The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation launched the Andes-Amazon Initiative in 2003 with the goal of conserving biodiversity and securing the climatic function of the Amazon Biome. The foundation is the largest private donor that supports conservation in the region, and the third largest overall funder (private and public) in the region. The initiative’s strategy has evolved over its lifetime, but it has consistently maintained a focus on the establishment and effective management of protected areas and indigenous territories. As of 2015, the initiative had supported more than 80 grantees across seven countries, with well over half being national or local organizations or South America-based programs of international organizations. Now, the Andes-Amazon Initiative continues its focus on advancing the conditions necessary to conserve representative biodiversity in the Amazon Biome.
In early 2015, the foundation contracted Hardner, Gullison and Associates (HGA) to conduct an external evaluation of the Andes-Amazon Initiative, with the goal of assessing its past effectiveness (2003 – 2014) and to inform an analysis regarding a potential future role in conserving the Amazon.
HGA previously conducted external evaluations of the initiative’s strategic approach, results and execution in 2006 and 2010. These previous evaluations concluded that their grants contributed to a major expansion of the protected area network within the Amazon-Andes region, and set in motion a longer-term process to achieve their effective management (what the foundation refers to as “consolidation”).
The evaluators relied on a variety of methods and information sources, including site visits to four countries, interviews with over 200 individuals representing an array of stakeholders, an online survey and extensive document review. They analyzed data collected through the initiative’s internal monitoring system, and used two methods that were included in the two previous evaluations: an analysis of limiting factors, and WWF’s Rapid Assessment of Prioritization of Protected Areas Management
(RAPPAM) method, a common standard for assessment of protected area management.
Highlighted results, lessons and recommendations from the evaluation include:
- Protected areas and indigenous territories: The foundation supported the establishment of 64.3 million hectares of new protected areas and indigenous territories.
- Consolidation efforts: As referenced above, “consolidation” is putting in place the systems and processes to manage an area for conservation. From inception through the end of the period evaluated, the initiative had supported consolidation in 168 million hectares of protected areas and indigenous territories.
- Sustainable finance: The foundation’s role as a convener of other major donors and governments was crucial in advancing sustainable finance for protected areas. The most notable achievement was the establishment of the ARPA-for-Life fund with the Government of Brazil and other actors, providing financial and technical support to the protected areas within the Amazon Region Protected Areas (ARPA) network.
- Engagement in regional planning: Engagement with experts in communities of practice involved in large-scale project development (roads, dams, mines, etc.) can be useful in leveraging expertise in addressing issues directly relevant to the initiative’s work.
- Validate assumptions: Scientific uncertainty remained high regarding the key issues that drive the program. Investments in validating the linkages between varying driving factors and environmental change are important in improving evidence-based decision-making at the foundation.
The 2015 evaluation found that while progress had been made in securing the conservation of protected areas and indigenous territories, the full potential of this strategy may be significantly undermined in the region by other emerging and expanding threats. Informed by the evaluation results, and based on further assessment and analysis of the initiative team, the foundation has committed an additional $50 million to expand the initiative to address drivers of habitat change, with a focus on infrastructure development (roads and dams), and freshwater conservation.
Read a summary of the evaluation here.
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