Bhutan to Permanently Protect Network of Protected Areas

The Royal Government of Bhutan, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), donors and partners from around the world announced their commitment to create a USD $43 million fund—the first of its kind in Asia—to permanently protect Bhutan’s network of protected areas.

This funding will be combined with USD $75 million from the Bhutan government, which will be contributed over a 14-year period, to support a new program called Bhutan for Life (BFL). The program, which is supported in part by a USD $26.6 million grant from the Green Climate Fund, will ensure that there is funding forever to properly manage Bhutan’s protected areas—which constitute 51 percent of the country, the highest percentage of land designated as protected in Asia. 

The press release can be found here. For further information, both WWF and USNews have provided web stories.

CFA Professional Services Directory

In order to help CFA members find each other for consulting projects, we are introducing a new Professional Services Directory. Members who work as consultants can list themselves and the types of services they provide, and members who are looking for consultants will have an easy way to find who has a particularly specialty.

If you would like to be listed in the Professional Services Directory, please complete this form. In the interest of space, each entry will be relatively short, but can link to a webpage, LinkedIn profile, or other online presence where you can provide more information.

The page is now available on the CFA Site.

New CFA Professional Services Directory

In order to help CFA members find each other for consulting projects, we are introducing a new Professional Services Directory. Members who work as consultants can list themselves and the types of services they provide, and members who are looking for consultants will have an easy way to find who has a particularly specialty.

If you want to be listed in the Professional Services Directory, please complete this form. In the interest of space, each entry will be relatively short, but can link to a webpage, LinkedIn profile, or other online presence where you can provide more information. As submissions come in, the page will be launched shortly with a link included in the next newsletter.

CFA Book Recommendations

In a recent gathering of CFA Members it was suggested that we have a space to compile a list of books on conservation that are highly recommended by other members. Through this we would hope that our members would be inspired to read, learn, and share together through books on conservation. If you have a book you would like to recommend, please send the title, author, your name, as well as a description up to 150 words on why you suggested it to secretariat@conservationfinancealliance.org . As recommendations come in, they will be posted on the CFA Website.

MedPAN Has Launched Two Calls for Small Projects

MedPAN has launched 2 Calls for Small Projects to support the actions led in Marine Protected Areas (MPA) in the Mediterranean. The Calls for Small Projects aim to reinforce MPA management.

The Calls for Small Projects are open to:

• MPA management authorities and organisations responsible or involved in MPA management, which are members or partners of MedPAN.
   
• and other organisations (NGOs, private companies, scientific institutions ...) collaborating with MPAs members of MedPAN.

Please note that the two calls have specific eligibility rules, application forms and deadlines. Please see the full email from MedPAN for specific information on the two calls.

This Call for Small Projects is made possible through the support of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and the MAVA Foundation.

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.

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.  

IUCN Incubator for Nature Conservation

The IUCN has worked to set up an incubator for nature conservation to provide technical expertise, guidance, advice and resources to protected areas seeking to improve their business model and achieve financial sustainability. More information can be found on the flyer below as well as on their website. If you have any questions or would be interested in contributing as a partner, please send an email to financeincubator@iucn.org.

International Marine Protected Areas Congress

This coming September, the 4th International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC4) will be held in La Serena-Coquimbo, Chile. With the motto, Marine Protected Areas: Bringing the People and Ocean Together, IMPAC4 "will focus on the need to highlight the intricate nature of ocean-human relationship and the benefits of marine protected areas and the ocean for millions that depends on their ecosystem services."* At the Congress the CFA will be involved in several presentations regarding Conservation Finance. A summary of these events, put together by Sylvie Goyet, can be downloaded here. This summary will continue to be updated and shared on our website. 

For you members that are lucky enough to be attending and/or presenting we would love to help keep you updated and connected before and during the Congress. By filling out the form through our website we can add you to an email list and share your contact information with one another before you head to Chile.

           *taken from IMPAC4 website