new initiative aims to save river by supporting communities

October 7, 2009

Last month, EcoLogic and its Mexican partner the Regional Council of Sierra de Guerrero (CRESIG) brought together a wide range of people from academics to community leaders to government representatives convened in Acapulco, Mexico for a daunting task: to prevent the death of the Papagayo River.

The Papagayo River originates in the Sierra de Guerrero, a mountain range in the southern  state of Guerrero in Mexico, an area of around 3.7 million acres - 2.2 million of which are forested. A hundred thousand people live there, 38 percent of which live in extreme poverty and 85 percent do not have sewage or drainage systems.

The water crisis in Guerrero reflects that of the region in general: today, Central America and Mexico maintain only 20 percent of the fluvial water sources they had in 1950. For Guerrero, that means that 2 of the province's 17 Pacific-flowing rivers have already stopped flowing year-round. Given both the extreme poverty in the highlands, and the looming tourism industry in coastal resort cities like Acapulco, the people of Guerrero simply cannot afford to lose the Papagayo River as a source of water.

Since 2004, EcoLogic has partnered with the Regional Council of Sierra de Guerrero (CRESIG) to confront the Papagayo River crisis. A meeting this past July in Acapulco was the next step in forming a multi-sectoral management plan that motivates diverse but necessarily interconnected groups around the cause of clean, plentiful water for the region.

Three tiers of contamination 

The Papagayo River basin can be divided into three altitudinal tiers, each of which features a different landscape and faces different problems:

• The upper basin is the area of most extreme poverty. There, agricultural expansion is rapidly encroaching on the forest that protects the Papagayo River at its source.
• As the river flows into the middle basin, sediment, trash, and untreated water from nearby homes contaminates the water. The middle basin has also experienced massive deforestation as forests are cleared to make way for crops and cattle pastures.
• By the time the Papagayo gets to the lower basin, where the tourist haven of Acapulco is located, there is an overload of organic material and trash in the river. People are overusing wells and residual waters are not being properly treated. Acapulco relies on the Papagayo River for 98 percent of its water.

Because of their geographical connection and their mutual reliance on the river, the campaign to save the Papagayo must be coordinated among the upper, middle, and lower basins. However, the nature of the Papagayo flowing from upland areas downstream means that those who live in the upper basin bear much of the responsibility of protecting the river for downstream users.

As in the case in many watersheds worldwide, the long-term guardianship of the Papagayo depends on getting these downstream users to pay for ecosystem services performed upstream. The recent meetings in Acapulco centered around how to do just that. 

Payment for ecosystem services

The big question is: how do you get the more affluent residents of Acapulco to pay the poorer communities of the Sierra de Guerrero for ensuring the quantity and quality of water that reaches their city? During the recent meetings in Acapulco, EcoLogic determined several prerequisites necessary for the exchange of money for ecosystem services to take place.

The first and perhaps most complicated prerequisite is clear definitions. What exactly is the environmental service being provided and who is providing it? In the case of the Papagayo, the health of the river depends on the health of the forest surrounding it, so environmental services might be measured in terms of the number of trees planted or number of hectares protected. Defining who provides this service requires the recognition of property rights and the clear delineation of who is responsible for what. For the Papagayo, water authorities in Acapulco are responsible for water treatment and distribution while the upper basin communities are responsible for protecting the water sources.

Once the nature of the environmental services are clearly defined and quantified, the next step is empowering the provider. Upstream stewards of the land must have the capacity for administrative financing and large-scale planning. They must hire strong management to oversee the whole operation - to set conservation goals, to make sure those goals are met, and to ensure that the individuals who provide the environmental service are properly compensated for their work.

An important part of empowering the provider is education. For downstream users to start paying for their water, they must first understand how conservation and reforestation efforts upstream are affecting the water that flows into their homes, farms, and hotels. Monetary exchanges must be transparent and clearly documented so that downstream users know where their money is going and appreciate that they are paying for an invaluable service.

