Financial sustainability is an overarching aim for YUS landscape management. Woodland Park Zoo, with the help of Conservation International’s Global Conservation Fund and other donors, established a two million dollar endowment for the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program and the YUS Conservation Area in 2011. The non-sinking endowment is managed by Woodland Park Zoo (WPZ) and follows procedures outlined in WPZ’s Operations Manual. Four percent of the interest earned by the endowment is to be disbursed annually by WPZ in accordance with TKCP-PNG annual plans and budget formulated in December of each year, and is designed to provide partial funding for core landscape programs in perpetuity. 

To ensure the long-term sustainability of the YUS CA, local communities must participate in and benefit from its protection. To encourage community engagement and sustainable development, TKCP builds partnerships to address local needs for livelihoods, health, education and skills training. 

The YUS Conservation Coffee program is an integrated approach to optimizing supply for a sustainable crop, while building connections to international markets. By selling farm-direct to Caffé Vita and other buyers, YUS coffee farmers earn revenues more than 35% higher than local market rates. Adequately covering production and transport costs, premium coffee export has become an economically viable industry for YUS communities. TKCP is now working to replicate this success among cocoa farmers by working with the PNG Cocoa Board and chocolatiers to improve local cocoa quality and to identify new markets. In addition, TKCP is facilitating the establishment of a YUS Conservation Coffee and Cocoa Cooperative to strengthen the management and marketing of the two crops.

TKCP's community livelihoods programs have fostered community buy-in for conservation, which is further bolstered by environmental education and community health efforts, ensuring the social and cultural sustainability of TKCP. 

Promoting EbA measures with a high level of community involvement and binational ties was an effective way to achieve greater interaction between community, municipal and national actors, and also between peers (network of resilient producers; local government encounter). The results are, on the one hand, greater local empowerment, and on the other, scaling-up of EbA measures both vertically and horizontally. Thus, contributions are made towards institutionalizing EbA and creating conditions for its sustainability. The replication of the integral farm model arose from networking between producers, communities and local governments, and from a regional project with the Binational Commission of the Sixaola River Basin (CBCRS) that provided the financing. The Agrobiodiversity Fair, the work of producers as a network, and the Binational Reforestation Events, which are now all under the auspices of local and national institutions, were important mobilizing forces of change and spaces for exchange and learning. In the vertical sense, the scaling-up of EbA included working with the CBCRS to integrate EbA in the Strategic Plan for Transboundary Territorial Development (2017-2021), and with MINAE in the National Climate Change Adaptation Policy of Costa Rica.

Communities took ownership of the following EbA measures once prioritized and implemented in a participatory manner in the basin:

1. Restoration of riparian forests. Binational reforestation events are held involving local communities and schools. These efforts reduce erosion, mitigate the risk of floods, and reinforce cross-border cooperation and local empowerment, including youth. The sustainability of this action is integrated into a reforestation strategy for the middle basin.
2. Integral farms / agroforestry systems. Practices are incorporated to manage ecosystem services and generate a high diversity of products (agricultural, forestry and energy). Soil conservation practices and a transition to agroforestry systems with crops and tree diversification, tropical orchards, sowing of basic grains and protein banks are promoted.
3. Recovery and valuing of autochthonous seeds and varieties. Agrobiodiversity Fairs are organized to promote the conservation of genetic diversity (criollo seeds) and their traditional knowledge. The impact attributed to the Fair can be seen in the increases in: participation (exhibitors), diversity of species (> 220) and offer of value-added products.

In addition to training and supporting communities to implement EbA measures through their productive practices, the aim is to generate evidence on the benefits of these measures and create conditions for their sustainability and up scaling.

