Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (CBF) and Dominica National Conservation Trust Fund (DNCTF) sign Pre-Financing Agreement
Mourne Acoma, Soufriere Dominica, September 26, 2022—The Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (CBF) and newly-established Dominica National Conservation Trust Fund (DNCTF) on September 26, 2022, signed a Pre-Financing Agreement aimed at supporting the full operationalization of the Fund and its eligibility for a CBF Partnership Agreement.
Today’s signing marks the completion of the first phase of support and cooperation between the CBF and the DNCTF towards benefitting from a sub-account within the CBF Endowment Fund. The sub-account was established in December 2019 through a separate agreement between the CBF and the German Development Bank with an initial deposit of 2 million Euros.
To access the sub-account’s resources, the government of Dominica and local partners are working to establish an eligible National Conservation Trust Fund (NCTF), the Dominica National Conservation Trust Fund (DNCTF) which will improve the island’s access to sustainable financial flows and enhance its responsiveness to conservation and climate related disturbances.
Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Blue & Green Economy, Agriculture & National Food Security, Dr. Kyra Paul expressed thanks to the CBF and its donors at the signing ceremony held at Jungle Bay Resort & Spa.
“We are grateful to the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund and the German Development Bank for their support of our conservation and sustainable development efforts here in Dominica. Through our National Conservation Trust Fund, we look forward to facilitating projects to further conserve and protect our marine and terrestrial areas,” Dr. Paul said.
Dominica is aiming to become the 11th country with whom the CBF has signed an Agreement to access sustained financial resources from an Endowment Fund managed by the organization. The other countries who have already signed agreements with the CBF to access the Endowment Fund are: Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
CEO of the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund Karen McDonald-Gayle shared “the CBF is pleased to sign this pre-financing agreement with the DNCTF and we look forward to the work that will be done under its governance as it joins the mission of the Caribbean Sustainable Finance Architecture to support activities that contribute substantially to the financing and long-term conservation and maintenance of biodiversity in the region.”
The Caribbean Sustainable Finance Architecture (“Finance Architecture”) is composed of the regional Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (CBF) and the now eleven National Conservation Trust Funds (NCTFs)—is the realization of a vision to create reliable, long-term funding for conservation and sustainable development that will benefit the Caribbean region for generations to come.
The purpose of the pre-financing agreement is to support the Dominica National Conservation Trust Fund (DNCTF) to make the necessary preparations for the CBF Partnership Agreement that is aimed at conservation and grant making f activities in Dominica. The pre-financing agreement also makes it possible to hire staff and establish the necessary administrative infrastructure for the DNCTF to function as an independent institute.
The Partnership Agreement between the Dominica National Conservation Trust Fund and the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund is scheduled to be signed by December 2022.
About the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund
The Caribbean Biodiversity Fund was established in 2012 to create reliable, long-term funding for conservation and sustainable development in the Caribbean region.
The Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (CBF) is a regional umbrella environmental fund that uses a flexible structure to implement innovative solutions and consolidate resource mobilization in the Caribbean through a range of financial instruments.
Currently, the CBF has two programs:
- the Conservation Finance Program, based on an endowment fund, and
- the Climate Change Program, focused on Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) strategies.
A Nature-based Solutions program will be added to the CBF portfolio by October this year.
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