The last step toward implementing a successful system of soliciting payment for ecosystem services is creating methods to monitor and improve the quality of those services. Downstream ‘customers' must be able to track how much water they are receiving and how clean that water is. Upstream providers must take the business of supplying water seriously and continuously work toward making their service more efficient and more effective.

The end result of the payment for environmental service model is that the people who invest in protecting their ecosystem may reap the benefits of that ecosystem for decades - or hopefully for centuries - to come. The people of the Papagayo River basin envision that within 10 years, their forests will be conserved and free of fires; their agricultural communities will enjoy a higher standard of living; and they will have clean, abundant water.

Coming together for water

The theme of the meetings in Acapulco was bringing people together for the shared cause of protecting the Papagayo River for future generations. A multisector platform entitled, "Saving the Papagayo River," the one-day workshop was a momentous reunion during which international organizations, academics, researchers, government officials, representatives of private companies, and ejido leaders came together to address this issue. In attendance were Shaun Paul, Executive Director of Ecologic; Rigoberto Acosta, General Coordinator of CRESIG; leaders from several upland communities; representatives from businesses in Acapulco; officials from local, state and federal agencies; and many other key stakeholders.

The open dialogue allowed each group to define their capabilities and limitations in regard to creating a system of payment for ecosystem services:

• The government of Sierra de Guerrero can provide regional planning as well as the human and infrastructure resources needed to monitor the water system. They cannot, however, finance the entire operation or push legislation.
• Civil society, including our non-profit organization EcoLogic, can raise awareness about the water issues in Sierra de Guerrero and serve as a partner in the process. Civil society does not have control over water subsidies.
• The private sector, including the extensive tourism industry in Acapulco, can pay for water resources when they use them. Companies can also promote education and arrange learning exchanges so that people understand what they are paying for and why.
• Academics play an important role in legitimizing the entire model of paying for ecosystem services. Through scientific research, they can help to quantify the service being provided in environmental, economic, and social terms.
• As the people who must ultimately do the work to preserve the source of the Papagayo River, upper basin communities must strengthen their organizational capacity, apply best management practices, reduce their own demand on natural resources, and expand environmental education. They must continue to expand and improve their conservation efforts, constantly reevaluating the effectiveness of their environmental services.

The exercise of determining what different sectors of society could and could not do regarding the Papagayo River water crisis demonstrated that preserving the region's key water source must in fact be a multi-sector effort involving the cooperation of all involved parties. 

Progress for people and nature

After forging the partnership with CRESIG in 2004, EcoLogic held 15 community consultations with 1,700 community members. Grassroots support was stunning: the communities proposed 174 environmental projects, 25 capacity-building-projects, and 39 infrastructure projects.

So far, EcoLogic and CRESIG have successfully established two demonstration sites of microwatershed management in the upper basin that serve as models for other communities. The two organizations also work with communities to formally establish a network of community-managed protected areas, setting aside forests to protect water cathment areas, as well as expanding fire prevention efforts, certified forest management, and planning for sewage water treatment. In 2008 alone, CRESIG and EcoLogic designated 7,000 hectares of forest for protection, trained 255 community leaders in water management, and taught families how to construct fuel-efficient stoves that will reduce the demand for firewood.

The 2009 meetings in Acapulco convened many different stakeholders to begin the dialogue about the ultimate goal: creating a system of payment for ecosystem services. Last month's discussion moved forward on developing the mechanism for payment for ecosystem services. The Acapulco Water Authority will be the administering body for all payments received from users which will then contribute to a watershed management fund. This fund, in turn, will provide financial support for the rural communities in the upper catchment areas, who will use the funds to further their efforts to protect the watershed through reforestation and sustainable land use management.

While much remains to be figured out, this effort is truly groundbreaking in its use of a payment for ecosystem services model to get affluent downstream users to support the economic development and environmental conservation of poor upstream communities. The success of this arrangement could establish a model that will be replicated across Mexico and many parts of Central America. EcoLogic is taking the first steps by bringing together the many stakeholders involved in a way that supports the poor, rural communities and ensures the conservation of a principal river in the region.

This article was written by Allie Goldstein and Eric Jacobson.

back