Development and Instrumentation of “Biodiversity Check Agrícola”
Costa Rica, Guatemala and Dominican Republic
Development of good practice manual, pilot testing and train-the-trainers
Funders
Germany´s development cooperation, GIZ
Partners
Germany´s development cooperation, GIZ
Banana, pineapple and sugarcane
Crops or productive systems
Implementation dates
August 2018-March 2019
Beneficiaries
Farms and producers and their neighboring stakeholders in the production landscape
About the project
Despite advances in legislation and the implementation of certification standards in various crops in Central America and the Caribbean, there is still a significant gap regarding the recognition of the value of biodiversity as an integral concept and its relationship with agricultural production.
The "Biodiversity Check Agrícola" project seeks to fill this gap through the development of a practical tool that helps increase knowledge about the contributions of biodiversity to agricultural production and improve the implementation of good farming practices.
The project aims to achieve greater awareness and also facilitates the open dialogue with farm managers to recognize the current situation, and find effective ways to improve biodiversity conservation through the implementation of action plans with realistic and measurable goals.
Some of the topics that the tool will include are how biodiversity benefits farm production on the medium and long-term, including ecosystem services, micro-climate regulation, soil fauna, function of forest patches as habitat for beneficial organisms, and riparian areas as a means of flood control.
Other topics for the action plans include the progressive elimination of the use of pesticides that harm biodiversity, invasive species management, wildlife management, and garden and live barriers design with native species.
The project includes a short consultation process with the producers and the industry, field tests in Costa Rica (banana farm), Dominican Republic (pineapple farm) and Guatemala (sugarcane farm), and training activities for at least 30 experts (agronomists and biologists) in these three countries.
Outcomes
At the end of the project, farms and production systems will count on an efficient and practical tool, the “Biodiversity Check Agrícola”, to check biodiversity practices on crop farms, implement them with the help of a custom-made guide and tools for the training of experts and future replication.
The Biodiversity Check Agrícola is a tool developed within the framework of the GIZ’s Biodiversity and Business Program in Central America and the Dominican Republic and will provide effective support so that the agricultural sector of Central America and the Caribbean can rethink its activity in light of the value of conserving biodiversity, understanding it not as a cost, but rather as a generator of multiple benefits at the farm level and of landscape.