ST JOHNS, Antigua – France, and Germany, along with The Nature Conservancy, have pledged over US$45 million in contributions to the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (CBF) to increase resources for biodiversity conservation.
At last month’s CBF annual meeting in Antigua and Barbuda, Ulrike Metzger, division head of regional development policy, Central America, Caribbean and Mexico for the German Federal ministry for economic cooperation and development, announced that her government would commit an additional €25.5 million to its current support of CBF and the Caribbean Challenge Initiative (CCI).
Metzger emphasized that Germany recognized the CBF and CCI achievements and their alignment with member governments’ support for the protection and sustainable management of Caribbean coastal and marine areas.
The additional funding will go to expanding CBF throughout the region. Further contributions will help the CBF establish a new facility to tackle the region’s circular economy, plastic waste management, and wastewater treatment.
During the annual meeting, the French development agency also pledged a contribution of approximately US$13 million to support the CBF’s Haitian trust fund, along with other endeavors. Similarly, The Nature Conservancy endowed funds totaling $3.5 million to The Bahamas, and $500,000 to Jamaica to be…
