Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund: a mechanism for supporting the conservation of threatened tree species in Madagascar

Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund: a mechanism for supporting the conservation of threatened tree species in Madagascar

Partner: Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF)
Years: 2023-2026

The project conserves globally threatened tree species in Madagascar, prevent their extinction in the short term and improve their conservation status in the long term through the opening of a dedicated grant window for civil society organisations managed by the CEPF, one of the world’s leading global grant-making institutions for biodiversity conservation.

The island of Madagascar is recognised as one of the world’s top biodiversity hotspots. Its rich indigenous flora is characterised by high diversity and endemism, with around 12,000 vascular plant species currently known, 80% of which are endemic.
The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) is now a major actor in biodiversity conservation, having provided $277 million and technical assistance to more than 2,600 civil society organisations and individuals around the world.
This project opens a dedicated grant window for the conservation of globally threatened tree species. The project targets a subset of globally threatened tree species (with priority given to Critically Endangered and Endangered species) and Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) in Madagascar. It is anticipated that grants of between $50,000 and $200,000 will be awarded to an estimated 8-12 civil society organisations with programmes in Madagascar. These could be NGOs, community-based organisations, private companies, arboreta, herbaria, botanical gardens, universities or other types of civil society organisations.
The expected outcomes of this joint CEPF / Fondation Franklinia initiative are
(i) to improve the conservation status of globally threatened tree species targeted by the grants, with a particular focus on Critically Endangered species;
(ii) to improve the well-being of local people dependent on the ecosystem services provided by the Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) targeted by the grants, with a particular focus on women and economically marginalised groups; and
(iii) to strengthen the capacity of civil society organisations and their staff in Madagascar in the conservation of globally threatened trees.