This publication describes the evolution of Conservation Trust Funds (CTFs) over the previous decade (2010-2020) and provides insights into the expanding roles they could play in the coming years. This report was organized by the Conservation Finance Alliance’s (CFA) Environmental Funds Working Group (EFWG), in collaboration with the three networks of Conservation Trust Funds: the Network of Latin American and Caribbean Environmental Funds (RedLAC); the Consortium of African Funds for the Environment (CAFÉ); and the Asia-Pacific Conservation Trust Fund Network (APNET) and through funding by a generous group of donors. Results presented in this report are based on over 65 interviews with CTF representatives, donors, and stakeholders; the 2020 Global CTF Survey completed by 50 CTFs (Annex 1), and regular feedback from a CTF Study Task Force to the lead authors from Aligning Visions (Paquita Bath), Wolfs Company (Amílcar Guzmán-Valladares and Viviana Luján-Gallegos) and the CFA (Katy Mathias).

The updated of this standards build on the widely used 2014 edition, incorporating content that was previously excluded due to time constraints or added in response to user feedback over five years. Following broad stakeholder consultations, the consulting team (Wolfs Company and Aligning Visions), in collaboration with the 2020 CTF Projects Task Force, introduced several key updates: 1) New Core Area for Risk Management and Safeguards, 2) Operations Core Area divided into two new Core Areas: Institutional Effectiveness and Programs, 3) New Asset Management standard on aligning a CTF’s investment policy with its mission and values, 4) Cross-cutting themes recognizing standards that appear in more than one Core Area: Communications, Human Resources, Monitoring and Evaluation, and Technology, 5) A new Annex on assessment against the Practice Standards, including sample assessment tools, 6) A new Annex on prioritizing the Practice Standards at different stages of CTF evolution, 7) One consolidated Glossary, with glossary terms hyperlinked to facilitate document navigation.

This “Self-Assessment Tool for Conservation Trust Funds” is a user-friendly and dynamic instrument that allows Conservation Trust Funds (CTFs) to periodically assess their performance to increase their impact on global biodiversity conservation efforts.