Brazilian mangroves. Photo credit: Freya Fennwood . Mangroves are a key ecosystem contributing to biodiversity and flood protection on a local and regional level. Unfortunately most people are unaware of the ecosystem services provided by mangroves. As a result, overfishing and pollution threaten this critical habitat.

Foto: Ana Gómez

The region of the Tapajós basin is considered the new frontier of energy expansion in Brazil. Specifically the São Luiz do Tapajós hydroelectric project, the largest planned for the basin. If it is built, many ecosystem services will be impacted, influencing the well being of hundreds of local people who depend on them. In this perspective, CSF conducted a study that sought to understand the economic impacts on the services provided to local populations.

Last month, the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and CSF presented the second annual Economic Tools for Conservation in Mexico and the Mesoamerican Reef. Twenty participants from different regions of Mexico and the Mesoamerican Reef came together to learn what economic drivers cause environmental problems and the potential solutions to them. The two-week course was held June 15th-26th at UNAM’s Chamela Biological Station in Jalisco, Mexico.

Tapajós river basin, Pará State, Brazil © Camila Jericó-Daminello After an inventory of potential dams in the Tapajós river basin was released in 2008, the area has been hailed as the new frontier of energy development in Brazil. Due to the typically extensive environmental and social impacts of dam construction, governments and communities in the Amazon region have been engaged in discussions over the past few years on how to mitigate impacts on people and nature. Some dam projects are already underway with many more on the drawing board.

Amazonas native. © Fernanda Preto

Transport specialists and workshop participants, Asuncion, Paraguay Ecosystems in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) sustain hundreds of millions of people, but are threatened by a series of interlocking challenges. Rapid development and population growth have placed increasing pressure on natural resources. Pollution, deforestation, infrastructure, large-scale tourism development, invasive species, and over-fishing all threaten these highly bio-diverse ecosystems, as do the effects of climate change.

CSF economists Susan Seehusen, Aaron Bruner and John Reid joined the German technical support agency, GiZ, and the Mexican Protected Areas Commission, CONANP, to support two big efforts to leverage the economic value of protected areas. Over weekend of October 18-19, Aaron and Susan joined GiZ and parks officials from a handful of Latin American countries to provide technical guidance for the newly launched ValuES program. Yes, that's an upper-case ES for Ecosystem Services; the program focuses on highlighting the values protected ecosystems deliver to human communities in focus countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Vietnam and India, among others.