Geographic Eligibility

To obtain an investment from Verde Ventures, the enterprise must operate in one of Conservation International’s (CI) priority areas: biodiversity hotspots, high-biodiversity wilderness areas and key marine regions.

View map: biodiversity hotspots and wilderness areas, including Verde Ventures project locations to date. 

Geographic Prioritization

Given the extent of geographic eligibility and the need to target investments efficiently, Verde Ventures gives preference to projects in countries/regions which have:

• An existing CI office or strong partner presence
  
  
• An established CI "conservation corridor" and baseline biodiversity data for success measurement
  
  
• Established legal frameworks which provide investors with legal protection in the event of default
  
  
• Relatively stable governments and economies predicted during the investment period

Additional Criteria

Once geographic eligibility has been established, projects must fulfill the following basic criteria:

• Make a direct contribution to our priorities, which include:
• creation of new protected areas;
• strengthening of existing protected areas;
• protection of a threatened species; and/or,
• improvements in the biodiversity of a landscape between protected areas.
  
  
• Have a strong management team
  
  
• Demonstrate commitment to and participation of a local community
  
  
• Have total business assets less than $5 million during the investment period
  
  
• Demonstrate sufficient cash flow or growth potential to repay the investment within three-five years
  
  
• Demonstrate capacity to repay the investment in US dollars, despite local currency fluctuations
  
  
• Be able and committed to monitor changes in biodiversity during the life of the investment

Use of Funds

Verde Ventures loan funds can be used by a project for key areas of business development such as:

• working capital
• inventory purchases
• infrastructure enhancements
• reforestation
• training and capacity building
• plant and equipment purchases
• land purchase

The use of funds must be directly related to the project's business plan. Each prospective applicant will need to demonstrate how funding will contribute to the business' ability to directly support biodiversity conservation.