The Conservation Finance Alliance is now soliciting applications for its first full-time Executive Director, to lead the next stage of CFA's strengthening and growth as a network. The job description and application process can be accessed through the CFA website. Please help us spread the word to people who you think would be good candidates for the position. Applications are requested by November 15 via the WCS careers page.
Africa's First Community-Owned FSC Certified Sawmill for Sustainable Hardwoods From Natural Forests
The Mpingo Conservation and Development Initiative has announced that some of the world’s poorest people have opened up a new and lucrative source of revenue through Tanzania's first Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified community-owned sawmill. This is set to triple the incomes that rural villages are able to generate from responsibly managing their natural forests. It will contribute towards local economic empowerment and create incentives for forest conservation; this will help to meet global climate, biodiversity and sustainable development goals.
For further information on this exciting development the full press release is available online or as a PDF download.
SCCM Webinar Uploaded to Website
Thank you to those of you who joined us for our first webinar with Lestari Capital on the 24th. It was an informative and exciting session, and we look forward to hosting more webinars in the future.
For those of you who were unable to attend, we have uploaded a recording of the webinar, with both audio and video of the presentation, to the website. We have also included a download of the slides so feel free to visit the website and check out what we learned about the SCCM.
Webinar: An Introduction to Business Planning for Protected Areas
The NOAA National MPA Center, the EBM Tools Network co-coordinated by NatureServe and OCTO, and MPA News are pleased to announce that they will host a webinar on: An Introduction to Business Planning for Protected Areas with Andrew Rylance, Technical Advisor to the GOS-United Nations Development Programme - Global Environment Facility.
Presenter: Andrew Rylance is the Technical Advisor to the Government of Seychelles-United Nations Development Programme-Global Environment Facility (GOS-UNDP-GEF) Protected Area Financing Project (2016-2021).
Description: A workshop on business planning was recently held to support the financial future of protected areas in Seychelles. Outputs developed under this project have global application. This presentation will outline the importance of business planning for protected areas and how business plans can be used as tools to leverage financial support for conservation management. The presentation will also provide an introduction to the components of business plans and a database of protected area business plans where users can access over 45 examples of protected area business plans and guidelines.
The presentation will be on Thursday Nov. 9, at 1 pm US EST/10 am US PST/6 pm UTC.
Register at: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5824376261725463298
Upcoming SCCM Webinar
CFA webinars return October 24th with a presentation on the Sustainable Commodities Compensation Mechanism by Lestari Capital. CFA member Michal Zrust will be presenting with an introduction by Sylvie Goyet, a member of our Executive Committee. The webinar will take place October 24th at 9am EDT (New York City).
For those of you who are planning to attend, more information on the webinar as well as the GoTo meeting information can be found on the website.
We look forward to hearing your thoughts on the SCCM and are excited to once again be hosting webinars!
Last Chance to Register for Workshop at RedLAC Assembly
For those attending the upcoming RedLAC Assembly in Punta Cana, this is your last chance to register for the Investment Management Principles and Practices Workshop being held October 28th-30th. This 2.5-day workshop will focus on fundamentals in investment management and will be offered exclusively to Trustees, Board members, senior and financial staff of Conservation Trust Funds and Environmental Funds.
Registration submissions will be accepted until this Friday, October 20th. You can register here and find more information on the workshop on our website.
Conservation Finance Alliance Receives Major Funding Award from FFEM and MAVA Foundation
The Conservation Finance Alliance (CFA) is excited to announce today that the French Facility for Global Environment / Fonds Français pour l'Environnement Mondial (FFEM) and the MAVA Foundation have jointly awarded 701,114 Euros (822,315 USD) to support CFA.
The CFA network is supported by generous financial and in-kind contributions from its members. FFEM and MAVA will jointly fund the next stage of CFA. Both organizations are CFA members and have a long history of working to combat the world’s environmental challenges, as well as an enduring commitment to biodiversity conservation.
“The CFA members are a dynamic group, and the network needed to grow and evolve to meet the members’ needs for outreach, knowledge sharing, and collaboration,” said Sylvie Goyet, member of the CFA Executive Committee. “We’re excited by the opportunities that the FFEM and MAVA funding will make possible.”
Among the targeted uses for the funding, CFA will hire its first full-time Executive Director and a small staff to support programming and membership. It will build the network's capacity for administration and fundraising, and assess approaches to knowledge management and sharing to further support collaboration and cross-pollination among members. Additionally, CFA plans to create an Innovative Financing Mechanisms “Incubator” to enable members to develop new approaches to sustainable financing for conservation and protected areas.
“We are honored to host CFA and to be managing this generous donation made by FFEM and the MAVA Foundation,” said WCS Executive Vice President for Conservation and Science John Robinson. “This critical funding will be used to take CFA to the next level in promoting sustainable funding solutions for protected areas and the world’s biodiversity.” WCS is a co-founder of the CFA and currently serves as its host.
The CFA has several immediate projects underway and planned. Presently, CFA is updating a comprehensive resource guide on sustainable financing mechanisms in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme's BIOFIN program, a CFA member. It is also launching a workshop on investment management for Conservation Trust Funds in association with the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Environmental Funds (RedLAC), and renewing a series of knowledge-sharing webinars offered by members.
Conservation Finance Alliance Dinner at the RedLAC Assembly
For those members of CFA who are planning to attend the RedLAC Assembly in Punta Cana, DR, we hope you will join Executive Committee members Lorenzo Rosenzweig and John Adams, along with Katy Mathias from the Secretariat, for an informal dinner and discussion on Wednesday, 1 November. This will be an opportunity for a collaborative discussion and networking among members. Location and time to be announced. Please RSVP to let us know if you are interested.
CFA Webinar on SCCM Rescheduled
Due to timing issues we are rescheduling the webinar on the Sustainable Commodities Compensation Mechanism in the hopes that a greater number of you are able to attend. The new date and time will be October 24th, 9am Eastern Time.
Login information for the GoTo meeting is included below and will also be available on the website alongside a short form to RSVP. We would appreciate if you would take the time to fill this out to give us an idea of how many attendees to be expecting for the new date. We look forward to speaking with you soon!
CFA Webinar: Sustainable Commodities Compensation Mechanism
Tue, Oct 24, 2017 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM EDT
Please join my meeting at the time of the session from your computer, tablet or smartphone.
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/167275941
You can also dial in using your phone.
United States: +1 (571) 317-3129
Access Code: 167-275-941
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Webinar Series: Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services in Research, Policy, and Practice
Thinking in terms of ecosystem services and natural capital explicitly acknowledges our dependence on nature, and therefore the need to better protect and manage natural resources. For this reason these concepts have been adopted by policy, but the use of the concepts in practice is still in its infancy. Working across 27 organisations over a five year period, the OPERAs project has explored how and under what conditions these concepts can move beyond the academic domain towards practical implementation in support of sustainable ecosystem management.
A series of webinars are scheduled to take place focusing on 6 aspects the OPERAs project explored. Each webinar will highlight the flow between knowledge, tools and practice through case material from the OPERAs exemplars and different tools. There will also be an opportunity to ask the OPERAs experts questions at the end of each webinar and the debate will continue on Oppla.
Further information on OPERAs as well as the individual webinars can be found on their website as well as on this flyer. While the first webinar in the series was held this last week, there are five more sessions to be held over the next month. To register please fill out the form here.