The Global Mechanism

Given the magnitude of land degradation globally, and its negative impacts on rural livelihoods, which compromise productivity, new and innovative mechanisms are needed to encourage investments in SLM and promote and the adoption of good practices in all land use sectors.

In this context and in response to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)'s 10-year Strategy, the Global Mechanism (GM) has been working with CATIE to develop an analytical framework to identify relevant incentive and market-based mechanisms (IMBMs) for environmental stewardship along with a tool to assess the applicability of these mechanisms in a given country. To date, the framework and tool have been used in Cameroon, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia.

A international consultation is now being organized at CATIE, in Turrialba, Costa Rica from 23-25 March 2011, bringing together some of the main actors involved at the national level in the work on IMBMs together with other key partners and experts from a variety of international organisations, with a view to

•exchanging country experiences of using the IMBM framework and methodology with a view to validating them;
•sharing lessons on the application of IMBMs for promoting SLM practices in national and regional contexts; and
•opportunities for increasing investments through the application of IMBMs;

The consultation will also explore potential partnerships between participants, identify next steps for scaling up IMBM initiatives at the country/regional levels, and establish a knowledge exchange mechanism or community of practice to share knowledge between participants.

Importantly, the consultation will provide a unique opportunity to share experiences and build knowledge on incentive and market based mechanisms and will also draw on Costa Rica's first hand experience as a forerunner in implementing many of the mechanisms discussed on the ground.

For more information:

Ms Siv Oystese, Financial and Private Sector Strategy Officer
Tel. +39 06 5459 2782
s.oystese (at) global-mechanism.org