CONSERVATION FINANCE ALLIANCE Working Group on Environmental Funds Rapid Review of Conservation Trust Funds May 2008 Second Edition Prepared by Barry Spergel and Philippe Taïeb Rapid Review of Conservation Trust Funds The CFA’s Working Group on Environmental Funds was created in 2007 to encourage promotion, knowledge transfer and exchange about environmental funds in support of the protection of global biodiversity. Members of CFA Working Group on Environmental Funds Brazilian Biodiversity Fund (FUNBIO) Capital Hotel Management Conservation International (CI) European Commission (EC) French Development Agency (AFD) French Global Environment Facility (FFEM) Global Environment Facility (GEF) German Development Bank (KfW) Latin American and Caribbean Network of Environmental Funds (RedLAC) Mesoamerican Reef Fund (MAR) National Environmental Fund (FAN – Ecuador) Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) The Nature Conservancy (TNC) US Agency for International Development (USAID) US Department of Treasury Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) The World Bank World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Citation Conservation Finance Alliance (CFA). 2008. Rapid Review of Conservation Trust Funds. Prepared for the CFA Working Group on Environmental Funds by Barry Spergel and Philippe Taïeb. Rapid Review of Conservation Trust Funds TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary I. Background and Methodology 1 II. Purposes and Roles of Conservation Trust Funds 4 III. Strategic Planning, Grantmaking and Administrative Costs 10 IV. Funding Protected Areas’ Recurrent Costs and Financial Gap Analysis 14 V. Monitoring and Evaluating Impacts on Biodiversity 22 VI. Board and Governance Issues 27 VII. Legal and Tax Issues 37 VIII. Fundraising 44 IX. Investment Management 50 X. Conservation Trust Funds in Africa 60 XI. Advantages and Disadvantages of Conservation Trust Funds 68 Rapid Review of Conservation Trust Funds ANNEXES A. Terms of Reference 76 B. List of Persons Interviewed 82 C. Bibliography 85 D. Analysis of Questionnaires Completed by CTF Executive Directors 89 E. Conservation Trust Fund Case Studies 92 F. List of Conservation Trust Funds 148 G. Model Template for Monitoring and Evaluating Conservation Trust Funds 166 Rapid Review of Conservation Trust Funds Acronyms and Abbreviations AFD Agence Française de Développement/ French Development Agency ANGAP Association Nationale pour la Gestion des Aires Protégées/ Madagascar‘s National Protected Areas Management Agency ARPA Amazon Region Protected Areas Program BMCT Bwindi Mgahinga Conservation Trust BTFEC Bhutan Trust Fund for Environmental Conservation CBD Convention on Biological Diversity CBO community-based organization CEPF Critical Ecosystems Partnership Fund CFA Conservation Finance Alliance CI Conservation International CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species CPAF Caucasus Protected Areas Fund CSR corporate social responsibility CTF conservation trust fund EAI Enterprise for the Americas Initiative EAMCEF Eastern Arc Mountains Conservation Endowment Fund, Tanzania EC European Commission EU European Union EF environmental fund EFJ Environmental Foundation of Jamaica FAN Fondo Ambiental Nacional/ National Environmental Fund, Ecuador FANP Fondo para Áreas Naturales Protegidas/ Natural Protected Areas Fund, Mexico FAP Fondo de Áreas Protegidas/ Protected Areas Fund, Ecuador FAPB Fondation pour les Aires Protégées et la Biodiversité de Madagascar/ Madagascar Foundation for Protected Areas and Biodiversity FEDEC Fondation pour l'Environnement et le Développement au Cameroun/ Foundation for Environment and Development in Cameroon FFEM Fonds Français pour l’Environnement Mondial/ French Global Environment Facility FFI Fauna and Flora International FGV Getulio Vargas Foundation FIAES Fondo Iniciativa para las Américas El Salvador/ EIA Fund, El Salvador FMCN Fondo Mexicano para la Conservación de la Naturaleza/ Mexican Nature Conservation Fund FNMA Fundo Nacional do Meio Ambiente, National Environmental Fund, Brazil FONAMA Fondo Nacional para el Medio Ambiente/ National Environmental Fund, Bolivia FONDAM Fondo de las Américas/ Americas Fund, Peru FPAA Fondo para la Acción Ambiental y la Niñez/ Fund for Environmental Action and Childhood, Colombia FPE Foundation for the Philippine Environment FPLA Fondo para las Américas/ Americas Fund, Argentina FUNBIO Fundo Brasileiro para a Biodiversidade/ Brazilian Biodiversity Fund FUNDESNAP Fundación para el Desarrollo del Sistema Nacional de Áreas Protegidas/ Foundation for the Development of the National System of Protected Areas, Bolivia GCF Global Conservation Fund GEF Global Environment Facility GTZ Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit/ German Agency for Technical Cooperation IBAMA Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis/ National Protected Areas Agency, Brazil IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature KEHATI Indonesian Biodiversity Foundation KfW Kreditenanstalt für Wiederaufbauung/ German Development Bank Rapid Review of Conservation Trust Funds LAC Latin America and the Caribbean M&E monitoring and evaluation MAR Fund Mesoamerican Reef Fund METT Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool, World Bank/WWF MMCT Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust NACUBO National Association of College and University Business Officers NATURA Fundación para la Conservación de los Recursos Naturales/ Natural Resources Conservation Fund, Panama NGO non-governmental organization PA(s) protected area(s) PACT Protected Areas Conservation Trust, Belize PES Payment for Ecosystem (Environmental) Services PROFONANPE Fondo Nacional para Áreas Naturales Protegidas por el Estado/ National Fund for Protected Areas, Peru PUMA Fundación Protección y Uso Sostenible del Medio Ambiente / Foundation for Protection and Sustainable Use of the Environment, Bolivia RedLAC Latin American and Caribbean Network of Environmental Funds RfP request for proposals RSPB Royal Society for the Protection of Birds SCF Suriname Conservation Fund SERNAP Servicio Nacional de Áreas Protegidas/ National Agency for Protected Areas, Bolivia SGP small grants program SINAPE Sistema Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas por el Estado Peruano/ Peru‘s National Protected Area System Management Agency SNAP Sistema Nacional de Áreas Protegidas/ National Protected Areas System, Bolivia, Ecuador SRI socially responsible investing TFCA Tropical Forest Conservation Act TMF Table Mountain Fund TNC The Nature Conservancy TNS Foundation Fondation Tri-National de la Sangha/ Sangha Tri-National Foundation, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo UNDP United Nations Development Programme USAID United States Agency for International Development WCS Wildlife Conservation Society WWF World Wide Fund for Nature (also known as World Wildlife Fund) $ United States dollar Rapid Review of Conservation Trust Funds EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Why a Rapid Review of Conservation Trust Funds? This Rapid Review of Conservation Trust Funds presents an overview of experience with the creation, operation and evaluation of conservation trust funds (CTFs) and provides a rationale for further investment in CTFs. The Review is not intended to replicate the Global Environment Facility‘s (GEF‘s) 1999 comprehensive Evaluation of Experience with Conservation Trust Funds, but rather to review the current status of CTFs worldwide, focusing on those that have been in operation for at least five years. It identifies best practice standards for effective governance and administration of CTFs, and provides guidelines for monitoring and evaluating CTFs‘ operations and biodiversity impact. The Conservation Finance Alliance (CFA) Working Group on Environmental Funds commissioned the Review, with support provided by the French Development Agency (AFD), French Global Environment Facility (FFEM), German Development Bank (KfW), Conservation International (CI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The Review was prepared by a consulting team consisting of Barry Spergel and Philippe Taïeb based on extensive interviews, a CTF survey, review of CTF literature including CTF evaluations, and consultations in Paris, Washington and San Salvador. The consultants and the Working Group are grateful to the many individuals and organizations who participated in the Review, with special thanks to the GEF that served on the Steering Committee for the Review, and the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Environmental Funds (RedLAC). CHAPTER 1 – BACKGROUND ON CONSERVATION TRUST FUNDS Over the last fifteen years, CTFs have been established in more than 50 developing countries and transition economies. As shown in map below, the majority of CTFs have been established in the Latin American and Caribbean region. CTFs are private, legally independent grant-making institutions that provide sustainable financing for biodiversity conservation and often finance part of the long-term management costs of a country‘s protected area (PA) system. They can serve as an effective means for mobilizing large amounts of additional funding for bio - diversity conservation from international donors, national governments and the private sector. CTFs raise and invest funds to make grants to non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community based-organizations (CBOs) and governmental agencies (such as national parks agencies). CTFs are financing mechanisms rather than implementing agencies. They also can serve as mechanisms for strengthening civil society and for making government PA manage government agencies more transparent, accountable