December 3, 2024
Managing Director of the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), Jack Tordoff, has announced a one-year extension of the Fund’s Caribbean Islands Biodiversity Hotspot investment. Originally set to conclude in mid-2026, the programme will now continue until June 2027, underscoring CEPF’s commitment to supporting civil society organisations’ efforts to conserve biodiversity across the Caribbean.
This announcement was made at the CEPF Caribbean Islands Biodiversity Hotspot Midterm Assessment Meeting held from 19 – 21 November 2024 in the Dominican Republic. During the meeting, Mr Tordoff also mentioned a forthcoming rapid response facility that will provide support to conservation organisations facing crises, such as natural disasters.
The midterm assessment meeting brought together more than 80 CEPF civil society grantees and partners from across the Caribbean, including representatives from Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Jamaica, Dominica, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The event provided a platform for stakeholders to share progress, exchange ideas, and strengthen collaboration to ensure the continued success of biodiversity conservation in the region. Meeting participants also offered valuable recommendations to help shape the remainder of CEPF’s investment in the Caribbean.
| CEPF Caribbean Islands Midterm Assessment Meeting participants in the Dominican Republic. Credit: Fondazione AVSI. |
The CEPF Caribbean Islands Biodiversity Hotspot programme is financed through The World Bank, with funds provided by the Government of Japan. The Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI), serving as the Regional Implementation Team, is providing intermediary support. The Caribbean programme targets civil society organisations and aims to strengthen biodiversity conservation by improving the protection and management of priority sites, enhancing landscape connectivity, and safeguarding critically endangered species. It also focuses on creating enabling conditions for conservation, building local and regional civil society capacity, and ensuring effective coordination and strategic leadership for long-term sustainability. The CEPF midterm assessment meeting was organised by Fondazione AVSI, a three-time CEPF grantee in the Dominican Republic.
At the halfway point of the investment, CEPF is supporting the preparation or updating of management plans for nine protected areas, with another two slated to begin in the next few months. CEPF has awarded 38 grants totalling just over USD 6 million, 56% of which has gone to Caribbean organisations. More than 90 endangered Caribbean plants and animals are benefitting from conservation actions through CEPF-supported management plans and their implementation, and conservation action plans are under development for at least 38 endemic Caribbean plant and animal species at high risk of global extinction. Additionally, more than 30 Caribbean civil society organisations are benefiting from training and capacity building, strengthening their ability to reduce threats to biodiversity.
As CEPF enters the second half of its investment in the Caribbean, the programme aims to strengthen biodiversity management in production landscapes—areas outside of formal protected areas where human activities like agriculture and forestry coexist with conservation efforts. CEPF hopes to support efforts that will bring 39,600 additional hectares of productive landscapes under strengthened management for conservation, promoting sustainable land use that benefits both local communities and biodiversity.
Participants in the midterm assessment emphasised the importance of actively involving local stakeholders in conservation efforts, integrating their knowledge into the planning and implementation phases of interventions to better understand their needs and how best to address them.
Participants also called for increased efforts to support Caribbean networking, peer-to-peer learning and exchange, as many of the challenges they face are similar, and there is much to be learned from one another. “This has been a really enriching experience for me because I have been able to network and learn about the variety of projects that are happening across the Caribbean,” said Justin Springer, Caribbean Program Officer at Re:wild. “I’ve also been able to discuss solutions to address the common challenges that we face and explore different areas of collaboration with fellow grantees,” he added.