2016

New granting for Tropical Andes begins

The new CEPF investment in the Tropical Andes Biodiversity Hotspot will provide US$10 million in grants over five years, building on the results achieved and lessons learned from CEPF’s previous investments in this hotspot from 2001 to 2006 and from 2009 to 2013. Bolivian organization Foundation for the Development of the National System of Protected Areas (FUNDESNAP) was selected through a competitive process to lead the regional implementation team (RIT) that contributes to the execution of the conservation strategy in the hotspot.

Conservation International announces new support to CEPF

Conservation International announced its plan to contribute an additional US$25 million to CEPF starting in 2016 and continuing over eight years, bringing its total funding to CEPF to US$75 million since the fund’s inception in 2000.

Caribbean meeting details results

CEPF and the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI), in its capacity as the regional implementation team for the Caribbean Islands Biodiversity Hotspot, held the final assessment of CEPF’s five-year funding phase in the hotspot. The final assessment included consultations in Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica. The meetings brought together more than 100 people representing a broad cross-section of CEPF grantees, stakeholders and donors.

CEPF provided US$6.9 million in grants to civil society organizations in eight countries—Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Jamaica, Haiti, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines—during the 2010 to 2015 investment.

Result highlights:

• Strengthened management of 30 Key Biodiversity Areas covering more than 850,000 hectares.
• New protection for more than 111,000 hectares in Key Biodiveristy Areas.
• Ecosystem services and biodiversity concerns integrated into seven development plans, projects or policies.

Long-term conservation vision drafted

CEPF began the process for developing a long-term conservation vision for the Mediterranean Basin Biodiversity Hotspot’s Balkans subregion. The final workshop, held in December in Slovenia, was chaired by former European Commissioner for the Environment Janez Potocnik. The resulting vision sets targets for strengthening local nongovernmental organizations to the point where they are sustainable and empowered to take the lead in protecting Balkan biodiversity and ecosystems.

Donors approve grant making in new hotspots

The CEPF Donor Council approved the ecosystem profiles—including CEPF’s conservation strategy—for the Cerrado Biodiversity Hotspot with an investment of US$8 million, and the Guinean Forests of West Africa Biodiversity Hotspot with an investment of US$9 million. These investments will provide grants to civil society organizations working on conservation and sustainable development in the hotspots.

The Donor Council also approved reinvesting in the Mediterranean Basin Biodiversity Hotspot, and developing an ecosystem profile for a first-time investment in the Mountains of Central Asia Biodiversity Hotspot.

Five-year program yields results in southeastern Africa

CEPF’s five-year investment in the Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany Biodiversity Hotspot came to an end, but with a strong legacy. CEPF invested US$6.65 million in southern Mozambique, the eastern part of Swaziland, and the South African provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. Of 58 organizations that received grants, 39 were small groups for whom the funding was their first from an international donor.

Result highlights:

• Management improved for more than 2 million hectares.
• Legal protection received or in process for 49 sites, totaling 546,000 hectares.
• Training provided for more than 2,800 people.
• Employment gained for more than 1,500 people.
• Contributions to the creation of 35 policies—typically locally-focused plans for better land management.
• Grantee-contributed in-kind labor or directly leveraged additional funds valued at over US$17 million.

Analysis and strategy development begin for the Mountains of Central Asia

CEPF formally took the first steps toward developing its ecosystem profile, including its conservation strategy, for the Mountains of Central Asia Biodiversity Hotspot by conducting a competitive bidding process and hiring Zoï Environmental Network of Geneva, Switzerland, to lead the profiling.

Team hired to update Mediterranean Basin profile

Following a competitive bidding process, CEPF kicked off the effort to update the ecosystem profile for the Mediterranean Basin Hotspot by hiring BirdLife International to lead the profiling team. In support of the profiling effort, the MAVA Foundation and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation pledged US$100,000 each to the process.

Donor Council decides on reinvestment for Caribbean Islands

During its June meeting, the CEPF Donor Council determined that CEPF would reinvest in the Caribbean Islands Biodiversity Hotspot. CEPF’s first investment in the hotspot was completed in December 2016. The amount of funding and the conservation strategy will be determined as part of the development of an updated ecosystem profile for the hotspot in 2017.