Orinoquía Sustainable Integrated Landscape Program

Program Overview

The Orinoquía Sustainable Integrated Landscape Program (OSILP) aims to help farmers and agribusiness in Colombia’s Orinoquía region sustainably manage their land, increase agricultural production, and realize the region’s potential to become a food basket for the country and the world.

Program name

Orinoquía Sustainable Integrated Landscape Program (OSILP)

Jurisdiction

Orinoquía region, Colombia

Size of jurisdiction

25 million hectares

Population in jurisdiction

1.37 million

Drivers of land use change

- Agricultural expansion- maize, soybean, forage grasses, and rice

- Expansion of areas for cattle grazing

- Palm oil plantations

Accounting area

TBD

Implementing agency

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

ISFL Funding

- $20 million in grant financing through the government

- $1 million IFC projects to support sustainability by private sector enterprises in the livestock and dairy sectors of the Orinoquía region

- $7.3 million for the technical study called, “Developing climate-smart agriculture supply value chains: Opportunities, challenges, and emerging lessons.” This will complement technical assistance funds to increase knowledge on the cocoa, livestock, NFTP, and palm oil sectors.

- Potential payments of up to 10 million tCO2e of emission reductions

Co-financing

$5.93 million GEF financing

The OSILP provides technical assistance to address the drivers of land-use change in Orinoquía and to catalyze sustainable development across the region. This is done by promoting better land-use planning, the integration of sustainable land-use policies, the enforcement of pertinent laws and regulations, and capacity building. The OSILP is also supporting the preparation of an Emission Reductions program to access results-based finance for up to 10 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) of emission reductions.

The OSILP has four components:

  • Supporting capacity building for the implementation of integrated land-use planning and improved governance for deforestation control;

  • Supporting sustainable land-use management through generating information, capacities, and incentives to reduce AFOLU GHG emissions from unsustainable land use and land-use changes in the agriculture, forestry, and other land uses (AFOLU) sector;

  • Providing technical assistance for the preparation of the Emission Reductions program for results-based payments and develop Colombia’s capacity for robust monitoring, reporting, accounting, and verification of AFOLU emissions and removals; and

  • Financing project coordination, management, monitoring, and evaluation activities.

Country Context

text Drivers of land use and change
  • Land-use change from agricultural cultivation is the main driver of deforestation and ecosystem degradation in the Orinoquía region and has largely occurred over the past three decades.
  • The main causes of land-use change in the Orinoquía region are the expansion of areas for cattle grazing, the lack of land-use planning and incentives for sustainable practices, and illicit activities, including the clearing of forests for the planting of coca.
  • The plantation area of palm oil has increased the most compared with other plantations and agricultural commodities (total area of 360,000 hectares as of 2010 compared to 18,000 hectares in the 1980s).
  • Other land-use changes related to forest plantations and agricultural commodities (such as maize, soybean, forage grasses, and rice) have also taken place.
  • Much of the Orinoquía region constitutes undeveloped “frontier” territory, due in part to land tenure insecurity and lack of adequate infrastructure.
     
text Key commodities and sectors
  • Agroforestry and commercial forestry systems, cattle, cashew, cocoa, dairy production, and palm oil. 
text Policy interactions and green growth strategies
  • The recently launched national policy on deforestation control and forest management (National Council on Economic and Social Policy 4021 in 2020) set the guidelines for the implementation of cross-sectoral activities to boost the forest economy and sustainable use of the country’s natural capital and to bring the deforestation rate to zero by 2030. The project supports its implementation at the regional level. 
  • The project also contributes to the updating and implementation of the Regional Climate Change Plan (PRICCO) for the Orinoquia region in Arauca, Casanare, Meta, and Vichada. 
text NDC commitments

The government of Colombia has committed to reducing GHG emissions by 51 percent against the business-as-usual level by 2030. To fulfill its NDC, the government has formulated a climate change policy and set an institutional framework to address adaptation and mitigation through the National Climate Change System (SISCLIMA). 

Program Results

# of partnerships established with the private sector

15 

# of partnerships established with not-for-profit organizations

25 

# of engagements established with the private sector

15 

# of engagements established with not-for-profit organizations

20 

# coordination platforms supported

23

Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) completed

Yes

Feedback Grievance Redress Mechanism (FGRM) completed

Yes

Core Program Documents

Emission Reductions Program Document (ERPD)
Project Appraisal Document
Environmental and Social Management Framework (September 2017)

Program Contact Information

To request further information about this program, please email us.