World Wildlife Fund

Waterfall in Manu National Park, Peru
© WWF-Canon / André Bärtschi

As debtor nations around the world struggle to meet their financial obligations and are forced to cut back government spending, environment protection programs are often the first to go. Debt-for-nature swaps are designed to free up resources in debtor countries for much needed conservation activities. A debt swap involves purchasing foreign debt at a discount, converting the debt into local currency, and using the proceeds to finance local conservation activities.

WWF was one of the pioneers of the debt-for-nature swap and successfully executed its first swap in Ecuador in 1987. Since then, WWF has played a vital role in the implementation of debt-for-nature swaps around the world.

• View an online Power Point presentation explaining different types of debt-for-nature swaps. (7 slides)
• See a list of WWF commercial debt swaps. (PDF, 85k)
• Read about the Philippines Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA) debt reduction. (PDF, 128k)

Please see the following tables (PDF) for facts and figures about commercial and bilateral swaps:

• Bilateral Debt-for-Environment Swaps by Creditor
    Summary Table (69k) | Full Table (539k)
• Commercial Debt-for-Nature Swaps
    Summary Table (313k) | Full Table (462k)