International funds available for Succulent Karoo

The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) and Succulent Karoo Ecosystem
Programme (SKEP) have invited proposals to access CEPF grant funding for the implementation of biodiversity conservation projects in the Succulent Karoo.
he CEPF wants to engage key industrial sectors in meeting conservation objectives identified by SKEP. These include promoting biodiversity best practices in the ostrich industry through pilot projects, policy recommendations and marketing
options; supporting mining forums of corporate and small-scale mining enterprises to develop mechanisms for addressing biodiversity concerns; directing corporate investment into projects that contribute to conservation targets and regional development objectives; and helping landowners develop ecotourism
and natural resource-based enterprises. The CEPF is designed to safeguard the world’s threatened biodiversity hotspots in developing countries and is a joint initiative of Conservation International, the Global Environment Facility, the Government of Japan, the John D and Catherine MacArthur Foundation and the World Bank.
The CEPF claims to act as a catalyst to create strategic working alliances among diverse groups, combining unique capacities and eliminating duplication of efforts for a coordinated, comprehensive approach to conservation challenges.
The Karoo is one of 16 critical ecosystems worldwide that has received CEPF funding, which has resulted in the drawing up of six specific strategies that mitigate further biodiversity loss or threat of loss in the biome. Proposals must be submitted
directly to cepfgrants@­conservation.org, cc’d to [email protected] and johnsonm@
sanbi.org. – Roelof Bezuidenhout