Financing Protected Areas: Guidelines for Protected Area Managers

These guidelines explore financing options for protected areas and provide advice and information on sustainable financing. Both public and private financing is needed to ensure provision of the private and public goods and services which protected areas provide. A step-by-step process is given which protected area managers can use to create business and financial plans tailored to the needs and strengths of their protected area. Mechanisms are discussed for generating revenue flows from both public and private sources and an overview of potential grant-based sources of financing is given. It concludes with case studies demonstrating how protected area managers worldwide have developed cohesive funding strategies.

Table of Contents:
Foreword vii Acknowledgements viii PART A Developing a financial strategy 1 1. Protected areas and finance 3 1.1 What are protected areas and why are they important? 3 1.2 What is financial planning and why is it important for protected areas? 4 1.3 Guiding principles 5 2. A business approach to protected areas 7 2.1 Benefits from protected areas 7 2.2 Protected area customers 8 2.3 Getting customers to pay 12 2.4 Managing customer groups 13 3. Developing and financing a business 23 3.1 Executive summary 24 3.2 Company summary 24 3.3 Products (goods and services) 25 3.4 Market analysis and strategy summary 25 3.5 Strategy and implementation summary 25 3.6 Management summary 26 3.7 Financial plan 26 4. Summary 27 PART B Information on financing 29 1. Introduction 31 2. International sources of funding for protected areas 33 2.1 Multilateral banks etc. 33 2.2 Global Environment Facility (GEF) 34 2.3 Bilateral development co-operation agencies etc. 34 2.4 Foundations with an international remit 34 2.5 International non-governmental organisations with an international remit 35 2.6 Alternative financial mechanisms 35 3. National-level mechanisms 37 3.1 Taxes, levies, surcharges and tax incentives 37 3.2 Tax deduction schemes 37 3.3 Grants from private foundations 38 3.4 National environmental funds 39 3.5 Debt swaps 41 3.6 National and provincial lotteries 41 3.7 Public-good service payments 42 3.8 Workplace donation schemes 42 4. Site-level mechanisms 43 4.1 User fees 43 4.2 Cause-related marketing 44 4.3 Adoption programmes 44 4.4 Corporate donations 45 4.5 Individual donations 45 4.6 Planned giving 45 4.7 Site memberships and "friends" schemes 46 PART C Case studies 47 1. A national system of raising money for conservation in New Zealand 49 1.1 Retention of revenue 49 1.2 Concession fees 49 1.3 Facility and service fees and charges: huts and camps 50 1.4 Recovery of costs 51 2. Contribution of ecotourism activities within the KwaZulu-Natal Nature Conservation Service 51 2.1 Hilltop Camp (Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park) 52 2.2 Ntshondwe Restaurant Partnership (Ithala Game Reserve) 52 2.3 Santa Lucia cruise boat (Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park) 53 3. Compensation for environmental services from mountain forests in Costa Rica 54 3.1 An effective way to compensate private forest owners 54 3.2 How the compensation system works 54 3.3 The establishment of a world ecomarket 55 3.4 Funds originating from Costa Rica 55 3.5 Environmental services acknowledged by Costa Rica's 1996 Forestry Law 55 Bibliography 57