Sustainable financing of protected areas : a global review of challenges and options. Draft

The Proceedings of the Sustainable Finance Stream provide insight as to how to secure the long-term financial visibility of parks and conservation areas. This contribution offers many alternatives for generating revenues and emphasizes the need to adopt a business approach to management of protected areas in general. It also looks closely at the policy and institutional opportunities and constraints in order to provide the broader context in which manager are expected to operate.
This publication, which contains 23 papers selected from several regional and national meetings, including the 2003 Regional Preparatory Meeting held in Dhaka, tries to capture many pioneering works in participatory conservation in the region and also tries to identify gaps in ecosystem representation in South Asia. It brings out many contemporary issues related to conservation while pooling national experiences in managing protected areas.
In order for National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) to be implemented, there is a need for financing. This financing hinges on the ability and ingenuity of national governments to design innovative mechanisms to make finances available. The aim of this toolkit is to provide biodiversity planners and decisions makers in Asia with a series of clear and practical methods, options and steps for developing financing strategies for their NBSAPs.