CEPF makes funding available through grants for nongovernmental organizations and other civil society groups to help conserve the hotspots. The first step in grant making for these new regions will be the selection of regional implementation teams.

CEPF has supported more than 1,000 civil society groups in biodiversity hotspots to date, while contributing to the creation of protected areas in 15 countries that are part of 11 hotspots.

For example, CEPF support enabled 130 small-scale farmers in the Tropical Andes Hotspot to secure Brazil nut concessions from the Peruvian government and thereby safeguard 225,000 hectares of primary tropical forest, as well as their own livelihoods.

Additionally, CEPF-identified Key Biodiversity Areas in the Philippines covering 20 percent of the nations total land area were declared by presidential order to be critical habitats, with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources directed to promulgate guidelines for their management and protection.

The new funding is part of an ambitious fund-raising plan for CEPF, with a goal of $150 million to expand its work to 11 more hotspots in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Saving the hotspots is an investment well worth it in terms of not only protecting irreplaceable natural places, but also helping local people benefit from those resources, said Jorgen Thomsen, CEPF executive director and senior vice president at CI. We applaud AFD for joining us and for recognizing how healthy ecosystems and human health and prosperity are so fundamentally linked.

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Contact: Tom Cohen
tcohen@conservation.org
703-341-2729
Conservation International
11-Jul-2007