Implemented within the context of GEF Operational Program 9, this project arises from the successful development of a Strategic Action Program for the Bermejo River Basin through the earlier (first phase) project, ?Strategic Action Program for Binational Basin of the Rio Bermejo?. The project catalyses the implementation of the Strategic Action Program for the Bermejo River Binational Basin. The Project will implement specific strategic activities, identified in the GEF-financed strategic action program (SAP), that address the principal root causes of soil degradation as set forth in the transboundary diagnostic analysis (TDA) and, in doing so, will provide the necessary institutional, legal, and informational basis to enhance and restore the environmental functioning of the system, and provide protection to endemic species within the five component ecosystems-montane, humid forest, arid Chaco/savannah, sub-humid Chaco, and humid Chaco. These actions, with incremental costs, will complement Basin-scale interventions by the Binational Commission, and the governments of Argentina and Bolivia, financed in part from national and provincial/prefectural sources and by international loan funding, many of which address expected baseline activities. Strengthening of Basin institutions, building of agency and organizational capacity, and integration of environmental concerns into economic development activities on a sustainable basis, and the promotion of the public awareness and participation are key elements of this project.