Overview

Sustainable Financing and Economic Opportunities in Conservation

Projects identifying, cultivating and mobilizing sustainable sources of envronmental, conservation and development funding. Includes conservation enterprise development, business opportunities in conservation such as tourism, payments of ecosystem services and private-public-partnerships.

Sustainable Financing and Business Planning for Protected Areas

The Africa Biodiversity Collaborative Group (ABCG) and the Conservation Finance Alliance (CFA) held a 9 June 2005 meeting on “Sustainable Financing and Business Planning for Protected Areas”.

The objectives of the meeting were to:

• learn from examples of economic valuation of biodiversity;
• explore why and how to implement a process of sustainable financing for protected areas;
• understand the linkages between protected area management and business planning; and
• discuss why to do business planning and how to use it for protected areas.

Talks included:

How Much Are Uganda’s Forests Worth? by Andy Plumptre, Wildlife Conservation Society- Uganda

Sustainable Financing and Business Planning in The Greater Virunga Landscape: Case Study of Rwenzori Mountains National Park Business Plan by Ray Victurine, Wildlife Conservation Society- Conservation Finance Program

Sustainable Financing for Protected Areas in Madagascar: A Short Overview by Jean-Paul Paddack, WWF-Madagascar

Estimating Management Costs for “Site de Conservation” in Madagascar by Ray Victurine, Wildlife Conservation Society- Conservation Finance Program

A roundtable discussion was held to describe other efforts on economic valuation of biodiversity, sustainable financing and business planning for protected areas including descriptions by:

• WWF-US Large Conservation Program Management
• International Gorilla Conservation Programme’s Study on The Economic Value of the Virunga and Bwindi Mountain Gorilla Protected Forests: Benefits, Costs and Their Distribution Amongst Stakeholders
• Division of Global Environment Facility Coordination (DGEF) United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP): Conservation Finance Remains a Priority of the Global Environment Facility

Please see the following meeting notes, reference materials, meeting participant list, and useful weblinks.

photo credit: USAID