaribbean YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/worldbank  

Challenges Land tenure in Honduras was often insecure due to unreliable cadastral and legal information, weak inter-institutional coordination, and inadequate conflict resolution mechanisms. Rural areas faced the most significant challenges, particularly in La Mosquitia, where indigenous peoples have been particularly affected by land dispossession and lack of effective legal protection. Approach The Second Land Administration Project (PATH II) was the second phase of an adaptable program loan aimed at increasing land tenure security in Honduras by improving decentralized land administrative services, including access to more accurate information on property records and transactions. During the first phase (PATH I), the Property Institute was created and attached to the Ministry of the Presidency to establish, maintain, and update the integrated property system. The project relied on consultative and participatory processes as well as conflict mitigation and resolution that benefited indigenous and nonindigenous communities in rural and urban areas. Results The following results were achieved during the lifetime of the project, from 2011 to 2017.   Increased tenure security and local governance of Miskito indigenous peoples by:Titling 78 communities of Miskito indigenous peoples, benefiting 26,740 community members.Training 117 indigenous community leaders, 48 of them women, on alternative conflict resolution mechanisms.Training 109 indigenous community leaders, 40 of them women, on managing land and natural resources. Increased land tenure security by:Recording the ownership rights of 174,239 parcels (deed system).Surveying 10 municipalities.Supporting the establishment of six municipal associated centers.Issuing new titles to 50,798 households in rural and urban areas, about 48 percent of which went to woman-headed households. Contributed to sustainable land and natural resources management by:Demarcating three protected areas, contributing to improved certainty about boundaries and thus clarifying management of natural resources and protected areas. The legally recognized areas are Refugio de Vida Silvestre Mico Quemado, Zona de Reserva el Merendon, and Refugio de Vida Silvestre Colibri Esmeralda Hondureno. Strengthened legal and institutional framework by:Issuing Property Institute regulations for the certification of associated municipal centers.Developing technology platforms for the Property Institute and for integrating the registry and cadaster.Maintaining a high rate of accuracy (97.6 percent) for the Integrated Registry Module (SURE) under the National Property Administration System (SINAP).Training, certifying, and registering 1,117 professionals from the private and public sectors to use the Integrated Registry Module (SURE).Training 1,088 technical surveyors.Strengthening local capacity in 10 municipalities, all of which now use the cadastral information generated by the project for multiple purposes.Supporting the design of territorial plans for six municipalities. Strengthened public and private partnerships by:Supporting the design of new SURE modules, prepared to provide technical support to participating private partners. The project supported front/back office model pilots in two banks, FICOHSA and BANPROVI. (Front and back characterize interfaces and services, respectively, provided to registry users.)Supporting a front/back office model pilot to improve investor registration in the Chamber of Commerce of Cortes (CCC). The pilot has proven to be effective at speeding up registration and certification of private investors, which now occurs in just one day. In 2016, 1,779 registrations were issued, an accomplishment expected to contribute to an improved “Doing Business” rating for Honduras. Bank Group Contribution The World Bank, through the International Development Association, provided a loan of US$ 32.8 million to finance Honduras’s Second Land Administration Project. Partners The UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) was a key partner of the Bank and the Honduran government and provided technical expertise during project implementation as well as for monitoring and evaluation, economic analysis, and appraising the effectiveness of the final project. Beneficiaries The project benefited urban and rural households. Emphasis was placed on improving outcomes for women, particularly those who are heads of their households. The Miskito indigenous people benefited from the demarcation and titling of 78 communities. At an institutional level, the National Agrarian Institute and the Institute for the Conservation and Development, Protected Areas and Wildlife, were among the government institutions benefiting from access to SURE. The capacity of selected municipalities was strengthened by the cadaster and land record system, and six were certified as associated municipal centers, which built their capacity for territorial planning and land valuation. Moving Forward Although a follow-on project has not yet been prepared, the Property Institute has indicated its interest in a new Bank-financed operation focused on strengthening and consolidating the SINAP and the digitalization of land records at the national as well as municipal levels. Learn More For detailed Project information and key documents see: Link     

