The CSM-BGBD Project

The urgent need to slow down soil biodiversity losses and to better access the potential uses of soil biodiversity in ecosystem management, agricultural productivity, and bioprospecting; provided the main driving forces behind the establishment of the project on conservation and sustainable management of below-ground biodiversity (CSM-BGBD).

The CSM-BGBD Project is being implemented in seven tropical countries, namely: Brazil, Côte d'Ivoire, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, and Uganda. In each country, Benchmark sites have been selected to represent a wide range of globally significant ecosystems, ranging from Amazonian lowlands in Brazil to Himalayan highlands in India, thus covering as broad a spectrum of tropical ecological variabilities globally.

The Project is coordinated by the Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute of CIAT (TSBF-CIAT) and is co-financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), which contributes more than US$9 million of the Project's budget of US$16.5 million. The Project also receives support in implementation from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the participating countries.

Major Goals

The Project's main goal is to generate information and knowledge that can be used to better manage and conserve BGBD in tropical agricultural landscapes. Such knowledge will also help maintain agricultural productivity and reduce the incursion of agriculture into natural landscapes (e.g., cutting of natural forests, etc). The Project also aims at building capacity for the conservation and sustainable management of BGBD by encouraging South to South information exchange and providing training with support from international institutions.

Our contacts

CSM-BGBD Project Coordination Office
TSBF Institute of CIAT
c/o World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF)
United Nations Avenue, Gigiri
P.O. Box 30677-00100
Nairobi, Kenya
Phone: +254 (20) 7224773/2/5
Fax: +254 (20) 7224764/3
Email: BGBD Project
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