Condor Program in Bolivia

(La Paz, May 20, 2008).- The Andean Development Corporation and International Conservation presented in Bolivia the CONDOR Program developed by the two institutions with the aim of offering a tool which facilitates the integration of environmental criteria and biodiversity conservation in the evaluation of infrastructure projects in the region. The prize was presented during a training workshop for the environmental community in the country.

The CONDOR program is a computer instrument in a web environment based on a geographic information system which uses specialized software (ArcGIS Server). Its objective is to incorporate environmental, social and economic variables into the identification and preliminary evaluation of risks and opportunities in infrastructure projects in Latin America, especially in the Andean region.

CAF representative in Bolivia José Carrera confirmed the stimulus that the Corporation gives to environmental protection and preservation, as reflected in the continuous promotion, creation, development and execution of innovative projects in this area. Dissemination of this program among the most important potential users is intended to motivate its use and appropriation and provide basic knowledge for its operation.

CAF Environment Office head José Montoya explained that this instrument was part of the Corporation's environmental strategy, which applies environmental factors as a cross-cutting element in the credit cycle, in favor of optimal management of the region in this area.

Participants in the workshop were told that in some projects already designed, the tool allows preliminary evaluation of the most important environmental and social advantages and restrictions associated with the project. Based on this information, decisions are taken and general management measures adopted aimed at control, mitigation, correction and/or compensation of socio-environmental impacts.

For projects in the early stages of conception, the CONDOR program incorporates environmental and social considerations into the design and provides tools for planning, which minimize the possibilities of impact on the environment and ecosystems, and maximize the possibility of capitalizing opportunities in this area.

The workshop emphasized the value of the tool in the web and recommended that, in coordination with national institutions, its use be optimized through case studies and the holding of supplementary application workshops with users in the country.

Last April, the CONDOR program was awarded a prize as the "best development of applications based on Geographic Information Systems and as a system that contributes to society and sets precedents for the work done in the regional geographic community" by Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), the world’s leading company in the field of GIS.