Turrialba, Costa Rica
The 2008 East and Southern African Katoomba Group meeting will take stock of both existing payment for ecosystem service (PES) deals in the region that could be expanded or replicated in other sites, as well as potential sites for broadening and deepening payments for ecosystem services (PES) in East and Southern Africa.
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The meeting is focused on assessing the development and potential for PES initiatives in select countries within the East and Southern Africa region and exploring “proof of concept” related to PES applications within the region.
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Previous regional Katoomba meetings in Uganda (2005) and South Africa (2006) demonstrated that African countries have become increasingly interested in market-based conservation strategies, such as payments for ecosystem services (PES), and that a number of projects are underway. However, PES in the East and Southern African region primarily occurs on an ad hoc basis through small-scale pilot projects. Information gaps, lack of capacity to design and manage projects and the absence of institutions to support on-the-ground implementation have largely hindered efforts to scale up.
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The East and Southern Africa Katoomba Group will share findings from on-going assessments of PES in the region including potential sites for scaling up PES. The assessments are one component of a longer process that aims to chart a course for expanding the number and reach of PES deals and engagements with environmental markets across the East and Southern Africa region. The end goal is to contribute both to conservation and rural economic development, including poverty alleviation objectives.
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The meeting will bring together the full range of actors interested in markets and payments for ecosystem services (PES), including potential buyers, sellers, and intermediaries from throughout the East and Southern Africa region. It will enable an exchange of market information as well as ongoing learning about diverse PES policy and project models, and making of PES deals. The meeting will open with a "PES Trade Fair" - the first of its kind in East Africa. Sellers from the region will exhibit the ecosystem services at their sites, and potential buyers will be invited to meet with the sellers and explore potential PES deals.
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We look forward to a fruitful discussion on how to scale up PES in East and Southern Africa and how to shape a vibrant regional Katoomba Group network.