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Conservation Finance
Financing Protected Areas
Establishing financing mechanisms to ensure sustainable management of protected areas requires a tailored approach to local and regulatory conditions. Most protected areas rely on a combination of funding sources, including annual government budget allocations; grants and donations from individuals, corporations, foundations, and donor agencies; and user-fees and taxes specifically earmarked to fund protected areas.
WWF works strategically with governments, partners and stakeholders in the field to secure funding that supports long-term conservation goals of protected areas. We serve as catalysts to pilot revenue generating mechanisms that attract funding from different donors and have cost-and-benefit sharing arrangements.
Protected Areas
Recent findings show that protected areas in the Amazon are the most effective in reducing deforestation – both within protected area boundaries as well as surrounding areas.
© Brent Stirton / Getty Images / WWF-UK
Protected areas are established to serve a variety of purposes and management regimes. They all share the overarching goal of biodiversity conservation, but also protect cultural, historical, and socio-economic values. One of the principle challenges of successfully establishing and managing protected areas is to ensure a constant and reliable stream of funding that both supports the area under protection and effectively or compensates neighboring communities’ opportunity costs. Consequently, some protected areas may be specifically established for socio-economic reasons to stimulate local employment and reduce poverty, while also achieving a number of conservation objectives.
Sustainable Financing for the Amazon Region Protected Areas Program
Creating large blocks of protected areas have shown to be the most promising mechanisms in reducing extensive destruction of the Amazon forest. The most ambitious biodiversity conservation program is the Amazon Region Protected Areas Program (ARPA). ARPA began its operations in 2002 and is an unprecedented effort to protect over 50 million hectares of natural ecosystems in over 60 parks and protected areas over a ten year period (2003-2013).
ARPA has a funding arrangement and financial oversight that combine the best elements of public and private sector know-how to ensure effective management, legal compliance, and transparency. The Program is supported by WWF, the World Bank, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the German Development Bank (KfW), the German Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ), the Brazilian Biodiversity Fund (FUNBIO), and others.
WWF helped to establish the ARPA Trust Fund in 2004 as a permanent capital fund for the long-term financing of the ARPA network. Once fully funded, the Fund will provide the financial resources needed to cover the recurrent costs of operating the protected areas and complements the government’s commitment to pay for the park system’s core staffing costs. Based on existing investment commitments, ARPA is expected to reach $40 million in capitalization in 2008.
Sustainable Financing for Protected Areas in Mozambique
Protected areas and park management plans help to secure the ecological processes and resources of these areas that in turn secure local people’s livelihood.
© Roger HOOPER / WWF-Canon
Recently, the Mozambique’s Ministry of Tourism with technical and financial assistance from WWF, the French Development Agency (AfD), and the German Development Bank (KfW) have begun assessing the type of financing mechanisms that would help to improve the financial sustainability of Mozambique’s national system of protected areas. This includes identifying the current financing needs and developing a national sustainable financing strategy that outlines options for generating revenue and addresses legal, regulatory and institutional reforms needed to achieve financial sustainability. WWF is providing technical assistance and guidance on establishing a conservation trust fund to help move away from a protected areas management system currently entirely dependent on public and external funding.
Learn More:
Raising Revenue for Protected Areas - a Menu of Options (2004)
Reduction of Carbon Emissions Associated with Deforestation in Brazil: the Role of the Amazon Region Protected Areas Program (ARPA) 2008
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