Implementation | PANORAMA

Development of a sustainable investment project and reach out to financiers

Once a business model is available, it is time to develop a project and find a financier.

Step 1. Design a project to pursue the business idea. It should include a clear structure and sound contractual frameworks (e.g. actors involved in implementing the project and their roles; financial flows; decision-making processes; and legal entities relevant for the project).

Step 2. Identify potential financiers, which may be environmental trust funds or impact investments. A trust fund is a vehicle for collecting, investing, allocating and managing assets, filled through donations, public funds or others (e.g. taxes). Impact investments are those made with the intention to generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact alongside a financial return. They are usually made by development finance institutions, private foundations, pension funds, individual investors and others.

Step 3. Develop a marketing strategy for the project.

Step 4. Develop a project business plan (PBP). A PBP is a written description of the future of a project (usually 3-5 years). It describes the resources and capacities that exist now and those that will have been secured in the future. A PBP gives an investor confidence that the project team knows where they are going and how they will get there.

Incubator for Nature Conservation. Building a financial strategy for PAs requires substantial time, resources and capacities. An incubator focused on conservation facilitates access of PA managers to the resources needed and helps them to link with investors.
Legal and institutional frameworks that channel funds for conservation and which allow PA managers to engage in business (e.g. have the ability to enter into contracts, receive funds, etc.).
Strong partnerships and effective outreach and communication strategy.

One of the biggest challenges for designing a successful project is the need of specialized expertise, in a context of already very limited resources to meet basic financial requirements of PA management. For example, in the case of a national park run by a government authority, a lawyer should be consulted to address governance questions related to the possibility of cooperating with private enterprises and NGOs to circumvent bureaucratic requirements and budgetary limitations.

Impact Investors often face challenges in finding mature projects to invest in. Sites that apply for a globally recognized certification programme, such as the IUCN green list, have a baseline and indicators that allow site managers and potential investors to measure impact. Therefore, having a certification and developing a PBP and a communication strategy may help to unlock private investments for conservation.

Achieving the Aichi Targets and the Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework regarding PA effectively managed will require a general mindset change to engage the private sector in nature conservation.

Maintenance and protection

GIZ conducted a cost-benefit analysis to assess the value of protecting remaining windbreaks, the benefits of straw as a fertiliser and the economic impact of a ban on burning crop residue. The survey data showed that a ban of crop residue burning would help to protect existing windbreaks. The shredding of straw during harvesting and the subsequent integration of straw into the soil builds up organic soil material and helps to store moisture in the soil. Enhancing the soil carbon content will increase the fertility of soil. Soil carbon content is an important indicator for monitoring land degradation neutrality (LDN).

Unclear ownership and institutional responsibility are the main obstacles to building sustainability in windbreaks. At the political level, a working group under the National Forest Programme chose restoration of windbreaks as a key topic. With the support of GIZ, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture developed a policy for rehabilitation and protection of windbreaks. Buildings on this, a new law on windbreaks was initiated to clarify the situation by defining clear responsibilities for windbreak maintenance and management. As of today, the law is in the preparatory stage in the Agrarian Committee of the Georgian Parliament.

To ensure the sustainability of the windbreak rehabilitation, these steps are important:

Official approval of the new law on windbreaks
Initiation and development of a state programme for the rehabilitation and protection of windbreaks to ensure a degree of self-sufficiency in wheat production (for national security)
Introduction of alternatives to agricultural burning
Raising awareness of the benefits and support of land users in the use of agricultural residues (e.g., for briquetting, as straw for stables)

It is important to control fires as they easily spread across fields. Should farmers continue burning, the impact can hardly be effectively mitigated. A legally enforced ban on incineration, or crop residue burning, will better protect farmers from unforeseeable fires from neighbouring farms.

