NOTE: This initiative has ended, and as of May 2023, this webpage is no longer being updated regularly.

 
Kayapo man on top of the mountains with forest.

Global Conservation Fund

Ensuring the permanent protection of the natural areas most essential to human well-being through innovative financing solutions

 

The investments of the Global Conservation Fund (GCF) protect critically important natural areas, benefiting communities around the globe that rely on nature for clean air, fresh water and food.

Healthy forests, coral reefs and freshwater ecosystems are the lifeline for billions of people. Through targeted funding and technical support, the Global Conservation Fund (GCF) works with local communities, NGOs and governments to protect their natural assets. Since 2001, the GCF has supported the protection of 81 million hectares (200 million acres) around the world, invested US$ 107 million and generated more than $1 million in wages for local economies.

Made possible by a grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the GCF has catalyzed more than US$ 200 million for conservation and has developed significant partnerships with corporations and other donors. After 15 years as a leader in conservation finance, the GCF is now poised to triple our global impact and to develop innovative solutions for the conservation and development challenges of the 21st century.

 

Our plan

Many protected areas, once created, lack the funding and management structure to be effective. The GCF helps design and support innovative sustainable financing mechanisms for delivering a steady flow of funds to protected areas. The GCF:

  • Makes investment decisions based on sound science to benefit the highest priority places for conservation through the creation or expansion of protected areas.
  • Mobilizes additional financial resources to multiply and sustain results.
  • Supports a wide range of approaches to establishing and expanding protected areas, from national parks decreed by governments to privately owned lands to community-managed reserves that combine conservation with responsible natural resource use and development.

Our focus on ensuring sufficient resources and effective management for the long term is both unique and vital.

 

81 million hectares protected

GCF has helped to create or expand 135 protected areas, spanning 81 million hectares of vital terrestrial and marine ecosystems in 26 countries — an area twice the size of Germany. The fund has also generated benefits for over 60,000 people, including nearly 3,000 jobs, while helping to conserve habitat for more than 500 globally threatened species.

To achieve this, GCF has played a key role in establishing 26 endowments for protected areas that collectively total $230 million — including $189 million from partners. These endowments alone support more than 58 million hectares (124 million acres) of critical ecosystems and the people who depend on them.

Partners

Global Conservation Fund (GCF) grants support CI regional programs and partners with diverse strategies and knowledge to help create, expand and ensure effective long-term management of protected areas. GCF has supported more than 40 partners:

Subgrantee Partners

Among our partners are the following organizations that received GCF funding directly from our grant recipients:

  • Conservation et utilisation rationnelle des Ecosystèmes Forestiers d'Afrique Centrale
  • Ecosystemes Forestiers d’Afrique Centrale
  • Fundación Mexicana para la Educación Ambiental
  • Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development

Contact us

Chris Stone​​​​​
​Managing Director

Michael McGreevey
Director​, Conservation Investments

​​​Cassandra Kane​​
Communications Manager

Romas Garbaliauskas
Senior Legal Advisor

Andrew Sc​​hatz​​​​​
Legal Advisor

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Featured videos

GCF: Investing in the Long-Term Protection of Nature

GCF Kayapo Fund