Maria Claudia Perazza
Senior Environmental and Natural Resources Specialist
BIO Program (INE/RND)
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The Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (BIO) Program was established in 2013 by the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) Board of Executive Directors. The BIO Program* aims to support sustainable development through the integration of biodiversity and ecosystem services into economic sectors.
The BIO Program aims to put Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) at the forefront of environmental economics applied to development by integrating natural capital, one of the measures of wealth of the Region, into the sector work of the IDB. Consistent with the original recommendation from the Independent Advisory Group that reviewed the IDB’s performance in implementing its Policy for Environmental and Social Safeguard Compliance, the BIO Program’s intent is to contribute to the achievement of the Aichi targets of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, including improving livelihoods in the Region through management and sustainable use of natural capital. Also see: Environmental and Social Safeguards, Review of Safeguards
The purpose of the BIO Program is to provide technical assistance, by financing non-reimbursable national and regional technical cooperation operations to increase the effort to create economic opportunities using the comparative advantage of the Region in biodiversity and ecosystem services for sustainable and inclusive development in LAC. The specific areas of intervention are: - Mainstreaming in countries: Assessing and integrating the economic value of LAC’s biodiversity and ecosystem services into infrastructure and productive sectors;
- Investing in Priority Regional Ecosystems: Increasing awareness on and protecting critical and large-scale ecosystems of regional significance;
- Strengthening Environmental Governance and Policy: Supporting LAC countries in the implementation of directed and effective policies, laws, and investments that secure and enhance biodiversity conservation and the maintenance of ecosystem services; and
- Promoting Private Sector Investment: Creating new economic, financial, and business opportunities that contribute to sustainable development and include innovative techniques for the protection of biodiversity and ecosystem services in the Region.
Examples of biodiversity projects funded by IDB in 2014-2015 1. Assessing And Integrating The Economic Value And Importance Of Biodiversity And Ecosystem Services Into Strategic Economic Sectors
- Building Capacity in the Economics of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (RG-T2344 and RG-T2451) sought to increase awareness and understanding within the Bank and the Region on the economics of biodiversity and ecosystem services applied to the sectors of water and sanitation, transportation, energy and agriculture.
- Mainstreaming Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services and Coastal Resilience in Tourism (BL-T1071) is supporting technical studies and institutional strengthening activities in preparation of the Bank’s first biodiversity and climate-inclusive tourism loan operation in Belize.
- The project Agalta Valley Payment for Ecosystem Services Scheme (HO-T1196) is developing a payment for ecosystem services scheme to offer incentives to private landowners to protect or restore critical habitat for the endangered Honduran emerald hummingbird.
- Biodiversity: Indigenous Peoples and African Descendants (RG-T2395). The objective of this project is to improve the IDB’s ability to design future operations in biodiversity and ecosystem services that incorporate the active participation of traditional indigenous and African-descendant peoples.
- Mainstreaming Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services into the Transport Sector (RG-T2379) involved an intensive collaboration with the Transport Division to identify, prioritize and proactively manage the impacts roads have on the environment and the impact the environment has on roads.
- Economic Valuation of Ecosystem Services in the Bay of Asuncion and Ypacarai Lake (PR-T1154) in Paraguay to understand the change in ecosystem services and biodiversity as a result of a sanitation investment program.
2. Investing In Priority Regional Ecosystems Conservation
- Establishment of Priority Ecosystems for the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (RG-T2331) seeks to establish a robust framework for targeting IDB’s investments, as well as investments of other organizations, towards the conservation of critical ecosystems in the Region, thus improving investment decisions and maximizing the returns on conservation.
- Managing Regional Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems for Biodiversity Conservation (RG-T2400). The main goal of this activity is to support the demonstration of cooperative approaches for the improved management of freshwater ecosystems in the Amazon Basin.
- Conservation of BES in the Tri-national Corridor of the Iguaçú National Park (BR-T1307), undertakes the conservation and valuation of biodiversity and ecosystem services in the Tri-national Corridor of the Iguaçu National Park.
- Poverty Alleviation and Protected Areas (RG-T2369) is currently researching the relationships between poverty and protected areas in the Peruvian and Brazilian Amazon.
3. Strengthening And Fostering Environmental Governance
- Assessing the Impact of Biodiversity Policies in LAC (RG-T2478) provides important analytical groundwork with two-fold objectives: (i) advancing the institutionalization of the Bank’s regulatory framework for environment and biodiversity conservation; and (ii) contributing to filling the priority gaps in knowledge about biodiversity and ecosystem service conservation in LAC for the purpose of implementing effective public policies for biodiversity and ecosystem services.
- Feasibility Studies for a Climate Risk-resilient Coastal Zone Management Program (BH-T1038) is supporting the development of a National Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Policy Framework in Bahamas that will benefit analytical work to help assess how ecosystems provide natural buffers to erosion and flooding and how this can be incorporated into a balanced investment strategy that combines natural and hard infrastructure, as well as comprehensive support to build capacity and awareness on the role of ecosystem services in the context of ICZM.
- Ecosystem-based Development for Andros Island (BH-T1040) aims to help analyze the natural capital trade-offs of alternative development scenarios for the island, and to design an ecosystem-based development master plan that has the potential to influence broader national economic development activities.
- Establishment of the Caribbean Coastal Capital Center of Excellence (RG-T2489) is supporting an initiative to institutionalize the Bank’s experience in the Caribbean into a Regional Center of Excellence to build capacity and provide a forum for south-south cooperation, bringing together economists and environmental scientists to work on natural capital investments.
- Development of Integrated Environmental-Economic Framework (RG-T2503), the BIO Funds are pioneering the development of economic impact assessment methods that will enable the economy-wide assessment of policy and investment impacts on a nation’s environmental resources as well as more robust measures of wealth and wellbeing that address the shortcomings of traditional measures such as GDP. A key outcome of this work will be influencing the criteria by which we assess investment alternatives and how we measure their impact on local and national wellbeing.
4. Promoting Private Sector Investment Opportunities That Foster Innovation In Environmental Protection
Expanding Private Sector Investment in Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (RG-T2330) supported, among other things, the development of the “Biodiversity Opportunity Assessment Tool” which facilitates the use of indicators that measure biodiversity and ecosystem services in private sector loan operations.
Developing Opportunities for Private Sector Investment in Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (RG-T2444) developed ecosystem service appraisals for private sector clients, such as a credit line to catalyze investments in cocoa in agroforestry systems. |
