Poison Dart Frog Ranching to Protect Rainforest and Alleviate Poverty AMEDIUM SIZED PROJECT

55 Pages·2004·1.45 MB·English

by  World Bank Group

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to Protect Rainforest and Alleviate Poverty

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AA A MEDIUM SIZED PROJECT (MSP)APPLICATION
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MARCH 2003
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Section Page No.
PROJECT SUMMARY................................................................................................................1
PROJECT DESCRIPTION..........................................................................................................6
PROJECT RATIONALE & OBJECTIVES.........................................................................................6
SUSTAINABLE FROG PRODUCTION METHODS.............................................................................7
INTERNATIONAL MARKET FOR POISON DART FROGS.................................................................8
FROGS’WELFARE DURING SHIPPING AND IN CAPTIVITY...........................................................9
GLOBALLY-SIGNIFICANT BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION.....................................11
HIGHLY DIVERSE FROG HABITAT..............................................................................................11
CONSERVATION VALUE OF PROJECT SITES...............................................................................11
ECOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF POISON DART FROGS..............................................................14
LAND OWNERSHIP STATUS........................................................................................................14
BASELINE SITUATION............................................................................................................14
CONTINUED DEFORESTATION....................................................................................................15
Continued use of destructive agricultural practices..............................................................15
No Ecological Education.......................................................................................................16
LIMITED OPPORTUNITIES FOR LOCAL INCOME GENERATION...................................................16
No Frog Business...................................................................................................................16
No Frog-Related Ecotourism.................................................................................................16
No Commercialization of other NTFPs.................................................................................16
DECLINE IN FROG POPULATION.................................................................................................16
Continued Frog Smuggling....................................................................................................16
Persistent Barriers to Legal Exportation of Sustainably-Produced Frogs............................17
Frogs Threatened by Increased Climate Variability.............................................................17
MISSED OPPORTUNITIES FOR REPLICATION..............................................................................17
EXPECTED PROJECT OUTCOMES......................................................................................17
FOREST PRESERVATION.............................................................................................................18
POVERTY ALLEVIATION.............................................................................................................18
CONSERVATION OF POISON DART FROGS.................................................................................19
RELATED OUTCOMES.................................................................................................................19
PROJECT ACTIVITIES............................................................................................................20
BUSINESS SUPPORT....................................................................................................................21
Start-Up Advice and Ongoing Business Incubation..............................................................21
Frog Breeding Equipment and Operation.............................................................................22
Collection Centers’ Equipment And Operation.....................................................................22
Market Development..............................................................................................................23
EDUCATION AND TRAINING.......................................................................................................23
Local: Training for Frog Producers......................................................................................23
Local: Educational Outreach in Peru....................................................................................24
National: Training for INRENA and Customs Officials........................................................24
COMPLEMENTARY STRATEGIES FOR FOREST PRESERVATION..................................................24
ii
Conservation Specialists........................................................................................................24
Ecotourism.............................................................................................................................25
Sustainable Farming..............................................................................................................26
REPLICATION.............................................................................................................................26
Replication With Other Frog Species....................................................................................26
Replication With Other NTFPs..............................................................................................26
Replication in Other Countries for Commercial or Conservation Purposes.........................27
MONITORING AND EVALUATION...............................................................................................27
PROJECT MANAGEMENT............................................................................................................28
IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.....................................................................................................28
IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE....................................................................................................29
BUSINESS SUPPORT....................................................................................................................30
EDUCATION AND OUTREACH.....................................................................................................30
PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION.......................................................................30
SUSTAINABILITY ANALYSIS................................................................................................30
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY:.........................................................................................30
SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY:..........................................................................................................30
FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY:....................................................................................................31
RISK ASSESSMENT..................................................................................................................31
STAKEHOLDER IDENTIFICATION.....................................................................................33
COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION............................................................................................34
INCREMENTAL COST ASSESSMENT..................................................................................35
BUDGET......................................................................................................................................38
MONITORING AND EVALUATION PLAN..........................................................................39
MONITORING:............................................................................................................................39
EVALUATION:.............................................................................................................................39
ANNEX 1: GLOBALLY-SIGNIFICANT CONSERVATION BENEFITS...........................40
ANNEX 2: SUMMARY OF BUSINESS PLAN FOR FROG EXPORT VENTURE............42
ANNEX 3: MARKET STUDY...................................................................................................43
CUSTOMER PROFILE...................................................................................................................43
The General Public................................................................................................................43
Institutions.............................................................................................................................43
Pet Store Chains....................................................................................................................44
CURRENT UNITED STATES MARKET..........................................................................................44
Current Prices........................................................................................................................44
Current Competition and Market Leaders.............................................................................45
PERUVIAN POISON DART FROGS MARKET ADVANTAGES.........................................................45
MARKET DEMAND.....................................................................................................................46
MARKETING AND SELLING STRATEGY......................................................................................47
ANNEX 4: FOCAL POINT ENDORSEMENT........................................................................48
ANNEX 5: SUMMARY OF MONITORING & EVALUATION PLAN...............................49
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Priority 1 Conservation Zones linked to Frog Production Areas.............13
Table 2: Summary of Project Outcomes and Indicators............................................19
Table 3: Initial Capitalization and Ownership of Frog Export Venture.................28
Table 4: Implementation Schedule...............................................................................29
Table 5: Project Risks and Corresponding Mitigation Strategies............................31
Table 6: Current Market Price Survey Data**............................................................44
Table 7: Major U.S. Poison Dart Frog Breeders..........................................................45
Table 8: Annual Viable Sales Figures..........................................................................47

TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Male frog with
tadpoles………………………………………………………… .….6
Figure 2: Frog Breeding
Vessel…………………………………………………………………6
Figure 3: Hobbyist with
terrarium………………………………………………………… ….7
Figure 4: Geographic Scope of Frog Production
Areas………………………………… . ….9
Figure 5: Recent Deforestation of Rare Frog
Habitat………………………………………..11
Figure 6: Deforestation in Alto Cainarache
Valley………………………………………….13
Figure 7: IFC & ASPRAVEP
Meeting…………………………………………………….…..29

LIST OF ACRONYMS
ASPRAVEP Association of Producers of Poison Dart Frogs in Peru
CONAM Consejo Nacional del Ambiente
EBA Endemic Bird Areas
GEF Global Environment Facility
IFC International Finance Corporation
INRENA National Institute for Natural Resources
LCC Local Collection Center
M&E Monitoring and Evaluation
NGO Non Government Organization
NTFP Non-Timber Forest Product
RAP Rapid Assessment Process
INIBICO Institute for Research into the Biology of the Eastern
Andes
ZIRA Intensive Zoocriadero with Artificial Ranching
Project Summary

PROJECT IDENTIFIERS
1. Project name: Poison Dart Frog 2. GEF Implementing Agency: IFC
Ranching to Protect Rainforest and (World Bank)
Alleviate Poverty
3. Country or countries in which the 4. Country eligibility: Peru ratified the
project is being implemented: Peru Convention on Biological Diversity on
June 7, 1993
5. GEF focal area(s): Biodiversity 6. Operational program/Short-term
measure: OP No. 3: Forest Ecosystems

7. Project linkage to national priorities, action plans, and programs:
The project will help to achieve Peru’s goals for biodiversity, which are
articulated in the “Law on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity.”
Specifically, the project will help to achieve the objectives of Articles 3 and 5,
which state Peru’s desire to: (i) promote the economic development of Peru by
encouraging greater involvement of the private sector in the sustainable use of
biodiversity; (ii) foster education, information exchange, scientific research, and
the development of human resources concerning biodiversity and the sustainable
use of its components; and (iii) generate funding mechanisms in order to
adequately manage biodiversity. The project is consistent with Peru’s National
Strategy for Biological Diversity, which specifies the development of sustainable
uses of biodiversity and scientific research as national priorities. The project is
also consistent with Peru’s Strategic Biodiversity Guidelines for the Peruvian
Amazon Basin which encourage research to monitor biodiversity in the Amazon.
In addition, the project is consistent with Peru’s strategies for managing its forests
(e.g., Plan de Acción Forestal y de Fauna 1990- 2000) and high priority
biodiversity areas (FANPE-GTZ-INRENA).

