CEPF's investment in the Guinean Forests of West Africa Biodiversity Hotspot is guided by the following strategic directions as outlined in the ecosystem profile.
- Empower local communities to engage in sustainable management of 40 priority sites and consolidate ecological connectivity at the landscape scale.
- 1.1 Strengthen the elaboration and/or implementation of land-use planning, land tenure and forestry reforms to facilitate good governance in the management of community and private reserves and concessions.
- 1.2 Promote preparation and implementation of participatory management plans that support stakeholder collaboration in protected area management.
- 1.3 Demonstrate sustainable livelihood/job creation activities for local communities that will act as incentives for the conservation of priority sites (e.g., domestication of wildlife species, sustainable logging from locally controlled forests, harvesting of non-timber forest products, sustainable agriculture, etc.).
- 1.1 Strengthen the elaboration and/or implementation of land-use planning, land tenure and forestry reforms to facilitate good governance in the management of community and private reserves and concessions.
- Mainstream biodiversity conservation into public policy and private sector practice in the nine conservation corridors, at local, sub-national and national levels.
- 2.1 Conduct policy-relevant research, analysis and outreach that informs and influences the development of national government conservation policies, including on protected area management, payment for ecosystem services, REDD+ and ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change.
- 2.2 Generate locally relevant information on natural ecosystems (e.g., economic valuations of ecosystem services) to influence political and economic decision-making in favor of their conservation.
- 2.3 Facilitate partnerships among local communities, private sector and government to demonstrate models for best practice mining, sustainable forestry and sustainable agriculture by private companies.
- 2.1 Conduct policy-relevant research, analysis and outreach that informs and influences the development of national government conservation policies, including on protected area management, payment for ecosystem services, REDD+ and ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change.
- Safeguard priority globally threatened species by identifying and addressing major threats and information gaps.
- 3.1 Support the implementation of Conservation Action Plans for Critically Endangered and Endangered species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
- 3.2 Update the Key Biodiversity Area analysis by incorporating recently available data, including on Alliance for Zero Extinction sites and global Red List assessments and by conducting targeted research to fill critical knowledge gaps.
- 3.1 Support the implementation of Conservation Action Plans for Critically Endangered and Endangered species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
- Build the capacity of local civil society organizations, including indigenous people’s, women’s and youth groups, to conserve and manage globally important biodiversity.
- 4.1 Strengthen the capacity of local civil society organizations in financial, institutional and project management, organizational governance, and fundraising.
- 4.2 Establish and strengthen women-led conservation and development organizations, associations and networks to foster gender equality in natural resource management and benefit sharing.
- 4.3 Strengthen the communication capacity of local civil society organizations in support of their mission and to build public awareness on the importance of conservation outcomes.
- 4.1 Strengthen the capacity of local civil society organizations in financial, institutional and project management, organizational governance, and fundraising.
- Provide strategic leadership and effective coordination of conservation investment through a regional implementation team.
- 5.1 Operationalize and coordinate CEPF’s grant-making processes and procedures to ensure effective implementation of the investment strategy throughout the hotspot.
- 5.2 Build a broad constituency of civil society groups working across institutional and political boundaries to achieve common conservation objectives.
- 5.1 Operationalize and coordinate CEPF’s grant-making processes and procedures to ensure effective implementation of the investment strategy throughout the hotspot.
Read more about CEPF's strategy in the hotspot in chapter 12 of our ecosystem profile (PDF - 5.2 MB), also available in French (PDF - 5.5 MB). (PDF - 4 MB).