BioGems 2.0: Saving Communities and Giving a Voice to People

The BioGems Initiatve is not only about preserving the last remaining sanctuaries of wildlife. It's also about protecting and supporting the communities that are in these areas or surround them. Through BioGems, NRDC helps to assure that these people have a voice in decisions that will affect their livelihoods and well-being.  Too often the concerns of traditional and indigenous communities are still being ignored.

For five years, we have worked to save the Peruvian Amazon where the rainforest and little contacted tribal peoples were under siege from illegal logging operations. Much of this wood was being exported to international markets. (For a blog post I wrote about this, click here.)  This BioGem helped to stimulate a much needed  debate over the larger question of what the U.S. should do to  stop trade in illegal timber not only from Peru but worldwide.    The illegal trade in wood and wood products is estimated to be as much as 15% of the total trade and undermines good governance, incurs huge economic losses, and imperils indigenous communities.  NRDC and our partners achieved a major victory when the Congress amended the U.S. Lacey Act to ban the import of illegal logs and timber products.  Also for the first time, the Peru-US trade agreement included an annex detailing measures that would be taken to halt illegal logging and exports.

Our experience in Peru is now informing our advocacy on national legislation and international negotiations on new measures and financial mechanisms to slow and then stop deforestation in tropical countries - of which Brazil and Indonesia are the most significant.

 Among other the great forests we are fighting to save is the Heart of the Boreal  where we have made real progress in supporting the Poplar River Nation in their quest to preserve and manage their ancestral forest homelands?  In southeast United States Greater Cumberland Plateau, we have worked closely with the local communities and organizations that are fighting the destruction caused by mountain top removal.  We have sought to make sure that their plight is known nationally and their concern to protect their homes and livelihoods is taken into account in Washington and New York. 

A key element of our BioGem campaign in Baja California, Mexico is working with communities in the preservation of the region's critical marine habitat.  We are working with local communities in the areas around Laguna San Ignacio - home to the most pristine gray whale nursery - and in the Upper Gulf of California - habitat for one of the world's most endangered small marine mammals - the vaquita marina.  The engagement of local communities in the preservation of this critical marine habitat is essential.  At Laguna San Ignacio, we are with support of our members and e-activists working for permanent protection of the area through the purchase of conservation easements.  In the Upper Gulf, we have pushed for the involvement of local fishermen in the design and implementation of the program now being undertaken by the Mexican government to save the last 150 vaquita.

 Through our new Save BioGems website, we are able to link you and hundreds of thousands of citizens from around the world with the people and community at the frontlines of our common endeavor to assure a livable planet for our children.