Conservation Trust Fund Launched to Protect Guyana's Tropical Ecosystems
Conservation Trust Fund Launched to Protect Guyana's Tropical Ecosystems
Conservation International, in partnership with the governments of Guyana and Germany, has announced the launch of an $8.5 million fund to support efforts to protect Guyana's tropical forests, promote low-carbon development, and benefit local communities.
Financed with $5 million from the German development bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau and $3.5 million from CI's Global Conservation Fund — made possible by a grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation — the Conservation Trust Fund will provide long-term support for the management of Guyana's protected tropical areas — currently about 9 percent of the country's landmass — including on-the-ground implementation of management and monitoring plans, park rangers, and scientific research.
Protected areas also are a key component of Guyana's Low Carbon Development Strategy, which seeks to promote low-carbon economic development using revenues generated through the maintenance of the climate and biodiversity assets contained in the country's intact ecosystems.
"Guyana is one of the very few places in the world where one can still find such huge areas of intact wilderness, which represent the country's renewable natural capital and will enable Guyana to develop a model green economy for the future," said CI president Russell Mittermeier. "The Conservation Trust Fund will help to provide the financial support necessary to ensure the protection of critical ecosystems and to ensure that they continue to provide the wide range of ecosystem services necessary for the long-term well-being of Guyana's people."
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