Convention on Biological Diversity
Funding for protected areas in developing and emerging countries
Principal Office: International
LifeWeb is a platform of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to increase financing for protected areas in the developing world. The program supports the CBD’s Program of Work on Protected Areas.
LifeWeb does not manage its own funds. Rather, it operates as a match-making service between governments that request funding for protected areas, and donors willing and able to provide it.
National governments of developing countries define funding needs for protected areas, and submit these Expressions of Interest to LifeWeb’s Coordination Office. LifeWeb publicizes the Expressions of Interest, and strives to match them with the geographical and thematic priorities of public and private donors.
Grant Programs for Agriculture, Energy, Environment, Natural Resources
Finance for protected areas. Governments of developing and transition countries prepare Expressions of Interest at the scale of a national system of protected areas, or at a project scale of one or more protected areas. Each Expression of Interest contains a funding request to expand or increase the effectiveness of ecosystem services provided by protected areas.
In cases where donors respond to the funding requests, the money flows directly from the donor to the recipient government through existing mechanisms of international cooperation.
Grant commitments (“matches”) by donors range from under US$100 thousand to multi-million pledges over several years.
APPLICATION: The governments of developing countries, and countries in economic transition, submit Expressions of Interest to LifeWeb to invite financial support from donors on a voluntary basis.
Expressions of Interest are submitted to LifeWeb through each developing country’s National Focal Point for protected areas to the CBD. Expressions of Interest can also be prepared and submitted by indigenous and local community groups, if endorsed by the relevant National Focal Point.
LifeWeb posts an application template.
(Note: LifeWeb has not been sharing new information since 2015. We assume that the platform is inactive.)
Geographical Distribution of Grant Activities in Developing Countries
Worldwide
LifeWeb posts a list of funding matches that can be searched by years, donors, and other criteria.
Projects is a database of funding requests.
The CBD lists the national focal points for its Program of Work on Protected Areas.
LifeWeb’s Coordination Office is located with the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal, Canada. It offers complete contact information.