Finance Mechanisms for Coral Reef Conservation

Training Tools

The Conservation Finance Alliance has recently developed a suite of conservation finance training materials for the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) based on “Finance Tools for Coral Reef Conservation: A Guide” (2018) by Venkat Iver, Katy Mathias, David Meyers, Ray Victurine and Melissa Walsh.

Covering 13 finance mechanisms, the deck is designed to provide an introductory overview on finance mechanisms to protected area managers, government employees, conservation biologists, NGO staff and others working in the field of biodiversity conservation. The training deck is not intended to serve as a detailed “how-to” guide on implementing any single mechanism, but rather to provide an introduction and give participants a framework for evaluating the suitability of different mechanisms to a specific conservation context.

The following finance mechanisms are included:

• Entrance Fees

• Special Use Permits

• Concessions

• Green Taxes

• Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES)

• Biodiversity Offsets

• Nature Bonds

To access the suite of slide decks as well as the added notes for instructors, visit the International Coral Reef Initiative website here, where PDF versions of the slides can be downloaded. To receive the decks in PowerPoint format, contact the ICRI secretariat.

Trainer Background

The slides have been designed with the assumption that the person conducting the training sessions has a well-informed to expert level understanding of the content, and as such should be able to teach the material with no more than a few hours of preparation. Each section has added detail in the notes section of the slides to provide additional context, clarification or examples. While case studies are provided to illustrate the use of the finance mechanism in a real-world setting, trainers are encouraged to use their own examples when possible.

Designing a Training Session

The amount of material that can be covered will depend on the time allotted. In general, a 3-4 hour session should be able to cover the introductory slides and 3-5 finance mechanisms. Use of small group discussions, extended full group discussion, and/or personal reflection workbooks will reinforce the participants’ grasp of the material, but will shorten the amount of content that can be covered. A one-day workshop should be able to cover 4-8 mechanisms.

Wherever possible, providing “Finance Tools for Coral Reef Conservation: A Guide” as pre-reading will help to give participants an introduction to the material. This can be especially helpful if English is not the participants’ primary language, as some of the terms may be new or unfamiliar.