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Conservation Finance
Funding Freshwater Conservation
WWF is developing solutions to encourage freshwater conservation by applying financial tools and a governance approach that help optimize water use and reduce the level of pollution and discharge into rivers and streams. We work with all stakeholders in the watershed to influence polices, laws and regulations, and better management practices.
Sierra de las Minas Water Fund
The Sierra de las Minas watershed faces aquifer depletion, industrial misuse of water supplies, sedimentation caused by development, and pollution from agricultural runoff.
© WWF / Virginia Reyes
The Sierra de las Minas Water Fund was created to generate sustainable funding to support the restoration and protection of watersheds in Guatemala's Sierra de las Minas Biosphere and Protected Areas. WWF's Conservation Finance program, collaborating with a variety of partners, has established a user-fee based mechanism, the necessary legal structure, and better management practices to finance sustainable freshwater management in the region.
Through this program, some of the major water users in the watershed pay a fee to utilize the resource; revenue earned from the fees is earmarked to a water trust fund, which disburses funds for watershed restoration and conservation efforts.
Activities financed with these funds include reforestation, improving regional fire-fighting capacity, and environmental education targeted to improving water use practices.
Tanzanian Eastern Arc Mountains Conservation Endowment Fund
Conservation of the Eastern Arc Mountains has particularly high socio-economic importance in Tanzania, as a much of the country’s population relies on its major watersheds for both drinking water and generation of hydroelectric power.
© Edward PARKER / WWF-Canon
WWF is currently developing a funding strategy for the Tanzanian Eastern Arc Mountains Conservation Endowment Fund through a payment for watershed services approach. As an initial phase we are assessing which areas of Tanzania’s key watersheds would be best suited to develop a water fund project, which includes looking at issues such as willingness to pay among potential buyers and the capacity and willingness of potential sellers (in this case local communities) to participate.
Learn More:
Payment for Environmental Services in the Motagua and Polochic Watersheds in Guatemala: A review of WWF Central America PES related initiatives (forthcoming)
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