The initiatives comprising Watersheds and Cities have impacted around 3.8 million hectares. The partners have conducted diagnoses, designed integrated watershed management action plans, and deployed communication and awareness campaigns to achieve the active participation of the different sectors and stakeholders. Conservation, restoration, and productive reconversion actions have been established on more than 130,000 hectares; compensation schemes have provided hydro-environmental services on more than 35,000 hectares.
The field deployment of the projects has opened up spaces for the direct participation of the communities in the definition of objectives, the development of activities, and other participatory processes for managing natural resources. Local initiatives have directly benefited more than 16,000 families in 192 communities through their incorporation into sustainable, productive projects, the installation of various eco-technologies, such as biodigesters, water-saving toilets and wood-saving stoves, and 470 rainwater harvesting systems in areas with water shortages or wells contaminated by heavy metals.
Watersheds and Cities V, the new stage of the project, seeks to maintain the environmental services of watersheds and improve water resilience in cities, incorporating Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) and Nature-based Solutions (NbS) approaches. During the first half of 2023, at the basin level, an NbS package was designed with practices aimed at the agricultural sector, with the purpose of reducing erosion and the contribution of sediment to dams. In addition, 41 rainwater harvesting systems, 20 gray water filtration systems, 12 biodigesters, and ten pilot atmospheric water harvesting modules were installed. In the urban area, work was done on designing several pilot projects for green infrastructure (VI) spaces, implementing seven infiltration ridge modules, and creating four rain gardens. To promote the adoption of key EbA and NbS concepts, FMCN, in collaboration with UNEP and project partners, held four workshops under the title “Baseline, Reconnecting Cities with Nature.”