WWF and the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) today announced the launch of an investment programme to pioneer new ways to conserve the immense natural wealth of the Eastern Himalayas.

The fund will provide grants for non-governmental organizations, community groups and other sectors of civil society to help save high-priority species, as well as unqiue landscapes in Bhutan, northeastern India and parts of Nepal.

WWF, in partnership with the Birdlife Indochina Programme, led an extensive participatory research and consultation process drawing together more than 145 experts and stakeholders in the three countries to develop the new CEPF ecosystem profile and a US$5 million, five-year investment strategy for this region.

Programme funding will be made possible by CEPF — a joint initiative of Conservation International, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the government of Japan, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the World Bank. The Fund is designed to enable civil society to take part in biodiversity conservation alongside governmental partners in the world’s biologically richest yet most threatened ecosystems.

The Eastern Himalayas are home to 163 globally threatened species, including Asian elephants and tigers. Many of these species face extinction as a result of chronic over-use of natural resources, conversion of forests for agriculture and unsustainable wildlife trade. The consequences are especially severe where human population density is high.

Source: WWF