Challenge Although Peru had one of the best economic growth rates in Latin America, poverty in the Sierra was far above national averages, and considerably higher in rural areas, posing a challenge for the country’s economic sustainability. The 2002 Household Survey indicated that the incidence of poverty in the rural Sierra was about 75 percent (4.2 million people), with more than 40 percent of the population (2.3 million people) characterized as extremely poor. In 2010, the largest share of household income in the Sierra came from agriculture. About 400,000 hectares of agricultural land was irrigated, representing a third of the total irrigated area in the country. However, the sector faced many challenges. Irrigation systems, usually small, were supplied mostly from surface water sources and consisted of a network of open canals, generally unlined, with rudimentary water intakes and distribution systems. Irrigation systems generally did not include water regulation structures. Less than 5 percent of the irrigated area was equipped with improved on-farm irrigation systems, leading to low efficiencies at the farm level. Management of irrigation infrastructure was also weak. Because the government and donors had traditionally focused support on Peru’s coastal area, only a small number of water user organizations (WUOs) in the Sierra had received capacity building and infrastructure investments, and those investments had been very limited. In general, the Sierra WUOs were financially and technically weak, with low water tariffs and collection rates. Consequently, planning or daily management of water distribution and irrigation services were negligible or nonexistent. Poor maintenance contributed to the gradual degradation of the infrastructure and poor water delivery performance, thus limiting water quantity, frequency, and reliability at the field level. Problems of low quantity, uniformity, frequency, and reliability of irrigation delivery to crops thus often persisted, even in irrigated areas. Many areas of the Sierra, required improvements in irrigation infrastructure and management to increase the value of agricultural production and to foster production of higher-value crops for internal and export markets. Approach The goal of the Peru Sierra Irrigation Subsector Project was to increase and improve agricultural performance in the Sierra by improving irrigation technology, thus providing farmers with enough water to secure traditional harvests and, over time, to shift to higher export-value crops. The project included four components: (i) modernization and rehabilitation of collective irrigation, aimed at financing pre-investment studies and design, execution, and supervision of subprojects to support eligible WUOs in improving their water supply service to farmers through modernization or rehabilitation of collective irrigation systems; (ii) irrigation technology improvement, aimed at financing pre-investment studies and design, execution, and supervision of subprojects to support eligible farmers’ groups and increase irrigation performance at the farm level through improved on-farm irrigation systems; (iii) capacity building and support to production and marketing, aimed at supporting capacity building of the water users’ organizations and of agricultural producers and business groups; and (iv) formalization of water rights and the national water rights administrative registry, aimed at providing technical assistance and equipment to formalize and issue water licenses and expand the Water Use Rights Registry. Results The Peru Sierra Irrigation Subsector Project made a significant contribution to increasing agricultural production and productivity in targeted areas of the Peruvian Sierra. It was successful in increasing irrigation water flow and frequency (28 percent on average) and irrigation efficiency (72 percent compared to 22 percent). Improved irrigation led to crop intensification in the project- intervened areas, ranging between 118 percent and 170 percent, with many farmers switching to higher-market-value crops.From 2011 to 2016, efforts to modernize and rehabilitate collective irrigation systems helped 75 sub-WUOs (in 12 WUOs) to improve irrigation service delivery to 18,758 farmers irrigating 14,770 hectares. Capacity building was provided in each of the 12 selected WUOs and supporting sub-WUOs to achieve eligibility investments and to formulate operation and maintenance (O&M) plans to improve water services delivery. Seventy-five WUOs were trained, formulated O&M plans, and implemented related management tools. A total of 59 WUOs (79 percent of the selected WUOs) were satisfactorily implementing their O&M plans at the end of the project.A significant benefit of these trainings was an increase in water tariffs collection. The percentage of farmers who paid water tariffs to their WUOs increased from 50 percent to 80 percent between 2011 and 2016. The total amount collected went from S/. 1.52 million to S/. 2.22 million during the same period, improving the financial capacity of WUOs and sub-WUOs.Approximately 1,680 farmers benefited from on-farm irrigation systems covering 1,969 hectares. As a result, an important percentage of these farmers, in almost all WUOs, changed to high-value crops. On-farm irrigation improvements also brought increases in crop intensification in all monitored parcels. Trainings strengthened the capacity of agricultural producers and business groups. A total of 1,506 farmers were trained and 110 business plans were satisfactorily implemented. The improved irrigation systems led to increased irrigation efficiency in all benefited areas. The agricultural yields of several crops in the intervention areas increased (as compared to the control group); for example, among other crops tracked, the rye grass yield rose 100 percent, the potato yield 67 percent and the maize yield 27 to 177 percent.

