SUMMER SCHOLARS BLOG : Adriana Curto
Alphabet Çorba
There may be no better place to begin writing from Istanbul than Karaköy Güllüoğlu. A cafeteria-style baklava institution where trays of mix ‘n matched baklava are passed out with urgency, but rhythm. At a first glance, it's orderly chaos. But the story and traditions of this place trace deep, back to Gaziantep, to Aleppo, and to Damascus in the 1800s.
That’s like a lot of things in this city. In Istanbul, history isn’t just behind museum doors. It folds into daily life and you’re reminded at least a couple of times a day you’re living in what once was one of the greatest world capitals, Constantinople. Sidewalks are lined with lavish Ottoman palaces where Sultans once ruled, the adhan (call to prayer) echoes across the Bosphorus from minarets towering over Istanbul’s trendy rooftop bars and cafes, and street food vendors fiddle with their charcoal coals roasting lamb intestines or huge hunks of döner meat.
To explore all the corners and neighborhoods I can in these three months, I’m walking nearly 20,000 steps a day. Or hopping onto whichever ferry looks ready to depart, paying minimal attention to where it’s actually going. But, I promise I did fly out here to work. Granted an incredible opportunity by the United Nations Association of New York, especially in moments as fragile as such, I’ve joined UNDP’s BIOFIN Team for the next couple of months as a Fellow in the Istanbul Regional Hub. It’s alphabet çorba (soup) between the acronyms and lingo for those outside of the UN system, so I’ll explain a bit more below.
BIOFIN is working to close the "Biodiversity Finance Gap"
What is UNDP and BIOFIN?
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eradicate poverty, reduce inequalities, and achieve sustainable development. It has offices in over 170 countries and is funded by UN Member States. Under UNDP, there are different multilateral initiatives that work across a range of sectors including crisis prevention and recovery, environment and energy, and gender equality.
I’ll be working on an initiative called BIOFIN (The Biodiversity Finance Initiative) which falls under UNDP’s mandate. BIOFIN was established to urgently address something called “The Biodiversity Finance Gap” — the difference between the financial resources needed to conserve and sustainably manage biodiversity and the funds currently available. I guess it’s no surprise that in the world we live in today, money has made its way into the pockets of people and things other than conserving and protecting nature. Hence, the really large gap.
BIOFIN is now working with over 130 countries around the world, with governments and the private sector, to demonstrate how reallocating and tailoring investments to promote biodiversity conservation not only protects nature, but also creates jobs, supports health and human development, and combats climate change.
After four weeks in the office and working on BIOFIN’s MOOC (a free online available course) in my free time, I’ve been able to contextualize what this can mean for biodiversity-rich countries, and for the world we live in:
In Costa Rica, indigenous-led tourism ventures are being funded, boosting local economies but also protecting biodiversity and ancestral traditions.
In Vietnam, 7 community-based ecotourism tours have launched, offering tourists who visit Hon Yen Island a glimpse into local culture and traditions. This includes traditional practices such as net weaving, fish sauce making, and cherry nurseries. Approximately 15% of generated revenue goes back into coral reef protection.
In Zanzibar, higher tourist entrance fees for Protected Areas are now being collected digitally, increasing funding for conservation activities and minimizing strains on delicate marine ecosystems stemming from increased tourism.
Biodiversity financing is an emerging sector, with big future prospects. In our first team meeting, I learned that BIOFIN recently hired a gender expert to incorporate a gender equity lens into countries financing plans, increasing women’s participation and livelihoods in the economy. As so many of us already know, women are deeply connected to biodiversity — they’re leading nature-positive businesses, preserving traditional knowledge, and they’re so often on the frontlines of revolutionary environmental justice work. In fact, nearly 1/3 of women’s employment globally is in agriculture, forestry, and fishing sectors.
I had a really cool chance to join a call with BIOFIN’s Country Office in Belize to learn about how they were incorporating gender and climate into their countries financing solutions. Over the next couple months, I’ll be digging through every BIOFIN country’s reporting to analyze global trends in gender inclusion and considering: How are countries around the world incorporating women and indigenous communities into biodiversity financing solutions?
Reflections
On my 20-minute walk home from the office, my thoughts always turn to bigger questions and ideas. About the fragile ecosystems we rely on — the bucket-list mountains we dream of climbing, the national parks we hope to one day explore with our children, and how the ways we travel and consume, often unconsciously, can contribute to unsustainable tourism and environmental harm.
Four weeks in, it’s been a mix of alphabet soup, a new job, new colleagues, and a new country, all unfolding in a world that feels increasingly unpredictable with each morning news update I read from this timezone. But still, I feel deeply grateful for opportunities as such. To explore Istanbul with more confidence and intentionality than I had when I lived here as a college student 10 years ago. To be one of the only Americans in the room, listening as leaders from around the world exchange ideas and propose real solutions for multilateral cooperation, biodiversity conservation, and gender equity. And to meet and have conversations with people who value diversity, cross-cultural collaboration, and bring a deep sense of purpose to their work. That’s the icing on the cake.
So, more soon. And here are some gems from the past four weeks. Thanks for reading!
The Antarctic Treaty: A Unique Framework that Protects Sensitive Ecosystems
Soğuk Baklava & Beyond: Istanbul’s Half-Baked Dessert Trends
Timurtaş Onan’s work, one of Istanbul’s most famous photographers I casually got to hang out with at Barın Han (workshop and bookbindery of one of Türkiye's leading calligraphy and bookbinding artists)
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We hope you enjoyed these excerpts from Adriana’s blog. Be sure to bookmark this link to follow all her blog posts this summer!
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Our Summer Scholars Blog, a collection of reports from post-grad scholars that UNA-NYC has sponsored globally, showcases our fellows' experiences with UN agencies and non-governmental organizations in the country where they are working. Learn more about our Summer Scholars fellowship program and fellows here.