Existing Peruvian legislation permits exportation of faunal species that are listed on
CITES Appendix II if they are sustainably-produced via appropriately-managed
zoocriaderos (breeding facilities). The Instituto Nacional de Recursos Naturales (National
Institute for Natural Resources, or INRENA) is highly supportive of this project and is
expected to facilitate export permits in the near future. No GEF funds will be disbursed
to the project sponsor until the initial export permits are in place.
8. GEF national operational focal point and date of country endorsement:
This project was endorsed by the GEF Operational Focal Point for Peru, Mr.
Mariano Castro Sánchez-Moreno, Executive Secretary of the Consejo Nacional del
Ambiente (CONAM) on October 4, 2001.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES
9. Project Rationale and Objectives: Indicators:
1
Goal: to protect rainforest and alleviate 1. Local population increase their
poverty in highly threatened sites in income due to frog sales
Peru 2. Decrease in deforestation at project
Objectives:to promote sustainable sites
cultivation of poison dart frogs for 3. The business established via the MSP
export, so local people can earn a better profitably exports poison dart frogs
living from conserving the forest than
by cutting it down
10. Project Outcomes: Indicators:
Biodiversity Preservation
At least 15,000 ha of rainforest is # of hectares conserved
preserved from destructive practices
Land preservation strategies in place for # of communities with land preservation
at least 6 communities through strategies
partnerships with INRENA or local
NGOs
Increased awareness of value of # of schoolchildren instructed and # of
frogs/forest among at least 10,000 adults trained
schoolchildren and 850 adults
At least 20 INRENA officials will be # of INRENA staff trained
fully aware of sustainable frog
production methods and able to monitor
sustainability of frog business’s practices
Decrease in slash-and-burn and other # of campesinos who abandon slash-and-
destructive agricultural practices among burn practices
at least 250 campesino families
Poverty Alleviation
At least 250 campesino families bring # of campesinos reaching minimum wage via
their income to minimum wage via the frog business
frog business
At least 100 campesinos earn minimum # of campesinos who can earn minimum
wage from local and international wage through local or foreign tourist
tourist visits to collection centers & visits
project sites
Conservation of Poison Dart Frogs
Populations of at least 60 Peruvian Population size of selected species and
poison dart frog species will be stable or variants
increasing
Illegal smuggling of Peruvian poison # of smugglers identified
dart frogs will be virtually eliminated
2
Additional Project Benefits
Commercialization of additional NTFPs # of feasibility studies carried out that
lead to sustainable production of
additional NTFPs
Sustainable frog production will be initiated # of new countries using ZIRA method
in at least 2 other countries for frog businesses or in-situ
conservation purposes
Expertise about Peruvian amphibians # of academics participating in joint
and their habitat will be increased seminars or research
among at least 30 Peruvian academics
11. Project Activities Indicators:
1. Inventory of frogs and related 1. Inventories, manuals and other
biodiversity resources (status, threats, documents issued.
etc.) ($ 62,715)
2. Organizing, technical assistance and 2. Local producers organized in
capacity building for local producers committees and trained.
($97,406) 3. Frog production lots established &
3. Establishment frog production lots operational
($291,601) 4. Collection centers operating and
4. Collection centers’ infrastructure, exporting
equipment and operation ($681,310) 5. Technical staff at INRENA trained to
5. Training and capacity building in monitor & supervise sustainable poison
national institutional counterparts dart frog production
($24,190) 6. Annual sales of sustainably bred
6. Market development and poison dart frogs & participation in frog
international media promotion trade associations/events
($137,405) 7. Poison dart frog community-based
7. Model replication in other countries production model is replicated in other
and with other NTFPs ($128,642) countries and with other NTFPs
8. Ecotourism and tourism 8. # of tourists paying to visit poison
development ($20,000) dart frog attractions/tours
9. Educational outreach ($31,620) 9. # of educational talks/seminars
10. Project management and given
administration ($177,842) 10. Timeliness & quality of quarterly
11. Monitoring and evaluation of reports to IFC; financial audits
social, environmental and economic 11. Timeliness & quality of M&E reports
indicators ($80,000)
12. Estimated Budget (in US$):
3
Project Preparation:
GEF: $ 25,000 PDF-A
Co-financing: $ 39,000 World Bank “Innovation in the Marketplace”
(cash)
TOTAL: $ 64,000

