San Diego

A $75 million fund to preserve the world's most endangered biodiversity locations was announced this week, with plans to double the amount soon.

The World Bank, Conservation International and the Global Environment Facility (part of the United Nations Development Programme) have each pledged $5 million a year for five years for rapid intervention where biodiversity is threatened. The agencies hope other groups will donate at least another $75 million.

During the first year of operation, the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund plans to focus on maintaining biodiversity in Madagascar, West Africa and the Tropical Andes in South America.

The fund will provide grants to manage areas of high biodiversity (known as hotspots), resolve conflicts with industries that destroy natural regions, and create partnerships between private firms and preservation agencies to address biodiversity issues. Planning, training and support services will also be funded.

“This is a new source of money exclusively for local groups whose work is central to protecting the biodiversity hotspots,” says Peter A. Seligmann, chief executive of Conservation International, a Washington-based agency formed to conserve biodiversity (see Nature 403, 853–858; 2000).

http://www.cepf.net