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LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
URUGUAY
MDG7
Progress Towards Environmental Sustainability
Paysandú
Uruguay’s strategic geographic location enables it to access a vast area of
coastland as well as a large presence of rivers and lakes in the mainland.These
aquatic ecosystems and their rich diversity require development programmes
focused on managing these resources. Environmental develop-
ARGENTINA
ment strategies are needed in order to protect these areas and to decrease
the high rates of pollution that harm them. Failure to link natural resources
degradation with economic development will slow down the achievement of MDG 7 in Uruguay.
With most of Uruguay’s total territory under individual property legislation and with a steady population growth rate, there
has been a significant increase in restricted cattle settlements and the conservation of tropical forests. Despite these achievements,
intensive agriculture in forestlands has diminished some domestic natural resources. Inadequate rural development and weak
involvement of the private sector are some of the main challenges to promoting the protection of natural resources in Uruguay.
Lack of water management, coastal planning and lack of regulation has increased pollution rates, resulting in economic and environmental
losses. Weak technology implementation and the noncompliance of the current legal framework have led to coastal
degradation.
Successful legal and technical promotion of sustainable development programmes linking economic growth and natural resources
preservation has resulted in the growth of organic crops. More public and private investment is required, however, to expand this sustainable
trend.
QUICK FACTS
CURRENT PORTFOLIO BUDGET
Total UNDP-GEF and Co-Finance: $4,049,000
Total UNDP and Co-Finance: $3,541,286
Total MPU and Bilateral: $983,557
Total: $8,573,843
Cumulative Total ODS Phased-Out:
147.0 ODP tonnes
Wetlands Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Development 2
Weak national policy on the matter of slum dwellers in Uruguay, as
well as insufficient available data on housing conditions, require governmental
initiatives towards allocating resources to infrastructure
and social research efforts.
Improper use of land and the high population density in coastlands
are the main causes of natural resources degradation in Uruguay.
Furthermore, the absence of adequate legal mechanisms retards
efforts to improve environmental sustainability. The achievement of
MDG 7 will prove to be difficult without the effective implementation
of a conservation programme and without an increase in environmental
education and awareness in public universities and NGOs. 1
BIODIVERSITY
The project was successful in attaining its goals for protecting the biodiversity of the wetlands and new Private Protected Area
Initiatives have now been proposed, with the support of PROBIDES and the local authority, where groups of landowners and farmers
come together in an association for environmental conservation and the rational use of natural resources.
Salto
Rivera
URUGUAY
Montevideo
BRAZIL
SPOTLIGHT
The Eastern Wetlands area covers around 350,000 hectares containing one of the most important freshwater ecosystem complexes
in the Neotropical region. In the late 1970s, after being included in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International
Importance, the Government attempted to provide legal protection to this pristine ecosystem, the Bañados del Este Biosphere
Reserve. However, weak institutional capacity translated into inefficient programmes that failed to protect the reserve from the
negative effects of tourism.
In 1997 the Government found financial support from UNDP, GEF, the EU and the Spanish government for a programme –
known as PROBIDES – to consolidate the reserve and promote sustainable projects within the wetlands region. A GEF grant of
US$ 2.5 million and an additional US$ 1.5 million in co-financing was allocated for initiatives to conserve the reserve, including
the drafting of a Master Plan to integrate lands, rivers, estuaries, coastal wetlands and coastal dunes into the regional economic
agenda to ensure sustainable development. The Plan also established political frameworks and mechanisms to provide
incentives and training to implement an effective system of public/private protected lands, to encourage a long-term sustainable
strategy for land protection through tourist revenue.
The implementation of the Plan enabled accurate planning and zoning of the wetlands,while scientific research on the indigenous
flora and fauna facilitated ecotourism projects within the low-risk biodiversity regions.The Plan also included the development of
a documentation centre specializing in data-collection on the various species of the wetland habitat for a coastal management
programme.
Atlantic
Ocean
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