Conservation trust funds, protected area management effectiveness and conservation outcomes: Lessons from the global conservation fund

Abstract

The Global Conservation Fund (GCF) is a global programme intended to address the problems associated with protected areas that lack sufficient resources to function effectively. In operation since 2001, GCF has built a global portfolio of over 65 protected area investments linked to a comprehensive integrated data set on protected area management effectiveness and conservation outcomes. With data collected over the last six years (2008-2013), this paper attempts to answer two questions: 1) What is the relationship between conservation investments and the enabling conditions needed to achieve conservation outcomes? 2) Does stable funding correlate with a stable or improving deforestation rate? Results from analysis of this data suggest that regular, sustained investment in protected area management resulted in a statistically significant decline in deforestation rates in and around these protected areas. Additionally, we find that higher scores on management effectiveness were associated with lower deforestation rates. This suggests that monitoring the enabling conditions for effective protected area management provides a reasonable proxy for conservation outcomes as measured by changes in deforestation rates. These results make a compelling argument that Conservation Trust Funds are valuable tools to help protected areas deliver on their objectives and contribute to global conservation targets.