Implementation

Local

Approach for Rehabilitation of Windbreaks in East Georgia by GIZ, September 2019

Seedling selection

Seedlings prepared during the testing in Shiraki valley

GIZ

The windbreaks were replanted in Shiraki valley to combat wind erosion. Robust trees and bushes were identified during almost ten years of testing with a wide range of species. Local species that survived the humid and the extremely dry and hot years were selected for Shiraki. Local nurseries provided their seedlings (containerized). The list of species with a good survival rate in Shiraki are provided below:

Bushes for outer rows: Amygdalus communis, survival rate: 40-80%; Koelreuteria paniculata, survival rate: 50-90%; Elaeagnus angustifolia, survival rate: 35-70%; Pistacia mutica, survival rate: 70-90%; Pyrus caucasica, survival rate: up to 80%, Prunus armeniaca, survival rate: 65-75%.

Trees for central row: Robinia pseudoacacia, survival rate: 50-75%; Fraxinus excelsior, survival rate: 40-55%; Celtis australis subsp. caucasica (syn. Celtis caucasica), survival rate: 50-80%; Ulmus minor, survival rate: 50-80%.

Most of these trees and bushes are fruit-bearing, drought-tolerant and often planted to combat soil erosion in arid regions.

Young seedlings should be watered at least 2-4 times per year with 5-10 litres each within the first two years.

Seeds are collected from larger rehabilitation areas (preferably from trees and bushes that had survived recent droughts) to ensure appropriate provenance and adaptation to the site-specific ecological conditions.

The seeds should be professionally prepared for planting in a nursery.

The experiments with growing almonds and wild apricots by sowing were successful. Less successful but still recommendable was the growing of pistachio by sowing.

In case, seedlings are to be transported over long distances they should be grown in special containers to ensure good root system development and minimise transport damage. If they are grown close to the planting site and the transport time is short, seedlings may also be bare-rooted.

Experience shows that most plants are safe and completely self-sufficient after four years.

Implementation

Local

Approach for Rehabilitation of Windbreaks in East Georgia by GIZ, September 2019

Selection of sites and principle design

Planting scheme for windbreaks rehabilitation

GIZ

The planting scheme should be adapted to the local site conditions as well as the location, length and width of the windbreaks. The windbreak may consist of three to four rows of different tree and shrub species with a total width of 10 m and a distance of 400-500 m between them. While the middle row consists of large trees (black locust, common ash, Caucasian hackberry, field elm), the outer rows, include smaller trees or shrubs (almond, China tree, Russian olive, pistachio, wild pear, wild apricots). The distance between trees and shrubs is 2-3 m with 2-3 m between the rows in chess order.

The seedlings should be planted in autumn according to the well-designed plan as it is described in the graphic attached. This allows the root to rest for a while and enhances the chance for sufficient precipitation, rain and snow. The planting sites are prepared to ensure water flow. It is advisable to set protective tubes during the winter. They provide good protection against wind and animals with an increase of the survival rate by more than 70%.

Intercropping of vegetables, such as onions and potatoes in windbreaks can bring good results and encourage people to maintain and protect windbreaks from fire.

Implementation

Local

Approach for Rehabilitation of Windbreaks in East Georgia by GIZ, September 2019

The acquirement of castanea henryi tree seeds

The purpose of this building block is to inform interested individuals and parties the procedure of obtaining the seeds of castanea henryi trees.

The seeds of castanea henryi trees can be obtained locally in countries with the castanea henryi trees or purchased from China.

The seeds of castanea henryi trees must be stored in a dry and cool place to ensure a long-lasting quality for reproductivity.

Implementation

Entirety

Global

Building Blocks of the Castanea Henryi Tree Planting Project

The purpose of this building block is to inform the procedure on starting and implementing the Castanea Henryi Tree Planting Project to all interested individuals and parties.

The condtions enabling the success of this building block of the Castanea Henryi Tree Planting Project include the acquirement of the castanea henryi tree seedlings, the possession of pertinent planting technologies, the ownership of the available land and suitable climate for planting.

A potential planter must learn the castanea henryi tree planting technologies to start the real planting work in order to have a sucessful planting experience.

Implementation

Entirety

Global

Media and Marketing

Facebook ad for the 2019 Turtle season

Nature Seychelles

Nature Seychelles marketed the program through placing agencies websites, paid social media ads, own websites, online magazine, and mass media through local and international newspapers, magazines and Television. Two in-house marketing videos have been produced. Information boards targeted at tourists have been erected on the island; wardens who lead the tours use them to explain the program. The program is under review and an integrated business and marketing plan rooted in the realities and practicalities of Cousin Island and Seychelles, with the ultimate goal of attracting more participants to this immersive conservation experience, is being developed.

