Conservation Finance

WWF has expertise in setting up financial tools that generate tourism revenues with a triple bottom line approach; benefitting local tourism operators, local communities, and the environment. The collection of visitor access fees and taxes can help ensure that a constant stream of revenue can be applied towards preserving ecologically sensitive areas and supporting local communities. WWF is helping to establish user fees and taxes and fund community-based enterprises in Belize, the Philippines, the Galapagos, Thailand, and Namibia.

Namibia’s Community-based Natural Resource Management

37% of Namibia is considered land under conservation management due to conservancies, park and game reserves, concessions, and community forests.
© Martin HARVEY / WWF-Canon

Community-based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) is an important tool for the Government of Namibia to achieve its sustainable development goals. CBNRM is based on the concept that if local people benefit from local resources then they will manage these resources sustainably. Namibia’s approach towards its conservation strategy is considered very effective and can be witnessed by the increase in wildlife in areas where community settlements and the tourism industry exist as well.

WWF has for years supported Namibia’s community-based conservancies and is currently working with the Namibia Association of Community Based Natural Resource Management Support Organizations (NACSO) to develop the next financing strategy that will secure future community-based revenues from tourism and maintain protected areas.

Raising Revenue towards Conservation through Tourism Fees in Belize

The Protected Areas Conservation Trust (PACT) is a revolving trust fund dedicated to the sustainable management and conservation of Belize's protected areas. In collaboration with local conservation groups, WWF helped to conceive, design, and implement the fund. Furthermore, WWF and local partners worked to establish support from the government of Belize, to ensure that revenue raised for PACT would be earmarked to supplement, and not reduce, government expenditures for environmental protection.

The PACT Act was passed in 1996 and introduced a conservation fee to be paid per visitor upon departure as well as a 20 percent commission from cruise ship passenger fees. About five percent of all revenues are deposited into an endowment fund. In 2008, the Fund allocated roughly $150,000 in grants to manage and maintain protected areas.

User Fees and Scuba Diving in the Philippines

Recreational fees from tourism can help ensure the maintenance of protected areas while promoting local economic activities.
© Jürgen FREUND / WWF-Canon

In the Philippines, pollution and exploitation from unregulated human activity pose a serious threat to the area’s coral reefs and marine life. To help address these resource management challenges, WWF has helped to establish a dive fee and fine system. Through three types of fees (a Diver's Daily Pass, an Annual Diver's Pass, and an Annual Dive Professional Pass) divers contribute towards local conservation efforts. Divers found without the pass are subject to confiscation of gear. Boatmen found ferrying divers without passes are also subject to a fine. Revenues collected from the fee and fine system are allocated by a Coastal Resource Management Board directly towards coastal resource management activities. About 7.9 million pesos (roughly US $180,000) have been raised since the program began in 2003.

Learn More:

Paying to Play: The Dive Fees on Mabini and Tingloy - A Case Study on the Philippines (2007)
Namibia's Communal Conservancies - A Review of Progress in 2008
Raising Revenues for Protected Areas - A Menu of Options (2001)