Constitution of a financial mechanism for the private sector investment in coral reef conservation and restoration
Along with the stakeholders involved in the partnership, a well structured financial mechanism was established. In order to achieve this, a legal analysis was performed, looking into existing payment for ecosystem services schemes in the DR and in other countries (eg. Costa Rica). After that, an initial structure for the mechanism was proposed and discussed in several workshops with the partnership members and representatives of other relevant institutions. Finally, a concerted version of the structure for the mechanism was implemented.
- Private sector involvement
- Willingness of every stakeholder to be part of this
- One organization leading the whole process, in this case CDRC, working closely to the Ministry of Environment
- Several income options (diversification of the income alternatives)
- Learning form previous national and regional experiences
- A financial mechanism is key to assure the sustainability of this kind of initiatives.
- Getting to know and understand successful experiences in other countries can help build a local case.
- There is no "recipe" that can be follwed to create a financial mechanism for biodiversity conservation. Experiencies can be taken into account, but the mechanism must be made "ad hoc" for each place, considering local characteristics and conditions.