Groups Unveil $150-Million Wildlife Conservation Fund

Aiming to protect wildlife where it is most abundant and threatened, the World Bank and two conservation groups meeting at Caltech unveiled a $150-million fund Tuesday to help preserve the planet’s biodiversity hot spots.

Grants from the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund will be made available to local groups in developing countries. Though it is not the largest conservation fund, organizers hope it will be the most agile and least bureaucratic.

“We have to move fast to create realistic alternatives for poor people if we are to relieve the growing pressures on the environment,” said James D. Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank.

Recent studies show that about 60% of all terrestrial species are found on 1.4% of the Earth’s surface--the so-called hot spots. By focusing attention on those 25 locations covering a total area three times larger than Texas, organizers hope to maximize the impact of their investment.

“The fund will help us find solutions that allow poor people to have a better way of life while at the same time conserving the biodiversity on which their long-term survival depends,” Wolfensohn said.

By November, organizers expect to make money available for groups in Madagascar, West Africa and the tropical Andes. For each subsequent year, programs in at least five additional regions will be funded.

Conservation International, the World Bank and the Global Environment Facility have each committed $25 million to the fund over the next five years. The remaining amount will be sought from other donors.