(AGENPARL) – Thu 22 May 2025 [cid:b1429e5f-b242-43bd-82d2-7e6fbe3b492e]
Three tales of biodiversity revival in Latin America
Restoring flora and fauna across Brazil, Chile and Venezuela
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©FAO/ Samuel Salcedo
From the highest cloud forest in the Andes to one of the smallest fish in a Chilean river, biodiversity is the invisible thread that ties ecosystems together and sustains agricultural production and food security.
Latin America and the Caribbean are home to some of the planet’s greatest biodiversity. The region contains about 50 percent of the world’s primary forests, dubbed “the lungs of the Earth”, for their essential ecosystem functions such as carbon sequestration. Biodiversity, however, is decreasing worldwide due to unsustainable human activity and changes in climate.
Meanwhile, the agrifood sector relies on biodiversity and the services it provides, such as soil health, pest and disease control, pollination, regulation of freshwater and genetic resources.
Recognizing the importance of biodiversity, particularly within agrifood systems, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), together with the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and other partners, is bolstering conservation efforts throughout Latin America.
Here are three GEF-funded, FAO projects conserving and restoring ecosystems across Brazil, Chile and Venezuela:
1.Brazil’s Caatinga biome blossoms again
In northeastern Brazil, in the arid landscape of the Caatinga, farmer Eusébia Bezerra is transforming dry barren land into a diversified orchard, with the support of the FAO-led, GEF-financed Sustainable Agroforestry Practices and Biodiversity Conservation project.
“Here before we did not even take advantage of 50 percent of the land, and the project helped us a lot with that. Today we manage to use every corner of the property, with fruit trees, vegetables, flowers and medicinal plants,” said Eusébia.
When she returned to the countryside in 2019, she explained there were no orchards and had to purchase vegetables in the city. When she started her garden, drought was the biggest obstacle. But through the project, the family learned to combine different crops, develop agroforestry systems and reuse water.
Today Eusébia and her family sell about 27 kilograms of lettuce, coriander, chives, paprika and leeks each week to a local cooperative. All this is from a system that integrates fruit trees, fish and medicinal plants, generating an additional income for her family.
The project’s sustainable agroforestry practices are also helping conserve biodiversity in this Caatinga biome, home to plants such as cacti, thorny trees and shrubs, which are threatened by the advance of monocultures and mining. Because of conservation efforts, Caatinga communities can continue to rely on these plants, such as the mandacaru, a cactus growing edible fruits and the medicinal aroeira tree, for food and medicine.
2.Conservation of Puye fish in Chile
In southern Chile, live the puye (Galaxias maculatus) – a fish species that has sustained livelihoods for decades.
Every spring, local artisanal fishers use traditional techniques to catch this unique fish of high gastronomic and economic value. However, this informal practice threatened fish stocks, marine ecosystems and local livelihoods.
“We sold it illegally because we didn’t have the permits to be able to sell it legally,” says Elizabeth Ovalle, who spent over 30 years extracting the endemic species along the Palena River.
The vulnerable status of the puye prompted local fishers to prioritize its conservation and to work with FAO and national and local authorities to develop measures that integrate traditional practices with ones that are both more sustainable and culturally appropriate.
The Marine-Coastal Governance project, supported by FAO and GEF, provided data on catch and seasonal patterns, and used these to develop monitoring models for long-term conservation and sustainable use. This effort made it possible to formalize and regulate puye fishing in the Pitipalena – Añihué conservation area for the first time.
As a result, between October and December 2024, 4 470 kilos of puye were extracted for sale, a significant increase over the 203 kilos declared the year before. These conservation efforts have not only contributed to a more responsible and sustainable management of the resource but they have bolstered the local economy as well.
3.Rebuilding the home of the frontino bear in Venezuela through reforestation
The spectacled bear inhabits the entire Andean mountain range of South America. In Venezuela, it is known as the frontino bear due to the white spots on its forehead. Its presence in the country is declining because of the degradation of its natural habitat.
FAO, together with the Ministry of People’s Power for Ecosocialism (MINEC) and GEF, implemented a project to restore 5 246 hectares of ecosystems in the Venezuelan Andean region, in the west of the country, so that the frontino bear, other animal species and local communities can live together in harmony.
Serfreddy Jerez, a park ranger overseeing the Sierra La Culata National Park, worked on reforestation efforts on agricultural lands adjacent to the park as part of the project. There, MINEC and FAO helped establish community-based tree nurseries in the buffer zones between the forests and agricultural land.
“The most beautiful thing about this is that the people of the community came together,” says the park ranger. “We strove to reforest with our own native trees, which serve as food for the bear and other animals of the area. This is the only way to save our cloud forest.”
Serfreddy is sure that with these reforestation efforts, more frontino bears will roam once more.
Beyond reforestation, the project implemented additional measures to safeguard wildlife. With support from the National Foundation of Zoos, Zoobreeders and Aquariums, five ecological corridors have been established in previously fragmented forest areas, allowing fauna, including the frontino bear, to move freely. These corridors contribute to natural regeneration and create sustainable landscape for various species.
The revitalization efforts across Latin America are helping protect biodiversity and ecosystems, helping achieve the goals of restoring 30 percent of ecosystems by 2030.
The story and photos can be found here: https://www.fao.org/newsroom/story/three-tales-of-biodiversity-revival-in-latin-america/en
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