Green businesses for biodiversity and climate action

The Pacífico Biocultural project also supports communities in building peace through green businesses and sustainable endeavours, like birdwatching and nature tourism. The Bird-Mi birdwatching corridor connects six communities stretching from the foothills of the Andes to the Tumaco coast.

Within this corridor, the Awá Indigenous Peoples in Community Resguardo El Gran Sábalo are strengthening environmental monitoring and have opened "La Nutria" nature reserve. Over 420 bird species attract visitors and bird enthusiasts, and this success of the reserve reinforces the corridor's rich biodiversity.

Nearby, the multi-ethnic community of El Pinde is comprised mostly of single mothers who lost their partners to the conflict. Residents are restoring the riverbanks and its natural trails to attract a variety of wildlife and enhance the Bird-Mi corridor. Their restoration provides alternative livelihoods and promotes peacebuilding through community-based nature tourism.

Meanwhile, at the Procacao Tumatay green business, former coca grounds that fostered illicit activities are being transformed into cacao fields that nurture agricultural livelihoods. Farmers grow cacao and scale up the value chain by processing and marketing high-quality chocolate products.

All these initiatives, which have received capacity building training and administrative and financial support from the Pacífico Biocultural project, are empowering communities, fostering peace and building economic stability for a better future, for the region and the planet.

Through Pacífico Biocultural, a GEF-funded project, FAO promotes the understanding of the interconnectedness between cultural and biological diversity. ©FAO/Felipe Rodríguez