CIPASLA/ASOBESURCA is a
consortium of two compound research and development entities that, with support from
CIAT’s Participatory Research Project (IPRA, it’s Spanish acronym), works to
reduce poverty and protect the environment in the Cabuyal River watershed, in Caldono,
Department of Cauca, southern Colombia. Recently, this consortium won world recognition
for its work.
The “Equator Prize”
was created by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Foundation (UNF). It is designed, through the
“Equator Initiative”, to support the World Summit on Sustainable
Development and the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The 2002 award of the Equator
Prize to CIPASLA/ASOBESURCA is significant, not only for the consortium itself but also
for Colombia, taking into account that 420 institutions from 77 countries of the Equator
Belt applied for the award.
Rodrigo Vivas, director of
CIPASLA, and Rodelfi Betancourt, president of ASOBESURCA, were invited by the organizers
to attend the World Summit, which was held recently in Johannesburg (Republic of South
Africa). They were given the award, with a value of US$30,000, a trophy, and a certificate
that recognized the work of this consortium as being “highly successful and
innovative for the sustainable development of tropical ecosystems”.
The deciding jury was formed
of eight people, including two winners of the Nobel Prize for Peace (Dr Oscar Arias
Sánchez and Rigoberta Menchú Tum); Princess Basma Bint Talal of Jordan, and Professor M.
S. Swaminathan.
To reward the efforts of
CIPASLA/ASOBESURCA, its history was taken into account: CIPASLA is a network of
governmental, nongovernmental, and research organizations, whereas ASOBESURCA is a
second-level organization that unites community organizations of the Cabuyal River
watershed. Together, the two entities coordinate their efforts to address the
environmental and developmental challenges that face the region’s inhabitants. From
the beginning, the consortium has received support from the researchers belonging to
CIAT’s IPRA Project.
The consortium, in a joint
effort with water authorities and farmer associations, has developed comprehensive plans
for managing the watershed that had helped improve the social and economic conditions of
its inhabitants. The communities can now obtain greater benefits through the added value
of their products, thanks to the development of local agroenterprises. Increases in income
have also helped reduce pressure on the local forests. Likewise, under the
CIPASLA/ASOBESURCA leadership, activities to reforest and restore springs have been
initiated, and farmers are increasingly more motivated to adopt appropriate agricultural
techniques for land on the steep hillsides of Caldono. |
