The main objective of the proposed initiative would be to support Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay in jointly elaborating and implementing a common institutional framework for managing and preserving the Guarani Aquifer for current and future generations. The Guarani Aquifer, named in honor of the Guarani Indian Nation, is one of the largest groundwater reservoirs in the world, and was only recently recognized as one interconnected system, extending through the four MERCOSUR countries for a total of 1.2 million km2.

The overall objective of the project is to accelerate renewable energy investments through the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI). The project is a regional approach, involving Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and Belize which aims at reducing greenhouse gas emissions by promoting use of renewable energy systems for electricity generation in grid connected applications, thereby contributing to the economic development of Central America.

The objective of the project is to : promote the conservation, sustainable use and cultivation of endangered medicinal plants in Zimbabwe, by demonstrating effective models at the local level, and developing a legal framework for the conservation, sustainable use, and equitable sharing of benefits from medicinal plants.

The rationale of the project is to improve the management of cacao-based poor indigenous small-farms according to both ecological and organic productive principles so as to ensure conservation and sustainable use of plant and animal diversity and provide a sustainable source of family income. The overall objective of the project is to promote and maintain on-farm biodiversity while improving livelihoods of organic cacao producers (indigenou, Latin mestizos and Afrocaribbean groups) in the Talamanca-Caribbean corridor in Costa Rica.

The objective of the phase II biodiversity-enabling activity is to assist Ukraine to assess capacity building needs, identify priorities, and build consensus with respect to meeting its obligations under the CBD. A Clearing House Mechanism will be established to accelerate implementation of the CBD through appropriate hardware, software, and technical support. Funding for the CHM was not available to Ukraine under the phase I enabling activity. The phase II enabling activity would also facilitate the consultative process for preparing the second national report to the CBD.

Goal:To improve the effectiveness of traditional farming systems for conservation of crop landraces of local and global importance. Purpose:To develop models for enabling environments for an effective contribution of traditional farming systems in biodiversity conservation and measures to maintain and promote wider adoption of viable systems.Objectives:1). To develop a framework that links best practices’ for conservation of crop landraces on-farm to decision-making and policy2).

The project will reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Poland by removing barriers to the creation of a viable wood waste market offering clean energy.

Reducing GHG emissions by removing the existing barriers to the improvement of the heat and hot water supply systems in Turkmenistan

The goal of the proposed research is to support the OP12 on Integrated Ecosystem Management. Using Lake Hovsgol National Park as a case study, the targeted research will provide for the long-term protection of such forest/steppe areas by better understanding the scale and dynamics of natural and anthropogenic changes.

(1)Develop reliable techniques for evaluating the extent of renewable ground water resources in arid lands, with the Eastern Desert of Egypt as a test site. Our preliminary geochemical and isotopic data indicated that flash flood waters stored in shallow aquifers during the past 45 years are the source of the shallow (10?100 m) groundwater in Wadi El Tarfa and surrounding areas in the Eastern Desert (Appendix I).