By Julie Shaw
The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) is embarking on a major funding program designed to sustain and advance the conservation gains made possible by its previous investments in many of the biologically richest areas on Earth.
The consolidation program will include up to $24 million in grants for packages of civil society projects carefully selected from invited applications to meet new investment priorities based on assessments of the gains achieved.
First Region: Cape Floristic Region
Among the first biodiversity hotspots to benefit from the new funds will be the
Cape Floristic Region in South Africa, which is the smallest and the richest of the world’s six floral kingdoms.
New consolidation funds totaling $1.65 million will be awarded to nine projects in the region that together will build on the successes of a prior 5-year investment of $6 million. Newly awarded funds will go toward activities such as reinforcing biodiversity conservation corridor conservation efforts and further supporting grassroots organizations, engaging the business sector and building government support for conservation.
Read more about this consolidation program in the
Cape.
More Regions to ComeOther regions for which consolidation programs are being designed include the
Atlantic Forest in Brazil;
Guinean Forests of West Africa;
Madagascar and Indian Ocean Islands; the southern region of
Mesoamerica; and the
Vilcabamba-Amboró biodiversity conservation corridor in the Tropical Andes of Bolivia and Peru.
Previous CEPF 5-year investments in each of these regions supported many innovative projects and relationships for which financial backing is not commonly available. CEPF determined that a consolidation program is needed to reinforce the new relationships the initial investment helped forge among communities, nongovernmental organizations, government agencies and other entities and therefore to ensure sustainability.
All of the regional consolidation programs will last less than five years.