CBD LifeWeb and Financing Protected Area Solutions A Celebratory Dinner, Sunday, 24 October, 18:00-20:30 Facebook photos | Press release | Event programme

Highlights

A total of over US$ 110 million in funding for protected-area solutions was announced at a recent high-profile dinner hosted by the LifeWeb Initiative of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) on 24 October 2010, in Nagoya, Japan. These financing announcements were facilitated with support of the CBD LifeWeb, to sustain biodiversity, address climate change and secure livelihoods, through implementation of the CBD Programme of Work on Protected Areas.

Highlights of financial announcements included:
	United States of America:  US$ 27 million of financial support was conveyed from the government of the United States for conservation activities in Costa Rica, made available through the Topical Forest Conservation Act. This support will reinforce implementation of the Expression of Interest to CBD LifeWeb for Costa Rica Forever. The United States Agency for International Cooperation also conveyed intention to provide US$ 20 million over 5 years in support of biodiversity activities in Colombia. This support will be a contributing factor for implementation of Colombia’s system-scale Expression of Interest submitted to the CBD LifeWeb, for which an ongoing roundtable process was launched in June 2010 .
	Germany:The Federal Ministry for the Environment of Germany announced that it is in the final stages of agreement with partners to provide financial support, totalling approximately € 15 million, for five separate Expressions of Interest submitted to CBD LifeWeb by the following countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico, and the Philippines.
	Netherlands: The government of the Netherlands was recognised for supporting a total of €7,000,000 for biodiversity conservation in Colombia. Of this, €5,000,000 is for REDD+ preparation in protected areas and buffer zones in the Colombian Amazon, consistent with Colombia’s system-scale Expression of Interest submitted to the CBD LifeWeb. An additional €2,000,000 is for in situ biodiversity as part of broader support to the environment sector. This support was facilitated in part by a national financing roundtable process that was launched on in June 2010 (click here for more information).
	Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Linden Trust, Walton Family Foundation, The Nature Conservancy:  These foundations and The Nature Conservancy were recognised for jointly providing over US$ 30 million in support of the Forever Costa Rica expression of interest.
	France: The government of France announced a €4 million commitment to support the Biofund, a protected areas trust fund in Mozambique, through the Agence Française de Développement. France also conveyed interest in supporting other submissions to CBD LifeWeb with grants as well as a loan option with favourable conditions for appropriate projects. This financing is in support of the following Expression of Interest to CBD LifeWeb: www.cbd.int/lifeweb/project.shtml?did=6319.
	Spain:The Spain-UNEP Partnership for Protected Areas in support of LifeWeb was highlighted. Through this partnership, financial support is being provided for the following Expressions of Interest submitted to CBD LifeWeb:  Banc D’Arguin National Park, Mauritania, three Marine Protected Areas in Guinea-Bissau: D’Orango João Vieira-Poilão  and Rio Cacheu Mangroves Natural parks, Kazuhi-Biega National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo, The Lossi Fauna Reserve in the Republic of Congo, The Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in Republic of Congo, Takamanda national park in Cameroon.
	Italy: The government of Italy was recognised for providing € 950,000 from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to support the Caribbean Challenge, including expanding the marine protected area network and promoting multi-stakeholders and cross-sector dialogue on sustainable financing of protected areas.
	Finland:  The government of Finland conveyed the agreements reached for a total of € 500,000 in support of the following Expressions of Interest submitted to CBD LifeWeb:  Conservation and Ecological Restoration of Lomas and Community-based Management of Natural Resources in Atiquipa, in Peru; and Western Tanzania Livelihoods and Forest Conservation Project.
	Bank of Georgia:  The Bank of Georgia, in partnership with the Caucasus Nature Fund, was recognised for providing US$150,000 to Georgia’s Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park.
	Belgium: The Ministry of Environment of Flanders announced financial support to the implementation of the Programme of Work on Protected Areas. As part of this support €30,000 Euro will be provided in 2011 to partially fund the following Expression of Interest submitted to CBD LifeWeb: Improved Livelihoods and Protected Areas through Land Reform Stewardship in South Africa.
Highlights of other announcements included:
	Japan: as President of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD announced that it will promote the sustainable use of biodiversity through the Satoyama Initiative and CBD LifeWeb is an instrument that can help achieve this goal.
	European Commission: The Commission announced their intention to finance the creation and implementation of payment for ecosystem service schemes in Colombian protected areas and buffer zones, consistent with priorities conveyed through the Financing Round Table for Colombian Protected Area System.
	Canada:  The Canadian Forest Service, which hosts the International Model Forest Network (IMFN) Secretariat, highlighted the promising links that are being developed between Lifeweb partnership platform and the IMFN. Since its launch in 1992, the IMFN has grown to nearly 50 sites in almost 30 countries (http://www.imfn.net). Collaboration will begin in Latin America and the Caribbean, working with regional, national and site level leaders to develop expressions of interest and seek opportunties to combine resources in support of the region's 24 sites, with the intention to use this as a pilot for possible future opportunities in Africa and Asia.