World Wildlife Fund

Mexican Nature Conservation Fund
The Mexican Nature Conservation Fund was born from a meeting between Mexico's President Carlos Salinas de Gortari and WWF-US President Kathryn Fuller at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, where WWF stressed the need to establish in Mexico a permanent and autonomous organization to guarantee financing for conservation projects. In 1993, the design process for the Mexican Nature Conservation Fund launched with a series of workshops and consultations between Mexican government agencies and local conservation organizations.

View from the small village of Chuparrosa. Santiago Comaltepec Oaxaca, Mexico
© WWF-Canon / Anthony B. Rath

In 1996, the Mexican Nature Conservation Fund consolidated its operations and its initial capitalization efforts with endowments from the United States and Mexican governments for $19.5 million and the equivalent of $10 million dollars, respectively. At the end of 1996, Mexico's National Council for Natural Protected Areas designated the Mexican Nature Conservation Fund to receive GEF resources of $16.5 million, earmarked for use in 10 strategically located protected areas. Additional funding came from foundations including the Packard Foundation, Summit Foundation, Ford Foundation, and MacArthur Foundation.

The fund's participatory strategy allows local communities and civil society groups to access grants, training, and other support to develop sustainable activities in and around the country's critical ecosystems. Today the fund boasts an endowment of over $70 million - the largest nature conservation trust fund in existence.

The fund's Web site provides additional information including their latest annual reports.