En los últimos años, Argentina ha sido uno de los países de América Latina donde el cambio climático ha provocado mayor impacto. Este fenómeno genera una mayor cantidad de inundaciones, sequías, olas de calor más prolongadas e intensas, propagación de enfermedades, entre otros, que cuestan al país casi un punto del PBI, según estimaciones del Banco Mundial. Los desafíos del cambio climático y las nuevas herramientas para aumentar la resiliencia ante los eventos extremos fueron los ejes centrales de una capacitación organizada por el Banco Mundial, junto con el Ministerio del Interior, Obras Públicas y Vivienda, el Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustentable y el Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hablamos con Carole Megevand, líder del programa del Banco Mundial para Desarrollo Sustentable en Argentina, Uruguay y Paraguay, quien compartió su experiencia sobre infraestructura y resiliencia. P: ¿Cuáles son los principales desafíos que enfrentan las ciudades argentinas respecto al cambio climático? CM: Argentina está dentro de las diez economías emergentes que son más vulnerables al cambio climático. A la vez, el país es uno de los más urbanizados del mundo: aproximadamente el 92% de los argentinos viven en ciudades. Es por este motivo que cada vez que un evento climático extremo impacta en las ciudades argentinas, la calidad de vida de alrededor de millones de personas se ve afectada. En particular, el área metropolitana de Buenos Aires ha sido muy afectada por los diferentes eventos climáticos críticos. Allí viven alrededor de 12 millones de personas, situación que la convierte en el mayor mercado consumidor del país, tanto por población como por nivel de ingresos. Las mejoras a los sistemas de drenaje de la Ciudad en las cuencas de los arroyos Cildáñez, Vega y Maldonado, que el Banco Mundial está facilitando con un préstamo de US$200 millones, son un ejemplo de las mejoras que se deben realizar en áreas críticas. Como resultado, 1,7 millones de personas tendrán un mejor acceso a sus lugares de trabajo, escuelas y servicios médicos, sin verse paralizados por las lluvias. Por otra parte, beneficiará a los 1,3 millones de vecinos que habitan el área de las tres cuencas. De esta manera, no solo se beneficia a los vecinos del área metropolitana sino también a la economía de todo el país. Obras en la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, dentro del Plan Director de Ordenamiento Hidráulico. P: ¿Cuáles son las regiones de Argentina más impactadas por los fenómenos del cambio climático? CM: Lo que hemos visto en los últimos años es que los eventos climáticos siguen aumentando en intensidad y frecuencia. El incremento del nivel de precipitaciones es una de las principales consecuencias del cambio climático en Argentina.  Históricamente, las regiones del noreste y centro y el área metropolitana de Buenos Aires han sido las más afectadas por las inundaciones. Sin embargo, en los últimos años estos eventos han aumentado en intensidad y han afectado gravemente áreas que tradicionalmente no se incluían como alta exposición en mapas de riesgo. En particular, el nivel medio de las aguas subterráneas de la Pampa argentina ha aumentado más de dos metros en los últimos 20 años. Este cambio limita la capacidad de los suelos a mitigar el aumento de las precipitaciones y a su vez afecta la producción, las exportaciones y el trabajo de toda la región. No se trata exclusivamente de un fenómeno circunscripto a las grandes ciudades del país, sino que es un tema que todos los gobiernos locales tienen que tomar en cuenta para su gestión municipal y su planificación. P: ¿Cuáles son algunos aspectos importantes a considerar para aumentar la resiliencia de las ciudades? CM: Las ciudades tienen una capacidad única para abordar los desafíos del cambio climático global. Las decisiones que los gobiernos locales tomen hoy son