Multi-Sector Roundtable for Communication, Collaboration, and Consensus-Building in Maya Biosphere Reserve

1. Multi-Sector Roundtable as a Tool for Communication, Collaboration, and Consensus-Building Cynthia Perera, Jason Riley U.S. Department of the Interior CAFTA-DR Implementers Meeting 20-22 January, 2010, Costa Rica

2. DOI is a cabinet-level agency consisting of 8 Bureaus: National Park Service Fish and Wildlife Service Bureau of Land Management U.S. Geological Survey Bureau of Reclamation Minerals Management Service Office of Surface Mining Bureau of Indian Affairs

3. U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI): • 504 million acres of public lands • 80,000+ employees • Serve & Educate over 500 million tourists/yr • Collect $10+billion in revenues (from energy, mineral, grazing, timber, recreation, land sales, etc.) • Provide resources for 30% of U.S. Energy • World-class Scientific Research (earth processes, natural disasters, mapping, etc.) • Endangered & Invasive Species • Reclaimed 300,000 acres of Abandoned Mine Sites

4. DOI International Programs around the World: Protected Area Mgmt Minerals Mgmt Cultural/Archaeol. Resource Mgmt Abandoned mine land reclamation Water Resource Mapping Sustainable tourism CITES / Endangered Species Law Enforcement Visitor Services & Infrastructure Environmental Education Recreation Mgmt Renewable Energy Mapping Fire Mgmt Concessions Mgmt

5. Multi-Sector Roundtable as a Tool for Communication, Collaboration, and Consensus-Building Maya Biosphere Reserve, Petén, Guatemala

6. Maya Biosphere Reserve, Petén, Guatemala • Buffer Zones • Multiple Use Zones (Community Forestry Concessions) • Core Zones (National Parks)

7. MBR Assets • Large Intact Tropical Forests • High biodiversity, including largest • concentration of jaguars north of Amazon • Wetlands of global significance (Laguna del Tigre NP) • Community-managed Forestry Concessions

8. MBR Assets • Thousands of ancient Maya Archaeological sites, including Tikal (most visited) and Mirador (one of largest and oldest) • Significant potential for increased SustainableTourism

9. Threats to the MBR • Illegal human settlements • Illegal ranching (“narco-ranching”) • Illegal logging • Wildlife poaching • Archaeological looting • Human trafficking • Drug ttrafficking

10. Threats to the MBR • And as if that weren’t bad enough, • MBR had been low priority for Govt of Guat • Conflict within the Govt of Guat over MBR Mgmt • Conflict between stakeholders, especially between: • End Results Desired: Conservation and Sustainable Use •  Conflict = How to get there?

11. Multi-Sector Roundtable: Objectives • Create an open forum for the Govt of Guat, NGOs, local communities, and the private sector for: • Communication / Information Sharing • Building Consensus • Enhancing Transparency • Increasing Efficiencies • To Unite and Battle the real enemy

12. Multi-Sector Roundtable: How it Functions • Meetings held every 1-6 months, as needed • Led by CONAP (lead administrator for MBR) • Facilitated by local NGO, Balam • Low cost (e.g., lunches) funded by various sources (e.g., CI, DFID, DOI) • Roundtable decisions made by its “Board of Directors” (6 representatives from the Govt of Guat, NGO, and local community) – with direct input from Roundtable stakeholders

13. Wildlife Conservation Society/Guatemala (WCS) Multi-Sector Roundtable: Membership • Members signed a “Declaration of Good Intentions” (ground rules) in 2006, along with President Berger • Between 40 – 80 member representatives attend each meeting Government of Guatemala Executive Coordination Secretariat of the Presidency (SCEP) Guatemalan Tourist Institute (INGUAT) Governor’s Office of the Department of the Petén Instituto Técnico de Capacitación (INTECAP) Ministry of Culture and Sports (MICUDE/IDAEH) Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (MARN) Ministry of National Defense (MINDEF) Ministry of Security National Council for Protected Areas (CONAP) Community Groups Carmelita Forestry Concessions Carmelita Community Council on Development (COCODE) Carmelita Commission for Tourism Melchor de Mencos Forest Laborers Uaxactún Civil Society (OMYC) Academia Center for Environmental Studies (CECON, University of San Carlos) Collaborators/Advisors UNESCO/Guatemala U.S Department of the Interior (DOI) Non-Governmental Organizations and Private Sector Association of the Petén Forestry Communities (ACOFOP) Chamber of Tourism (CAMTUR) Conservation International (CI) Counterpart International (CPI) Friends of Cultural Heritage Association (APANAC) Foundation Balám Foundation for Anthropological Research & Environmental Studies (FARES/Mirador Basin Project) Foundation for Development (FUNDESA) Foundation for Maya Cultural & Natural Heritage (PACUNAM) Global Heritage Fund (GHF) La Gloria Industrial Forestry Concession Paxbán Industrial ForestryConcession The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)

14. MBR: DOI Role • Since 2000, DOI has provided technical assistance to strengthen protected area mgmt in Guatemala, at the request of USAID/Guatemala • In 2006, the Multi-Sector Roundtable was created (with DOI in advisory role) • DOI Objectives through the Roundtable: • Provide technical assistance • Lend impartial credibility to the Roundtable and its process • DOI Funding Sources (to cover DOI travel • expenses, equipment purchases, etc): • GHF and FARES (U.S. NGOs) • CAFTA-DR, USAID/Washington • CAFTA-DR, State Department

15. MBR: DOI Role • DOI formally partnered (MOUs), with: • Govt of Guat (6 Ministries) • Colombian Park System (law enforcement advisor) • WCS and Balam, NGOs (primary implementers) • DOI efforts are jointly planned and implemented with new WCS 3-Yr Governance Program through British Govt (DFID)

16. General Successes through the Roundtable • Intra Govt of Guat Conflict Reduced and not working against each other • Intra Stakeholder conflict reduced, but still tenuous at times • Enhanced ability to engage Govt of Guat • Petén Governor is a regular leader at these • meetings • The Guatemalan President, Vice-President, • and several Ministers have attended • Enhanced ability to leverage funding • - Govt of Guat, USG, British Govt, & NGOs, after proving its sustainability

17. More Specific Successes through the Roundtable • Strengthen Law Enforcement • Multi-Sector Collaboration to: • Multi-Sector Law Enforcement Trainings • MBR Governance & Security Strategic Action Plan • Strengthened community “Comites de Control y • Vigilancia” • Field testing of patrol new manuals & protocols • Construct & staff 2 new Control Posts • In 2009, Govt of Guat dramatically stepped up its • enforcement activities: • Expulsion of large narco-rancher • Increased Govt of Guat field staff & funding in the MBR

18. Roundtable Challenges Lack of trust Multi-Sector team building adds another layer to the bureaucratic processes Government transitions

19. Roundtable Lessons Learned Roundtable creates momentum that helps ongoing efforts survive govt transitions Must have a dedicated and capable facilitator and dedicated point of contact in the central govt A long-term process Having an outside influence (e.g., DOI) with no stake in the resources can lend significant credibility, weight, and energy

20. Multi-Sector Roundtable: Conclusions • Despite the challenges and long-term time frame, the benefits of Multi-Sector Participation in Guatemala include: • Better Collaboration and Momentum for conservation efforts • Increased government engagement • Institutionalizing Multi-Sector relationships builds donor confidence

21. U.S. DEPARTMENT of the INTERIOR Thank you! Cynthia Perera, cperera@ios.doi.gov Jason Riley, Jason_riley@ios.doi.gov 1849 c St, NW, Washington, DC 20240