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CEPF Annual Report Available

December 2003

The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) recently topped the $30 million mark in its grant investments to protect nature's biodiversity hotspots for people and prosperity. Don't miss our 2003 annual report, which documents innovative conservation initiatives we support as well as our ability to deliver results where it matters, when it matters.

Released this month, the report covers our 2003 financial year (July 2002-June 2003). It was a remarkable year, with a near trebling of our global grant portfolio compared to our first 18 months. During the period, $17.8 million in new grants were approved, bringing our global portfolio to $28.9 million.

CEPF funding and technical assistance grew to support more than 110 partners in implementing conservation projects in 11 biodiversity hotspots in Africa, Asia and Latin America. We also completed extensive stakeholder consultations and preparations to expand to two additional hotspots later in 2003 and began preparations to expand to three others in 2004.

We're far more than a simple grants mechanism.

As part of preparing CEPF's $8 million investment strategy for the Succulent Karoo hotspot, Conservation International's Southern Africa Hotspots Program and its partners engaged more than 60 experts and 400 groups and individuals to agree geographic priorities and establish a conservation plan for the region. Coming out of the process was a 20-year strategy to effectively conserve 75 percent of the species in the hotspot while improving livelihoods of communities.
Where fundamental barriers existed to supporting small organizations and communities, we acted. On the Indonesian island of Sumatra, our grant manager brought together the Alam Sumatera Foundation with the Talang Mamak indigenous community that lacked a bank account but needed urgent assistance to save vital lowland forests. Together, they successfully brought about the cancellation of permits for commercial companies to log nearly 50,000 hectares.
Through a debt-for-nature swap between the U.S. and Peruvian governments to guarantee long-term funding for protected areas, CEPF contributed funding to WWF for a two-year project to improve protection of Manu National Park, Amarakaeri Communal Reserve and Alto Purus Reserved Zone inside the Vilcabamba-Amboró conservation corridor in the Tropical Andes hotspot. In total, the debt-for-nature swap funding is expected to leverage $3.5 million in local currency over the next 12 years for Peruvian organizations to carry out activities related to effective management of these protected areas. The outcome: improved protection of approximately 4.8 million hectares of tropical forest.

We're on course. From working with indigenous communities in the Chocó-Darién Western Ecuador hotspot to develop plans to ensure improvements in food and income security as well as a balanced ecosystem to developing community-based management strategies and sustainable fishing and forest use in wetland areas of Madagascar, civil society groups working together with partners are using CEPF resources to preserve their natural heritage and create or strengthen opportunities for sustainable development.

This year, CEPF also underwent an independent review to evaluate how effectively it is meeting the partners' original objectives in creating the Fund. The review's main conclusion is that the partners' underlying rationale for creating CEPF is "sound and well-founded" and that CEPF has "shown that it is an effective model for meeting the objectives of the Fund's partners."

Not one effort described in the new 36-page report would have succeeded without people like you—our grant recipients and partners in the front lines. Your dedication, commitment and vision make implementation of our vital, shared agenda possible.

A copy of the new annual report has been sent to all CEPF grant recipients and partners but you can also download select components or the full report in PDF format today:

Message from the Partners (PDF - 196 KB)
Financial Summary (PDF - 99 KB)
Full annual report (PDF - 2146 KB)