críticas y van a impactar en la prosperidad y calidad de vida de sus habitantes en el corto, mediano y largo plazo. Al mismo tiempo, estas disposiciones determinarán el alcance y el impacto del cambio climático, así como la posibilidad de reducir las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero. Si no se comprende la urgencia de este desafío, todo el sistema urbano se encuentra en riesgo ante los eventos extremos. La urbanización es un fenómeno que va a seguir fortaleciéndose. Se estima que para 2050 el 95% de los argentinos vivirán en ciudades, por lo que si no se controla el modelo de crecimiento se aumenta la exposición y vulnerabilidad a desastres naturales. Las inversiones en infraestructura, vivienda y transporte requieren de un trabajo integral que pueda recoger, organizar y analizar datos con respecto a los efectos del cambio climático y la vulnerabilidad de las diferentes ciudades. Esta es la única forma de construir un futuro bajo en carbono y resiliente para las ciudades. Vale la pena también pensar en soluciones “naturales” que consideran parques y ecosistemas naturales para reducir los impactos de eventos extremos.  Pensar esas soluciones no solamente permite aumentar la resiliencia de las ciudades al frente del cambio climático, sino que también contribuye a reducir las emisiones de gases a efecto invernadero. P: ¿Cómo pueden los gobiernos locales trabajar de manera eficiente ante el cambio climático? CM: Las ciudades deben desarrollar planes integrales que tomen en cuenta los múltiples desafíos que se les presentan: tanto el cambio climático como la urbanización acelerada, el crecimiento de los asentamientos informales, entre otros. Esta planificación requiere de un desarrollo y financiación de infraestructura crítica que pueda hacer frente a los eventos extremos. El desarrollo de la resiliencia no solo requiere de decisiones por parte de quienes ocupan posiciones de autoridad formal, sino también demanda de una red sólida de relaciones institucionales y sociales que puedan proporcionar seguridad a la población vulnerable. La adaptación al cambio climático en las ciudades necesita de mecanismos de solución de problemas en un marco de colaboración y coordinación entre los diferentes sectores públicos, privados y de la sociedad civil. Por ejemplo, la ciudad de Buenos Aires cuenta con un Equipo Interministerial de diversas áreas de gobierno que llevan adelante acciones de mitigación y adaptación ante el cambio climático. Además, se creó el Foro de Lucha contra el Cambio Climático compuesto por parlamentarios, técnicos y Asociaciones y Organizaciones No Gubernamentales especializadas en la materia. P: ¿Cómo puede una ciudad mejorar la planificación teniendo en cuenta el cambio climático? CM: Es central que estos los gobiernos puedan contar con herramientas que los ayuden a desarrollar una planificación que sea baja en carbono y resiliente al cambio climático. El Banco Mundial diseñó una nueva herramienta que busca asistir a las ciudades en este desafío: “CURB”, Acción Climática para Sostenibilidad Urbana, que ayuda a las autoridades municipales a identificar, priorizar y planificar de manera más fácil iniciativas rentables y eficientes para reducir las emisiones de carbono. De esta manera es posible diseñar e implementar programas de crecimiento sostenible de acuerdo al contexto de cada una de las ciudades. Buenos Aires fue una de las primeras ciudades en el mundo en trabajar con estas nuevas herramientas, diseñando planes de acción para el clima existente en la ciudad y mejorando las simulaciones de escenarios al disponerse de datos de alta calidad. En los últimos meses se capacitó a nuevos especialistas de diferentes ciudades de Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay y Brasil, para que luego puedan evaluar una variedad de inversiones inteligentes en energía, desechos sólidos, transporte y aguas residuales.  