Core staff with exeprience in media and marketing
Existing assets such as websites, blogs and social media platforms for targeted marketing
Funding for paid advertising and for media and publicity materials production.

While marketing has been partially successful, Nature Seychelles does not believe it's reaching its customer base for the program. A review of current and previous marketing efforts and related results is underway.

Conservation Boot Camp video

Partnerships with placing agencies

A review of the program by Kai, a CBC participant, on the Natucate website

Natucate

Partnerships were established with 8 agencies specialized in placing paying volunteers for continuity beyond the GEF support. They were provided with marketing information, photos, and some received news and blogs for their websites. The partners have sent 21 participants to the program.

Existence of agencies specialised in placing paying volunteers with whom partnerships could be formed.
Buy-in and collaboration between the agencies and Nature Seychelles
A wide selection of agencies catering for different markets and languages

Agencies helped to place a percentage of the participants.
Recruitment and administrative tasks take up a significant amount of time, and human resource has to be allocated to carry them out.
In addition to agencies, word of mouth and referrals work well, therefore the program experience has to be optimal.

Rehabilitation of the Northern Water Pipeline

We have identified clean water access as a key goal. Clean water access for humans, livestock, and wildlife will prevent wildlife-related injuries and deaths. In September 2012 IFAW conducted research and helped the county secure funding to rehabilitate the Northern Water Pipeline, which supplies water to communities living in the north of Amboseli. When the project is completed by the end of 2019, it is expected to reliably provide water to 300 homesteads, 3,000 people, and more than 6,000 herds of livestock. By rehabilitating the pipeline, the project ensures availability and sustainable management of clean water and sanitation for the Maasai community, and thus, reducing human-elephant conflict due to water access.

Participatory community engagement has led to trust within the community for IFAW and the project. Therefore, in-depth participation of community members in the project has allowed for social sustainability. In addition, after substantial investment in education and capacity, the project largely is run by community members who now have the skills to maintain and expand the infrastructure and initiatives. Because of the local capacity, benefits are clearly outweighed by costs.

A challenge that the project ran into, in particular, was the lack of infrastructure, equipment, and training. Therefore, the project made it a priority to build capacity within the village to build (i.e. the community service center), repair (i.e. the Northern Water Pipeline), or otherwise manage any of the interventions. A lesson that we learned is that it is always better to build capactiy within the community. In our example, not only do local community members now have additional skills they can use on other projects, they have a sense of ownership and pride.

Education, training, and other capacity building for the community

IFAW is increasing wildlife security in the Amboseli landscape by equipping community wildlife rangers with expertise and skills through training in human wildlife conflict mitigation and providing operation resources such as rations, salaries, GPS-equipment, uniforms and a patrol vehicle for use by the rangers.

IFAW also initiated an education scholarship to offer financial support to 60 students to pursue studies in high school, tertiary colleges and universities, and 50 community wildlife scouts. By providing education scholarships and wildlife ranger capacity building, IFAW ensures inclusive and equitable education and promotes lifelong learning opportunities and alternative livelihoods for the local community.

IFAW is also working with local women to develop markets for income-generating activities such as beadwork and livestock management. By creating a boarding secondary school for girls and facilitating income generation among women, the project promotes gender equality and empowerment for all women and girls in Amboseli, thus, leaving no-one behind.

One of the most enabling factors in this project was the fact that the main stakeholders and owners of the land recognized that that habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation was an issue for both widlife and people and that they needed to do something about it.. By partnering up with the OOGR and the KWS, the project ensured community engagement and promotes peaceful and inclusive societies for the sustainable development of the local community and even provides a model to follow for other communities.

Buy-in from the local communities and the government (KWS) is extremely important to the success of the project. As advice to other implementers, working within existing governmental frameworks can help with implementation. At the same time, working hand and hand with local communities is essential to ensure buy-in and that project activities and interventions are actually leading to desired outcomes.