Katy Mathias, co-author of the Conservation Trust Investment Survey (CTIS) shared findings from the annual CTIS study for calendar year 2018. In addition, Katy shared some preliminary information from the forthcoming multi-year study of CTF investment data, drawing on the CTIS project's 13 years of data.
The recording is available on our Youtube Channel
Date: November 12th, 2019
About 60% of Peruvian territory is covered by the Amazon rainforest, more than in any other country. With increasing pressures of deforestation, wildfires and land use change affecting the 38 protected areas in the Amazon region, the Peruvian government and conservation donors recognized the need for bold action to ensure the conservation of this important ecosystem. Partnering with the World Wildlife Fund, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and Andes Amazon Fund, the Peruvian government applied and adapted the Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) approach to ensure sustainable financing and permanent conservation of 16.7 million hectares of the Peruvian Amazon. The PFP approach built institutional capacity and leveraged the power of a single closing agreement to secure commitments for US$ 140 million from private and public sources for a shared conservation goal. Join Carolin Planitzer from WWF and Cindy Vergel from the Protected Areas National Service - SERNANP to discuss the lessons learned from developing this large-scale initiative.
The full recording of the presentation is available on our Youtube Channel.
On October 24th, 2019 a group of CFA members and conservation finance professionals met in Washington D.C. for a presentation by BIOFUND (Mozambique’s Foundation for the Conservation of Biodiversity) on the challenges of financing Marine Protected Areas in Mozambique. The presenters focused on how they are blending traditional project finance with earmarked endowments, biodiversity offsets, and other innovative finance mechanisms to support the Primeiras and Segundas Reserve. Presenters included Luis Honwana, Executive Director; Sean Nazerali, Director for Innovative Financing; and Anabela Rodrigues, V.P. of the Board of Directors.
A recording of the event is available here.
Date: October 16th 2019
Time: 12pm EDT
Addressing ocean challenges with traditional solutions, many of them infrastructure-based, requires trillions of dollars that seem overwhelmingly difficult to mobilize. One complementary approach is to support innovations that can change the rules of the game, transforming the very ways we produce, consume and distribute. Such innovations have the potential to deliver competitive market returns to investors. They can therefore mobilize large amounts of private capital to scale and address the crisis rapidly.
Christian Lim, co-founder of Blue Oceans Partners, will present examples of such innovations, ready to scale now, explaining how they can achieve system level impact for the ocean. Examples will include alternative feeds for aquaculture, sustainable aquaculture technologies, solutions to ghost nets, solutions to plastic microfiber pollution, technologies that enhance the efficiency of Marine Protected Areas, and innovations that enable the transition to a circular plastics economy. Christian will discuss Blue Ocean Partners, the investment platform he has launched to invest in innovations that help regenerate ocean health, including solutions to the challenges of overfishing and plastic pollution.
A recording of the webinar is available on our Youtube channel and the powerpoint presentation is available for download.
Hosted by Elizabeth Tully and Molly Cross of WCS, this webinar took place on July 18th 2019 at 10am EDT.
As conservation funders, we need to ensure that our financial investments remain durable and sustainable in the long-term given the impact of climate change. As conservation practitioners, we need to ensure our actions are targeted enough to help our conservation targets persist through climate changes. Findings from WCS's new report co-written by scientists and funders for conservation funders, "Managing Risks to Conservation Investments Through Climate Adaptation: A Practical Guide for Funders" reaches both audiences. It is an incredible product of a strong scientist-funder partnership that spells out how to "climate-proof" a portfolio for long-lasting, wise investments. The report also helps practitioners who are already conducting adaptation work articulate the ways in which they are valuable stewards of limited conservation dollars. The findings will no doubt resonate with funders with a conservation mission seeking to make lasting investments.
The Guide for Funders is available for download here.
A full recording of the webinar can be found on our Youtube Channel here.
Due to file size, please contact our Secretariat if you would like a copy of the Powerpoint presentation.
On May 24th at 10am EDT, CFA hosted a webinar with Robert Weary of TNC’s NatureVest to discuss an ambitious $40 million initiative to promote ocean conservation as recently announced by The Nature Conservancy. The initiative is based on delivering debt conversions to up to 20 countries over the next five years. The plan, which was selected from more than 1,500 Audacious Project applicants, has already secured more than $23 million in funding from various donors out of the $40 million TNC ultimately requires to unlock $1.6 billion toward marine conservation.
A full recording of the session is available on our Youtube Channel. Due to the size of Powerpoint file, please email our secretariat to request a copy of the presentation.
On May 9th, 2019, Zach Knight of Blue Forest Conservation hosted a webinar discussing their new Forest Resilience Bonds. Blue Forest Conservation is committed to creating sustainable financial solutions to pressing environmental challenges. We recently launched our first innovative finance mechanism, the Forest Resilience Bond, in partnership with the US Forest Service, the World Resources Institute, and Encourage Capital in the Tahoe National Forest in California in 2018. Instead of relying on budget-constrained government agencies, the Forest Resilience Bond deploys investor capital to finance the upfront costs of proactive forest restoration in an effort to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire and associated carbon emissions as well while protecting water resources. Investors earn returns through cost-sharing contracts with the US Forest Service, utilities, and state governments that benefit from the restoration treatments. In addition to wildfire, air quality, and water benefits, the Forest Resilience Bond creates jobs, protects communities, and makes forests more resilient to climate change while offering competitive returns to investors.
The authors of the CFA publication, "Finance Tools for Coral Reef Conservation: A Guide" presented highlights of their paper in two webinars on February 26th, and facilitated discussion among webinar participants. Venkat Iyer, Katy Mathias, David Meyers, Melissa Walsh and Ray Victurine highlighted several of the finance mechanisms that are explored in the Guide, discussed the importance of business planning as the first step in the process, highlighted several case studies and examples, and shared some conclusions.
Photo Credit: HANNES KLOSTERMANN / CORAL REEF IMAGE BANK
On February 6, 2019, Zdenka Piskulich, Marcello Hernandez and Maria Jose Gonzalez presented a CFA webinar on the Caribbean-Pacific Alliance and Blue Challenge.
The Caribbean-Pacific Alliance is a unique collaborative platform to address shared marine and coastal conservation issues in the Tropical Eastern Pacific and Caribbean oceans. The Alliance is composed of PACIFICO (a platform of four Conservation Trust Funds in the Tropical Eastern Pacific), the Mesoamerican Reef (MAR) Fund, and the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund. Together, they encompass two oceans, 16 countries, 4 million km2 and 5 World Heritage Sites, and through the Alliance, they have a structure to facilitate knowledge sharing and collaboration. One of the Caribbean-Pacific Alliance's first initiatives is Blue Challenge, an incubator to build the pipeline of investable projects in the conservation space through technical assistance.
The recording of the webinar, and the Powerpoint presentation, are available below.
A second webinar in Spanish on the same content will be held in the coming weeks.