Because CEPF funding in the hotspot represents a relatively small addition to the resources directed toward conservation in the region, it is critical that funding be targeted for maximum leverage through other initiatives and to add value to ongoing efforts led by civil society. The situation requires CEPF participants to demonstrate their role as catalysts through innovative approaches to conservation planning and action.
CEPF investment in Mesoamerica is based on detailed priority-setting and participatory stakeholder consultation processes conducted in the region. By building on these collaborative processes, reviewing the thorough assessments of threats to biodiversity, and analyzing current investment and activity in the region, CEPF has determined a unique niche for value-added conservation investment in southern Mesomerica. The CEPF's specific niche is to support civil society efforts in conservation and provide linkages in otherwise fragmented approaches to conservation in the area - and, most importantly, to stimulate actions in bottom-up conservation in three targeted corridors to minimize extinction in a rich biodiverse flora and fauna, by empowering local stakeholders to embrace conservation.
CEPF will make targeted investments to strengthen civil society participation in these efforts and to catalyze a few key initiatives. The larger investments already in place in the region must be grounded at local levels in order to succeed, and this requires a special effort to ensure that the necessary "building blocks" of conservation are in place. Therefore, the investment strategy guiding CEPF funding in the southern Mesoamerica Hotspot focuses on adding value in the region by:
- promoting existing alliances and networks among NGOs, community groups, academic institutions, the private sector and government;
- strengthening connections between corridors through innovative civil society efforts;
- building awareness campaigns focused on Central American flagship species;
- supporting improved management of key protected areas.
Identifying and focusing on these building blocks at the local level, and linking them to larger national efforts across the region, will promote regional synergy in conservation efforts at a corridor level. CEPF will succeed if it is able to strengthen a few targeted alliances in the three corridors.
CEPF will measure its success by ensuring better linkages in fragmenting conservation efforts and by strengthening on-the-ground action in three distinct corridors. Another measure of success will be the ability to increase financial and human resources committed to conservation efforts within the three-targeted areas.
A final measure of success for CEPF will be increased connections among the three corridors resulting from efforts led by civil society. If CEPF is successful in its delivery and stimulation of civil society, these effects will continue to grow.
CEPF funding in the region will focus on strategic support in southern Mesoamerica through innovative projects within three distinct corridors that improve links and stimulate bottom-up conservation. These will be directed toward supporting specific on-the-ground efforts that anchor the larger Mesoamerica Biological Corridor in the three priority corridors.
Although the CEPF alone will not accomplish these objectives, it will serve as a preliminary effort to secure the following outcomes in the southern region of the Mesoamerica hotspot:
- Through civil society efforts, major conservation areas in the region (Indio Maiz, La Amistad and Osa) will be under improved protection and management
- Civil society initiatives to ensure that protected areas viably connected through a network of public, private, and indigenous reserves
- Targeted species, such as the great green macaw, the white-lipped peccary, the harpy eagle and the jaguar are the focus of awareness and conservation efforts.
- Major threats to biodiversity mitigated
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