Financing Biodiversity Conservation

By Ricardo Bayon, J. Steven Lovink, Wouter J. Veening (02/00, ENV-134, En, Es)

Documents Financing Biodiversity Conservation (PDF, 181 Kb, En)

Financing the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity has been called one of the greatest challenges. At the heart of this challenge lies the low financial and political value which is often assigned to biodiversity and the resulting lack of financial mechanisms for conservation and sustainable use. The biological diversity of Latin America and the Caribbean is among the world?s richest. This provides the region with a unique ?comparative advantage?, including potential business opportunities based on the sustainable use of biodiversity.

This report provides an overview of existing and experimental financing mechanisms that can be used to encourage the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. To help to better understand these mechanisms, it proposes a taxonomy that divides the mechanisms into three categories: (i) those that protect biodiversity as a public good, (ii) those that require correcting so-called ?negative externalities? that hamper biodiversity con-servation, and (iii) those that can be used to support biodiversity-based businesses.

The document ends with recommendations on how the Bank can support financing mechanisms that promote the conservation of biodiversity and its sustainable use

Last updated: 01/16/07