Project Implementation:
GEF: $ 788,540
Co-financing: $ 56,000 World Bank “Innovation in the Marketplace”
(cash)
$ 272,732 Frog Export Business (cash)
$ 26,131 INIBICO (in kind)
$ 351,375 Curmi (87% cash; 13% in kind)
$ 186,264 Frog Producer Associations (in-kind)
$ 55,880 INRENA (Peruvian Government) (in kind)
$ 45,000 Distributors (cash)
TOTAL: $ 1,781,922

GRAND TOTAL: $ 1,845,922
INFORMATION ON INSTITUTION SUBMITTING PROJECT BRIEF
13. Information on project proposer: This proposal has been developed by a joint
venture consisting of INIBICO and Curmi:

INIBICO is a nongovernmental organization specializing in the investigation,
protection and management of poison dart frogs, other amphibians and reptiles,
and fish in northeastern Peru. Located in the high jungle city of Tarapoto in the
Department of San Martin, INIBICO has easy access to a variety of ecological
zones from high cloud forest to the lowlands of the Amazon basin. INIBICO
includes fishery biologists, herpetologists, botanists, ecologists, and agro-
industrial engineers. INIBICO’s manager, Dipl. Biol. Rainer Schulte, is the
world’s foremost expert in the biology and management of Peruvian and other
poison dart frogs.

The frog export venture will receive accounting, financial management and marketing
support from Curmi, a Peruvian NGO with a track record as a successful incubator of
local “green” businesses. In the areas where the frog project will take place, Curmi has
promoted agricultural projects to substitute slash-and-burn agriculture with permanent
crops such as cocoa and hearts of palm. Curmi successfully managed the creation of
local processing plants whose products are sold in national and international markets.
Curmi has also executed educational projects, with an agricultural institute in Sisa as the
main example.
14. Date of initial submission of project concept: October 9, 2001
INFORMATION TO BE COMPLETED BY IMPLEMENTING AGENCY:
15. Project identification number: 506393
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16. Implementing Agency contact person: Sam Keller, IFC Projects Officer,
[email protected]
17. Project linkage to Implementing Agency program(s): IFC has provided support to
various types of “biodiversity businesses”, which are commercial enterprises that help to
conserve biodiversity. Either directly or through intermediaries, IFC has helped to
finance ecotourism companies, organic agriculture companies, sustainable cocoa
growers, a sustainable hearts-of-palm producer, a sustainable babassu producer, and a
shade-grown coffee producer. The poison dart frog project adds some important new
elements: it brings together tropical biologists (who know how to artificially enhance the
forest’s productivity), business managers (who know how to run companies), and
campesinos (who know how to sustainable harvest and conserve biodiversity resources if
given the right opportunities) – and thereby offers hope of a new type of business that is
able to generate profits from tropical forest without damaging it. In fact, the production
technology is so effective and innovative that it can actually help to restore native frog
populations in areas where they have been depleted. Thus, this project will make a
valuable contribution to IFC’s portfolio of biodiversity-related investments – and to
global efforts to find viable ways to monetize the economic value inherent in biodiversity
in a manner that encourages conservation of biodiversity resources.
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