German Development Minister Schulze commits 100 million euros for the world’s most valuable protected areas

BERLIN – The Legacy Landscapes Fund (LLF) set up by the German Development Ministry (BMZ) has the purpose of facilitating lasting protection for the world’s most valuable conservation areas. Just before the International Day for Biological Diversity, German Development Minister Svenja Schulze today committed another 100 million euros for the Fund. Germany is thus making an important contribution to the conservation of vital ecosystems in developing countries. This is part of Germany’s efforts in the context of the global biodiversity conference in Kunming in the second half of this year.

The Legacy Landscapes Fund provides core funding for legacy landscapes – protected areas that are global top biodiversity hotspots – of one million US dollars per park and year for a period of 15 to 30 years, with the ambition to make this “everlasting” funding. This provides financial predictability for the protected areas, making them resilient to crisis. These biodiverse conservation areas are very important for global climate action and key to local people’s lives and livelihoods.

The Fund is already providing support for five parks: Gunung Leuser National Park in Indonesia, Madidi National Park in Bolivia, North Luangwa National Park in Zambia, Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe, and Odzala National Park in the Republic of the Congo. A call for proposals is currently under way for the inclusion of further biodiverse areas in the Legacy Landscapes Fund portfolio.

German Development Minister Svenja Schulze said: “A very large proportion of the world’s most biodiverse regions are located in developing countries. Through the Legacy Landscapes Fund, we help to ensure lasting protection for the world’s most valuable conservation areas, because protected areas in developing countries need reliable long-term financing and administration in order to protect the natural environment and the global climate but also in order to protect people’s livelihoods on the ground. That is why we are providing another 100 million euros in support of the Fund. I will also present the Legacy Landscapes Fund at the meeting of G7 development ministers. We need the G7 in order to make the global biodiversity conference this year a success, and the Fund is an important element.”

The Legacy Landscapes Fund was founded exactly one year ago. The initiative for its launch came from Germany, but it is an international financing instrument. The Fund targets those areas that have the greatest biodiversity but do not have enough resources to really conserve the natural environment. The Fund brings together public and private donors in an innovative way. Most recently, France joined as a new donor. Private and philanthropic partners are providing co-financing.

Through its latest commitment of 100 million euros, Germany has brought its total contribution to 182.5 million euros.