Progess Update on Dutch Trust Fund (December 2002)
An integrated Mesoamerican ecosystem mapping of Central America and Mexico was developed and validated by representatives of all Ministries of Environment and National Geographic Institutes of these countries. The map will become a useful planning/conservation instrument in both, at the regional and each country level. The MBC BNPP support project catalyzed a network of all major monitoring centers working on the mapping and resource analysis of the MBC and was instrumental in the establishment of a Technical Committee on MBC Mapping constituted by the National Geographic Institutes and the Ministries of Environment of all Mesoamerican countries. In this context a concept for the development of a Mesoamerican monitoring and visualization network, to support decision making to manage the ecosystems of the region by integration multi-layered sectorial data and cutting edge analysis technology was developed jointly by CCAD and NASA. A Joint Declaration was signed by NASA, the World Bank, and CCAD (the document can be viewed at It represents a major step forward to provide the Central American Region with a world class decision support system, bringing cutting edge technology to the level of village communities for improving understanding and management of their natural resource systems.
The mainstreaming of the MBC initiative in the broader agenda of the Region has continued very successfully throughout this year: - Work continued with the Regional Coordinator of Indigenous and Small Farmers Communitarian Agroforestry (CICAFOC) for the development of an observatory of markets for ecofriendly products from the MBC. The broad proposal for implementing this concept is part of the priority strategies adopted by the Council of Ministers of CCAD for the MBC program in the next five years. - The MBC overall concept was transformed from a conservation oriented initiative to a recognition by governments and civil society in the Region of the MBC as a platform for sustainable development, an initiative linking nature, people and well being. This message and broadly articulated concept generated, developed through the extensive consultations with major groups of civil society and governments was presented by the CCAD to the Johanesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development and at an MBC Partners and Donors Meeting held in Paris last year. - A five year business plan, with the mission "To provide a sustainable base of natural resources for the balanced and equitable development of the Mesoamerican peoples" was developed after extensive consultations, adopted by all sectors of civil society participating in the regional consultative groups CCAD, and by the Council of Ministers of CCAD. The Plan envisages a "functional and participatory system for the coordination of regional and national policies, programs and actions, which are to be harmonized and interlinked for the management of natural areas, in order to promote sustainable production systems, so that the MBC may contribute to the objective of reducing poverty in the Region". (This and Other essential documents such as the Mesoamerican Fact Book and Nature, People and Well Being: Making Sustainable Development Happen in Mesoamerica that were presented at the Paris conference are available at
The development and implementation of a mass media communications platform to disseminate news of the MBC through an independent information and interactive platform using the principal newspapers of the Region and rural radio stations. Tierramerica, a window on the MBC, already publishes a weekly page in La Nación in Costa Rica, and El Tiempo in Honduras, and has finalized negotiations for similar weekly pages to appear in the principal dailies of El Salvador, Panama, Guatemala and Nicaragua as well as in the weekly newspaper of Belize. Radio capsules are being broadcast by many rural radio stations and a news and information Website with analysis, information and links to relevant sites that expands on the weekly printed news and allows for interactive communication has been developed. A factbook on the most significant statistics of Mesoamerica, linking environmental, social, economic and institutional parameters has been published and made available through CCAD’s web page (ccad.sgsica.org). A concept linking the biological wealth and diversity of Mesoamerica with its cultural heritage and expressions is being advance, a sample of this concept has been presented as an art exhibit "Jewels of Mesoamerican Diversity" that links biodiversity unique resources with an exquisite mask collection all in the context that narrates the relationship between natural resources, people and their well being. Audiovisual and photographic materials following the theme above have been developed, presented at national, regional and global forums, and broadcasted on selected national TV stations. These materials will be the basis for a more widespread campaign to establish the MBC as a trademark for sustainable development in Mesoamerica, as a laboratory for making sustainability happen in the world.