CSF-Brazil recently hosted the seminar "Implementation of Environmental Reserve Quotas (CRA) in Brazilian states" to help promote more economically efficient and environmentally sound forest conservation, in partnership with the Federal University of Minas Gerais state (UFMG), the Forest Code Observatory (OCF) and the Environmentalist Parliamentary Front, on December 7th at the House of Representatives in Brasília, Brazil. More than forty people attended the event, representing the Ministry of the Environment, the Environment Secretariats of thirteen states, non-governmental organizations, research institutions, national and international universities, as well as the organizing institutions.

José Carlos Rubio Ayllón (CSF) presenting the HydroCalculator.

CSF staff conducted a field visit to villages of the Munduruku people in the Brazilian Amazon. These communities have been adversely affected for several years by the construction of the Teles Pires and São Manoel hydropower plants. Scenic beauty of the Teles Pires river.

Photo credits: UMRAHIn early 2017, six researchers were awarded a grant as part of CSF’s Indonesia Marine Fellows Program (MFP). The six fellows were selected based on their research topics, which seek to answer pertinent questions about fisheries management challenges in Indonesia. The fellows were also paired with mentors who are experts in their respective fields.

Recreational anglers in the United States collectively spend millions of days and millions of dollars per year fishing in coastal and ocean waters. The state of California ranks second in the nation for recreational saltwater fishing, second only to Florida. The California halibut, Paralichthys californicus, is one of the most highly sought-after fish for recreational anglers due to its large size, delicious taste and challenging fishing behavior. Over 60,000 trips are taken per year by boat anglers targeting this species. California halibut. Photo credit: Ed Bierman.

Protecting marine and coastal environments takes know-how, time and financial resources. So how do we fund marine conservation? There are many possible finance mechanisms, public and private, used to fund conservation efforts. Working with partners in Norway and Germany from the Blue Solutions program, CSF developed a set of training materials to teach environmental practitioners from governments and NGOs how to select and design finance mechanisms to support their conservation objectives. Teaching materials on direct market mechanisms for conservation finance. Photo credit: Niki Gribi.

Tropical savannah (Cerrado) area in Brazil. Photo credit: Pedro Gasparinetti.

As part of our collaboration with the Environmental Ministry in Peru (MINAM), CSF has finished a series of papers on environmental compensation (biodiversity offsets). We explored 4 infrastructure and extractive projects in Madre de Dios and Loreto, and analyzed how to offset their residual impacts. This work supports MINAM’s development and implementation of technical compensation guidelines, while also generating evidence about methods for designing environmental compensation plans.

Interviewers Milagros Estrada and Luis Bernal, Huancaya, Nor Yauyos-Cochas Landscape Reserve. Photo: Annie Escobedo.

In August 2017, CSF-Brazil presented our results from the economic feasibility study for the implementation of the Agro-extractivist Cooperatives and Associations Network of the State of Amazonas (RECABAAM) in Beruri, Amazonas. More than twenty stakeholders attended the presentation, representing the community-based factories processing the Brazil nut, civil society institutions and state government, including the Institute of Agricultural and Sustainable Forestry Development of the State of Amazonas (IDAM) and the State Secretary of Rural Production (SEPROR).