Andean bio-trade: a strategy for preservation and sustainable use

Colombia, Ecuador and Peru are the beneficiaries of the GEF-CAF Cooperation Contract seeking to facilitate financing for business initiatives  at a local, national, and regional scale, based on the sustainable use of biodiversity, and support activities for the development of markets, in order to contribute to the preservation of the region's environment. 

Results at a regional scale, according to the review carried out in June of this year, include:  

• Close to 60 thousand hectares under sustainable management, with compliance ratings exceeding 50% with respect to "bio-trade principles and criteria" measured in 115 pilot projects.  
• Training provided to 100 executives from financial entities and local development agencies.
• Bio-trade training provided to more than 100 executives from financial entities and local development agencies.
• Seventy four new initiatives launched to the market through incubation programs.
• Three hundred and twenty seven public employees involved with the norms to use and take advantage of biodiversity in a sustainable manner. 

Total resources reach almost USD 14.4 million. The purpose is to help participating countries to overcome the barriers to bio-trade, achieving environmental externalities  together with commercial benefits. 

The project is aimed, among other things,at facilitating the development and  rationalization of policies that favor bio-trade, increasing the access  of products that come from biodiversity to markets that reward sustainable extraction and production, and provide training in entrepreneurial capacities  in the framework of the value chains of biodiversity products.  

The agreement was subscribed in 2010 by Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and CAF, Development Bank of Latin America.