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CEPF E-News Update June/July 2011
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About Us
The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) is a joint program of l'Agence Française de Développement, Conservation International, the Global Environment Facility, the Government of Japan, the MacArthur Foundation and the World Bank.
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Haiti
Haitian Environmentalists Share Concerns with New President
Members of Rezo Ekolo (Ecological Network), an alliance of Haitian environmental NGOs receiving capacity-strengthening support through a CEPF grant, met with the new president of the Republic of Haiti, Joseph Michel Martelly, on June 8 and handed him a 25-point manifesto that outlines the vision of Haitian civil society to respond to major threats to the country's environment.
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Polynesia-Micronesia Grantees Gather for Mid-term Assessment
Conservation International’s Pacific Islands Program together with BirdLife International’s Pacific Partnership Programme brought grantees together from across Polynesia-Micronesia in June for a mid-term review of the $7 million, five-year CEPF investment in the hotspot. To date the investment has funded 58 projects in 11 countries, providing $4.3 million to 37 grantees.
The meeting, held in Suva, Fiji, drew representatives from 27 grantee organizations to share lessons learned and project experiences and to build grantee capacity. The event was opened by the Minister of Local Government, Urban Development, Housing and Environment for Fiji, Samuela Saumatua, who thanked the partners for their contributions to conservation in Fiji and across the Pacific region. The minister noted that all 14 CEPF-funded projects in Fiji address issues covered in Fiji’s National Biodiversity Strategy. Claudia Sobrevilla, Senior Biodiversity Specialist at the World Bank, also welcomed the participants.
As part of the assessment the participants visited Mabualau Island, which had recently been declared “pest free” after implementation of a CEPF-supported restoration program and an evaluation period of two years to ensure that rodents had not been sighted on the island again. The benefits of the restoration campaign were evident with increased numbers of red-footed and brown boobies nesting on the islands and several sea snakes resting in pockets in the soil on the island now that they were no longer disturbed by rats.
Learn more about CEPF’s Polynesia-Micronesia investment.
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Brussels, Belgium
Grantees, Staff Take CEPF to the European Union
A Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) awareness-raising reception was held in Brussels with the support of donor partner Conservation International’s (CI) Europe office, attracting donors, representatives of NGOs and governments and some European royalty to learn about CEPF and its conservation strategy for the Mediterranean Basin.
His Royal Highness Prince Constantijn and Her Royal Highness Princess Laurentien van Oranje of the Netherlands were guests of honor. Princess Laurentien, who is very involved in conservation and development issues and is also a successful author of children’s books, addressed the audience and presented a video featuring our future global leaders. In this video, children from all over the world share their refreshing views on the importance of nature and made a convincing and often moving plea to protect nature.
Other speakers included Gilles Kleitz of l’Agence Française de Développement, one of CEPF’s donor partners; CI Executive Vice President Olivier Langrand; CEPF Executive Director Patricia Zurita; CEPF grantee Tommy Garnett, regional director, Environmental Foundation for Africa; and Güven Eken, president of Doğa Derneği, the Turkish Nature Association, which led the development of CEPF’s ecosystem profile for the Mediterranean Basin Hotspot.
The reception was preceded by a technical meeting with representatives of the European Commission, which was a follow-up to a high-level meeting in May in New York with the European Commission Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik. The technical meeting focused on opportunities for collaboration and partnership, with an aim of encouraging the European Commission to become a partner to CEPF. |
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Western Ghats of India
Lesson Learned
The CEPF grantee, Strand Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd., shares what its team has learned in their efforts to create an open collaborative information system for biodiversity in the Western Ghats.
According to R. Prabhakar, director, the most important lesson learned thus far and an impetus for the project is that open sharing of biodiversity data is important and essential for long-term conservation of the Western Ghats.
“While there is a realization that biodiversity data is a public good and should be available on open and free access, there are several issues in sharing the data, ranging from the sensitivity of the biodiversity to intensions of scientific publication before information can be shared.” |
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New Resources Final Project Completion Reports
* Building a knowledge base for local and regional stakeholders in managing Managed Resources Protected Areas in Madagascar, Association FANAMBY, English (PDF – 107 KB)
* CEPF Small Grants Program, India-Small Grants Programme for Biodiversity Conservation in the Eastern Himalayas of India, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, English (PDF – 46 KB)
* Maintain and Restore Habitat Connectivity and Reduce Human-Animal Conflict in the North Bank Landscape , WWF-India, English (PDF – 5 MB)
* Pygmy Hog Conservation Programme: improving the status of the critically endangered pygmy hog as a flagship for biodiversity conservation in the terai grasslands of Assam, Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, English (PDF – 280 KB)
* Securing Safe Environment for Critically Endangered Vulture Species by Declaring and Ensuring Diclofenac Free Zones in Central and Western Low Lands of Nepal, Bird Conservation Nepal, English (PDF – 150 KB)
* Strengthen civil societies for improved resource management for conservation, Darjeeling Ladenla Road Prerna, English (PDF – 38 KB)
Grantee Newsletters, Publications, and Web sites
Publication:
 Biodiversity Conservation Lessons Learned 4: Looking Back to Move Forward: Evaluating Conservation Outcomes in Samoa, English, January 2011 (PDF – 1.8 MB)
Biodiversity Conservation Lessons Learned Technical Series is a series of 10 reports sharing lessons learned in biodiversity conservation in the Pacific. These are technical reports prepared by a range of partners funded by CEPF and CI. The reports are being produced on an ad hoc basis as projects are completed, with more reports expected to be published every year.
* This technical series is being realized through Ms. Joanne Aitken, a consultant hired by CI-Pacific.
The report, Looking Back to Move Forward: Evaluating Conservation Outcomes in Samoa, is the fourth in the series.
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Photo Credits: Rezo Ekolo with President Martelly, © Roberson Alphonse; CEPF with Princess and Prince of Netherlands in Brussels, © Patrick Mascart
Header Photo: Tim Fitzharris / Minden Pictures | |