Despite the challenges it faces, our planet continues to host magnificent natural areas that offer not only diverse life and beauty, but also essential support for humanity in the form of air and water purification, soil replenishment, climate regulation and other necessities.
Our joint investments through CEPF for civil society initiatives are designed to help ensure the sustainability of these critical ecosystems for both people and nature.
As we look toward the Fund’s tenth anniversary in 2010, the many organizations we support continue to make important contributions to improving management of globally important biodiversity and to integrating conservation into land-use and development planning. The year will also be an important one for the international community as nations gather in Nagoya, Japan to assess progress toward their goal under the Convention on Biological Diversity to significantly reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010.
In this report, we provide examples from the fiscal year of the impact CEPF grantees are having in the field. These range from a comprehensive forest and rangeland management plan that now guides land-use decisions in Armenia to new communal and national protected areas in Africa and Latin America. To date, our grant recipients have helped protect more than 10 million hectares and improved management of double that amount in rich ecosystems that are lifelines for communities and nations alike.
This year, our support enabled the CEPF global portfolio to grow to nearly $114 million for innovative initiatives by more than 1,500 nongovernmental and private sector organizations. We also began preparing to expand the CEPF opportunity to three more of Earth’s biodiversity hotspots: Caribbean Islands, Mediterranean Basin, and Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany in southern Africa.
We invite you to join us in building and supporting the vital role of stable and flourishing civil societies in preserving critical ecosystems for the benefit of us all.
James D. Wolfensohn, Chairperson, CEPF Donor Council
Monique Barbut, Chairperson and CEO, The Global Environment Facility
Toshinori Doi, Director for Development Policy Division, International Bureau, Ministry of Finance, Government of Japan
Robert L. Gallucci, President, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Pierre Jacquet, Executive Director, L’Agence Française de Développement
Peter A. Seligmann, Chairman and CEO, Conservation International
Katherine Sierra, Vice President, Sustainable Development, The World Bank