The Protected Areas Fund as a financial sustainability strategy

The creation of a permanent fund to cover management expenses in protected areas, has helped government managed administrations to have an annual budget to cover their main operational activities, such is the case of the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve.

This fund is officially known as the Protected Areas Fund (PAF) and was established as part of a 1999 initiative carried on by Ecuador’s Ministry of Environment and the National Environmental Fund, the initiative was also supported by international organizations. The main goal was to diversify financial sources for public-sponsored protected areas and ensure financial resources in the long term.

The National Environmental Fund established in 1996 served as the main precedent to the PAF. It was considered as “an independent financial mechanism available to support plans, programs, projects, and any activity pursuing the protection, preservation, and improvement of the environment and natural resources”. This fund, created as a private organization, administered and channeled financial resources, provided technical counseling, but didn’t participate in the direct implementation of any initiative.

  • National policies established to support the creation of a National Environmental Fund, designed to provide budgetary stability to the Ecuadorian National System of Protected Areas.
  • Constant financial support from national and international cooperation agencies to create a trust fund destined to cover the operational and management costs of Governmental Protected Areas, included the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve.

The design and implementation of the PAF were the results of a negotiation process between the Ecuadorian Government, civil society and international agencies.

Its main goal is to provide support and financial stability to the Ecuadorian National Protected Areas System, thus contributing to the in situ conservation of Ecuador’s biodiversity. The PAF is being destined to co-fund basic operational expenses and provide technical support.

After a one-year interruption in 2015, the PAF is currently working with 30 Governmental Protected Areas, including the Cuyabeno Wild Reserve which has an annual budget of USD $56,000 allocated. Even though the FAP is not the only financial mechanism the Reserve has, the annual budget covered by it supports the main operational activities of the Area which are aligned with the strategic goals and results proposed in the annual operational plan.