HA NOI — The global Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund is again seeking applications from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Viet Nam for funds to conserve the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot.
A biodiversity hotspot is defined as biogeographic region with a significant reservoir of biodiversiy threatened by humans.
Scientists recognise Indo-Burma as one of 34 such hotspots.
CEPF says it supports high numbers of species, and its ecosystems provide fresh water, protection against natural disasters, and other essential services for hundreds of millions of people.
The invitation to apply for funds is made to non-governmental organisations, academic institutions, community groups and other civil society organisations working in the region.
The money is to help them design and implement projects with a particular emphasis on protecting threatened species, managing priority sites and reconciling biodiversity conservation and development objectives.
BirdLife International will manage the grants.
Applications close on September 30 and details can be found at www.birdlifeindo china.org/cepf or www.cepf.net
Applications were previously called in 2008 and 2009 with 180 received and almost 70 supported.
Funded projects included a grant to Viet Nam NGO Education for Nature Viet Nam, to strengthen public participation in tackling the illegal trade in wildlife, and a grant to Cambodian NGO Save Cambodia's Wildlife, to empower local communities for biodiversity conservation along the Sesan and Srepok Rivers.
"The CEPF grant portfolio includes many important and innovative projects, which address some of the highest conservation priorities in the region," said BirdLife International, Indochina, Programme Manager Jonathan C. Eames.
"This third and final call for proposals will be highly targeted, in order to address outstanding investment gaps."
The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund is a joint initiative of l'Agence Française de Deloppement, Conservation International, the Global Environment Facility, the Government of Japan, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the World Bank.
A fundamental goal is to ensure civil society is engaged in biodiversity conservation.
CEPF began a US$9.5 million, five-year investment plan in Indochina in June 2008 with BirdLife International acting as its Regional Implementation Team.
Guided by a strategy developed with the participation of stakeholders, CEPF investment in the region focuses on two biodiversity corridors: the Northern Highlands Limestone (in Viet Nam and parts of southern China); and the Mekong River and Major Tributaries (in Cambodia, Laos and Thailand).
The CEPF strategy, or ‘Ecosystem Profile', can be found at www.cepf.net. Further information and summaries in English, Khmer, Lao, Thai and Vietnamese can be found at www.birdlifeindochina. org/cepf. — VNS