• The socio-environmental vulnerability of 7 communities in the Sixaola River basin is examined in order to then identify and prioritize EbA measures.
• Diagnoses are made (productive, socioeconomic and agro-ecological) to identify families with a commitment to transform their farms and select those with the greatest potential to become integral farms.
• Technical support is provided to communities, complemented with traditional knowledge, to ensure that EbA measures contribute to food and water security.
• Exchanges and training are organized for producers (men and women), indigenous authorities, youth and municipalities on climate change, food security, natural resource management, organic fertilizers and soil conservation.
• Monitoring and evaluation is carried out to understand the benefits of EbA measures, and inform horizontal and vertical up-scaling.
• Activities, such as the Agrobiodiversity Fair and binational reforestation events, are carried out collaboratively with local actors.

PNG is one of the most diverse places on Earth — a country with over 850 languages and numerous mountain ranges that have historically limited contact between clans. These clans traditionally manage their own land their own way. Yet over the past two decades, communities scattered across the Huon Peninsula have defied tradition, joining hands to create a community-based group that collectively manages what in 2009 became known as the YUS Conservation Area (YUS CA), the first legally protected area of its kind in PNG.  Stretching over 75,000 hectares, YUS encompasses cloud forest peaks towering 4,000 meters high, coral reef on the coast below and tropical rainforest in between. The YUS CA protects not only the Matschie’s tree kangaroo, TKCP’s flagship species, but also a host of threatened species, as well as critical habitat that local communities depend upon for subsistence agriculture, clean water and hunting.

The YUS Conservation Area is managed in partnership among TKCP, the YUS community and the PNG government. TKCP manages the YUS conservation ranger team and the Ecological Monitoring Program conducts community awareness-raising, mapping and facilitates the YUS Conservation Area Management Committee.

UKG has been given several special autonomous rights in public administration delegated by its members under the Local Autonomy Act. In addition to promoting regional-wide administrative works mentioned in the first Building Block, it partially takes over the role of the national administration. For policymaking on important issues, UKG constitutes a special coordination body composed of governors and mayors of UKG members. Each member is appointed as a commissioner responsible for decision-making and implementation for each administrative field/sub-field of UKG, and field offices are set up under each responsible member governments. Furthermore, councils can be set up to discuss important issues of the region with participation of local stakeholders. This governance system ensures that UKG represents the regional voices. Nevertheless, the finance of the Union entirely depends on mandatory contributions from the member governments and subsidies from the national government as the right of taxation is not included in the given rights.

UKG is responsible for policymaking and implementation across jurisdictions of each member government in seven fields, namely disaster prevention; tourism cultural and sports promotion; industrial promotion; medical care; environmental conservation; qualification tests and licensing; and training for officials. This unitary approach enables the member entities to address economic, social, and environmental challenges more efficiently and effectively through development and implementation of regional-wide policies, such as public infrastructure projects and public service programs, while reflecting their local contexts.

This building block is described in detail in the solution"A holistic strategy for Protected Area management", building blocks 1, 2, 3 and 5. The other four building blocks described in this solution are part of building block 4(Long-term financing for MPA management) of the holistic solution.

The first step is to have a diagnosis of inspection and surveillance in the protected area through interviews with experts and field visits.

The second is to promote inter-institutional coordination so that the responsible and empowered authorities are on the water.

The third step is to have the necessary resources, equipment, technology, and capacities to be present.

The fourth and critical step is the joint operation at sea, to ensure compliance with regulations. This is done by the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP) alone (Marietas) or with the support of other authorities (Cabo Pulmo and Loreto) and local organizations (Espiritu Santo). The information from each tour is systematized in a mobile application and reports are generated to make operational decisions and verify the proper use of resources.

The leadership of this building block is implemented by authorities and/or the local organization.

The Se buscan Héroes campaign is designed to promote and recognize the contributions of individuals and companies to the financing of natural protected areas.

Its web page describes its partners, the sites where it works, the risks and threats it addresses, its work logic and what is done with the donations. It also thanks all the companies that contribute to the cause and has a module to receive donations.

On Facebook, it maintains a fresh, fluid and very graphic communication with its more than 19,500 followers to position the brand and recognize the partner companies.

Uses various public spaces to make brand presence and promote donations, including the installation of donation boxes in hotels and billboards in public places.

Organizes events to launch the campaign and recognize contributors.

This building block is led by Paralelo 28.