The Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (CBF) announced its latest Call for Proposals (CfP), through the Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) Facility on Tuesday 31st August 2021.
2021 Land Accelerator Africa
Are you a land restoration entrepreneur? Do you know one?
In 2018, World Resources Institute (WRI) and Fledge launched the Land Accelerator, the world’s first training and mentorship program targeted specifically toward businesses that restore degraded forests, farmland, and pasture.
Women-led and youth-led companies, which may benefit from additional funding opportunities, are highly encouraged to apply!
In partnership with AFR100, World Resources Institute is excited to announce that the application cycle for the 2021 Land Accelerator Africa is open through March 31!
For the 2021 Africa cohort, we are embracing an exciting new approach.
From our applicants, the team will select Africa’s Top 100 Restoration Entrepreneurs, all of whom will benefit from extensive online training and networking for three months.
A panel of experts will then select the Top 10, who will benefit from one-on-one technical support, pitch their businesses to an online room of investors, and receive a $5,000 innovation grant.
The CFA Incubator - Update
The CFA recently closed (Jan 31, 2020) a call for proposals for its first round of virtual incubation. The CFA Incubator will award 5 subgrants of $25,000 each and mentorship support to the top 5 proposals received. Announcement of the successful proposals will be made next week. Many thanks to our partners and communications channels as well as all of the amazing conservation finance entrepreneurs whom applied. We received 75 fascinating and inspiring applications from a wide geography (42 countries) and diverse organizations with over a quarter being led by women. The overwhelming positive response to this Call combined with the quality of the proposals received has encouraged us to expand the mentoring support for projects to an additional 10 proposals. These additional 10 chosen projects will be supported through CFA Staff and Member mentors. All 15 projects accepted into the CFA Incubator will have the opportunity to present their ideas during the World Conservation Congress at the CFA Pavilion. We are very excited to begin the mentorship process!
If you are interested in being a mentor and are not part of the CFA Innovation Working Group, please join the Working Group via this link.
The following is a quick summary of the applications received:
The diversity of applicant organizations, their geographic distribution and ideas that they contain are truly representative of the CFA membership and indicate the growing interest in the CFA from conservation finance practitioners. We are pleased to see such a positive response and believe that we can build a solid program that will stimulate additional conservation finance activities. The CFA Incubator Technical Review Committee is currently reviewing all applications using the previously agreed upon scoring criteria. Recipients will be announced shortly.
The CFA is currently seeking additional technical and financial partnerships for the CFA Incubator, building from our current partnerships that include:
· Fonds Français pour l’Environnement Mondial (FFEM)
· MAVA Foundation
· Conservation International Ventures
· Posaidon
Please contact David Meyers, Executive Director of the CFA for further information.
Again, if you are interested in mentoring one of these amazing concepts but are not yet part of the Innovation Working Group, please join the Working Group by visiting the Innovation WG page on the CFA website or contacting the Secretariat.
What We're Reading: Progress in natural capital accounting for ecosystems
From ScienceMag:
“Reversing the ongoing degradation of the planet’s ecosystems requires timely and detailed monitoring of ecosystem change and uses. Yet, the System of National Accounts (SNA), first developed in response to the economic crisis of the 1930s and used by statistical offices worldwide to record economic activity (for example, production, consumption, and asset accumulation), does not make explicit either inputs from the environment to the economy or the cost of environmental degradation. Experimental Ecosystem Accounting (EEA), part of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA), has been developed to monitor and report on ecosystem change and use, using the same accounting approach, concepts, and classifications as the SNA. The EEA is part of the statistical community’s response to move SNA measurement “beyond gross domestic product (GDP).” With the first generation of ecosystem accounts now published in 24 countries, and with a push to finalize a United Nations (UN) statistical standard for ecosystem accounting by 2021, we highlight key advances, challenges, and opportunities.”
The full article is available for download here.
What We're Reading: Conserving mangroves, a lifeline for the world
From Apple
“Through Apple’s Earth Day 2018 Give Back campaign, the company has partnered with Conservation International to protect a 27,000 acre mangrove forest in Cispatá Bay on the Caribbean coast of Colombia.”
The full article is available in the Apple Newsroom.
Recording of the first CFA Incubator Information Webinar is now available
The Conservation Finance Alliance Incubator seeks to identify, support and promote innovative ideas and solutions to conservation finance challenges that have significant positive conservation impacts. Innovation is essential to identify and develop conservation finance solutions and is especially urgent given the current rates of biodiversity loss. This virtual incubator will identify and support five concurrent projects for incubation for periods of 9 to 12 months. Support will be in the form of grants and mentorship by CFA members.
This info session answers questions posed by members and gives further information on the Incubator program.
What We're Reading: COMBO - Reducing Infrastructure Impacts on Biodiversity
By Hugo Costa, Hugo Rainey & Ray Victurine | December 16, 2019
Over the past four years, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), together with its partners Forest Trends and Biotope, have been operating an innovative program called Conservation, Impact Mitigation and Biodiversity Offsets (COMBO) in Africa. The programs overarching aim is as simple as it is ambitious: to reconcile economic development with the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services.
To learn more about this project please view the full article here.
What We're Reading: Investing in Nature - Private Finance for Nature-based Resilience
The Nature Conservancy joined forces with Environmental Finance to better understand what major investors are looking for, what obstacles they face and what can be done to help them scale up investments in projects that protect or enhance natural capital. They conducted a global survey of asset owners, asset managers and financial intermediaries (including banks, investment advisors, consultancies, government agencies and NGOs) and attracted responses from 168 institutions. This was complemented by 23 one-to-one interviews.
The full article is available from the Nature Conservancy here.
What We're Reading: "Conservation Finance - Can banks embrace natural capital?"
From Euromoney:
Climate is no longer the only risk in town: thanks to a loud call from the scientific community, nature has finally been given a seat at the table with finance ministers, regulators and central bank governors.
Degradation of natural capital through human activity has brought us to a tipping point. The risks are multiple and varied, from precipitous declines in economic growth to the uncertain future of our species. All sectors of society are being called on to go ‘beyond carbon’ and reduce their negative impact on the natural environment, finding solutions that regenerate natural resources. How can financial institutions best be of service? By examining their balance-sheet exposure to nature-related risks and by channelling finance to businesses and projects that are restoring natural resources. They have the full support of the scientific community.
Full article: https://www.euromoney.com/article/b1hh1rccjthqmd/conservation-finance-can-banks-embrace-natural-capital?copyrightInfo=true
Kinship Conservation Fellows is now accepting applications for the 2020 Fellowship
Kinship Conservation Fellows is now accepting applications for the 2020 Fellowship.
The program is looking for conservation leaders with at least five years of experience who are interested in the application of market-based solutions to solve environmental problems.
Please spread the word about this great opportunity to become part of an expanding global community of innovative conservationists!
Read more about the requirements and how to apply.
Why become a Fellow?
The Kinship Fellows Community is now 282 members strong. If you're wondering what it means to be a part of this vast global network, read about the personal experiences of our Fellows.
About the Fellowship
The 2020 Fellowship takes place from June 28 through July 29, 2020 in Bellingham, Washington, U.S.A. Over the course of the month, Fellows attend interactive sessions, participate in collaborative and independent projects, and attend field trips. Fellows are awarded a $6,000 stipend to defray travel and living expenses, and are provided housing during the program.