Challenge Deforestation levels in Paraguay were very high, and the country faced some of the most significant forest losses compared to global averages. The Atlantic Forest, considered Latin America’s most important biome for biodiversity after the Amazon Forest, is almost gone, even though it was flourishing in Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina as recently as the 1970s. Today, only about 7 percent of the original forest remains in Paraguay. Paraguayans have witnessed this change with despair, but the nation has had limited opportunities to arrest or alter this trend. Approach The Conservation of Biodiversity and Sustainable Land Management in the Atlantic Forest of Eastern Paraguay project, commonly referred to as the Paraguay Biodiversity Project, was designed to serve as Paraguay’s first conservation model to use a landscape management approach based on a biodiversity corridor to support the restoration of the Atlantic Forest. ITAIPU Binational, considered the largest energy generator in the world, worked with the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Indigenous Peoples Institute (INDI), farmers, and NGOs to develop this large-scale restoration program aimed at providing the last refuge for many threatened species displaced by conversion of forest into agricultural land. A major challenge was the large size of the proposed corridor, covering one million hectares, and the distance between forest remnants. The implementation model developed in response had two key elements: (i) it included the participation of regional implementing agencies (among them NGOs, women’s groups, indigenous peoples’ associations and farmers’ cooperatives) to increase local ownership, and (ii) it instituted interventions designed by the same constituents. The emphasis was placed on engaging people to work together on restoration actions, rather than on cash transfers or results payments.  The Bank-financed project helped build capacities at all levels, including government agencies, grassroots groups and farmers. Goals included improving reforestation with fast growing species for income and wood, restoring stream banks, reducing use of toxic agrochemicals, supporting new regulations and policies for watershed conservation, and constructing infrastructure for protected areas lacking basic services for park rangers and visitors. The participation of indigenous communities and INDI in the range of project activities was critical to reaching the desired project outcomes. Indigenous peoples, though often excluded and lacking basic services, hold some of the largest forest areas in the Atlantic Region, and their interest and engagement in the project was essential to its success. The project planners were committed to overcoming these challenges and to including INDI in the project structure, adjusting project methods to their languages, culture, vision and interests. Results Many outcomes were achieved throughout project implementation. Particularly fruitful developments included the declaration by the Ministry of Environment that the corridor was a national public priority and the formation of a trusted civil society–government network encompassing 55 municipalities, 30 regional implementing groups, and more than 20,000 people working toward restoration of the Atlantic Forest. Other results included the following:     · Protected areas, private reserves, and ITAIPU reserves (80,000 hectares owned by the governments of Paraguay and Brazil) implemented sustainable conservation practices. In total, 233,353 hectares in the Mbaracayú–San Rafael Conservation Corridor were converted for this purpose.     · Biodiversity conservation efforts under the project supported the protection of the habitat of 296 bird species, including endangered and endemic species such as the Gray-bellied Hawk, Saffron Toucanet, Bare-throated Bellbird, Helmeted Woodpecker, Vinaceous Parrot and Rusty-barred Owl, all of which use the corridor’s habitats.     · New infrastructure for parks and the Ministry of Environment of Paraguay was constructed.     · Income and food security for small farmers and indigenous communities was supported through implementation of tailored subprojects, such as planting yerba mate, the traditional staple energy drink of Paraguayans, and installing bee hives to produce honey for family consumption and sale.     · A total of 130 staff from the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture benefited from specialized training on best international practices for managing protected areas, certifying forest production, and monitoring biodiversity, as well as focused studies in environmental economics, agroforestry, apiculture, integrated pest management, watershed conservation, and application of the environmental safeguards policies.     · A total of 5,445 teachers from180 schools in the corridor area benefited from an environmental education program that provided them with materials outlining the threats to the Atlantic Forest. These materials inspired these teachers and their students to participate in planting trees and promoting environmental awareness campaigns. Bank Group Contribution The World Bank, through the Global Environment Facility, provided a grant in the amount of US$4.5 million to finance the Conservation of Biodiversity and Sustainable Land Management in the Atlantic Forest of Eastern Paraguay project. Additional funds were provided by ITAIPU Binational in the amount of US$9.74 million, by the Paraguayan government in the amount of US$3.5 million, and by local beneficiaries in the amount of US$830,000.   Partners This project set up a unique and unprecedented partnership to foster ecological restoration in Eastern Paraguay’s biodiversity corridor in the Atlantic Forest. With the agreement of the Paraguayan Ministry of the Environment, the Bank and GEF selected ITAIPU, a hydropower plant, as the executing agency for this grant. ITAIPU is a Guarani word meaning “the sounding stone,” and it suggests the sound of the Parana River in the project site. ITAIPU’s previous experience working on the reforestation of the reservoir shore informed its work on the much larger corridor territory. Deforestation intersects with complex sectoral agendas, so ITAIPU was supported in strategic implementation decisions by a multisectoral team, comprised by representatives from the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Agriculture and INDI.  The project also established innovative partnerships for technical assistance and support for restoration initiatives with medium and larger producers in Eastern Paraguay. These producers included, for example, the cooperatives Yguazu, Agro-silo Ybyporá, and Chololo SRL in an innovative partnership to support sustainable heart of palm production within forestlands. Altogether, the local network extended to more than 50 organizations, including local NGOs, farmers’ associations, indigenous groups, cooperatives, and others. The network became the critical link for implementing more than 1,100 subprojects to enhance ecological restoration of the Atlantic Forest, increase food security and conserve water.   ITAIPU contributions, combined with financing from the government of Paraguay and in kind contributions from beneficiaries increased local ownership.  The collaboration of many different sectors working together to protect their gran casa, or great house, inspired many government agencies, communities, and stakeholders across the country with the possibility of rebuilding the connectivity of the forest and the home habitat of many threatened species and of increasing the area’s resiliency to climate change.  Beneficiaries The increased connectivity of remnants of the Atlantic Forest had four primary types of beneficiaries: (i) farmers (large- and medium-sized as well as 2,500 small campesinos), (ii) 2,283 indigenous families, representing approximately 10,636 indigenous people; (iii) government agencies; and (iv) local and international NGOs. Indigenous peoples were the project’s largest beneficiary group, with about 40 percent of the funds allocated to implement subprojects in these communities. The indigenous communities as well as organizations working with indigenous peoples (IP) in the region partnered with the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) in implementing the project. The local IP implementing groups included Asociación Cultural Popular Canindeu, Asociación Yvy Marane’y, Asociación Madre Tierra, Comunidad Ache Puerto Barra, and Asociación Nande Ru Simeon Delgado, among others. The beneficiaries in the government include staff at central ministries and local governments, including the Secretariat of Environment, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, National Indigenous People Institute, National Forestry Agency, Public Ministry, Ministry of Education, and 55 municipalities. Twenty NGOs, including long-standing organizations dedicated to conservation and sustainable production at local and national levels, were also beneficiaries. The project enabled them to advance their sustainability and conservation objectives and to function as service providers. Moving Forward Itaipu Binational has incorporated a landscape and conservation corridor approach to its reforestation program and expanded its watershed protection programs. ITAIPU continues to support the Paraguay Biodiversity Project and the indigenous communities and producers that participated in the project through the provision of additional technical assistance to ensure the sustainability of investments. To this end, a Reimbursable Advisory Services agreement was signed with the World Bank, valued at US$850,000, to continue ITAIPU’s work in consolidating and restoring the Atlantic Forest Corridor. Additional funds from the Program on Forests and other trust funds have also been leveraged to further the sustainability efforts initiated with this GEF grant. Furthermore, the results achieved under this project played a role in UNESCO’s decision to include this corridor as part of a ITAIPU Biosphere Reserve, as it recently declared in Paris.