Today, the Government of Mongolia, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and others announced the launch of Eternal Mongolia – a Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) initiative that will deliver lasting conservation and sustainable community development for the Central Asian country whose vast steppe represents our planet’s last great tract of intact temperate grassland.
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Mongolia's Nationally Protected area, Toson Hulstai. ©TNC
Eternal Mongolia is a negotiated partnership that will deliver USD $198 million of new investment over 15 years to support Mongolia’s ambitious goals and deliver lasting conservation and sustainable community development in and around protected areas. This includes a USD $71 million transition fund from private and other global donor sources. This transition fund will accelerate Mongolia’s conservation and community development goals, while providing time to develop sustainable financing mechanisms to ensure protected areas can be managed sustainably in the long-term and that Mongolian people benefit from nature, now and for the future.
Eternal Mongolia will dramatically expand and strengthen the effectiveness of the country’s entire National Protected Area network, support sustainable herding practices, invest in the sustainable tourism industry, and set an unprecedented example to the rest of the world about the value of land and freshwater conservation.
The PFP will support local community-driven proposals to safeguard an additional 14.4 million hectares of Mongolia’s lands and waters including intact grasslands, forests, deserts, wetlands and rivers; strengthen the management of all of Mongolia’s National Protected Areas covering 47 million hectares; and extend sustainable and climate-resilient community-managed practices to 34 million hectares outside protected areas.
Mongolia established itself as a world conservation leader 30 years ago by committing to a vision revolutionary for its time: to protect 30% of its lands—a goal now shared around the world. Eternal Mongolia unlocks all the funding and policy commitments needed for Mongolia to ensure its 30% conservation target will be met by 2030 while providing a secure and economic future for Mongolians.
Eternal Mongolia is an initiative of Enduring Earth, an ambitious collaboration between The Nature Conservancy, The Pew Charitable Trusts, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and ZOMALAB that works in partnership with nations and communities as they accelerate and amplify conservation for a more sustainable, prosperous future for people and planet.
“To address the dual climate and biodiversity crises we must catalyze action at scale and ensure that people and livelihoods are at the center of the solution,” said Jennifer Morris, CEO of The Nature Conservancy and Board Chair of Enduring Earth.
Eternal Mongolia anticipates key financial support from Legacy Landscapes Fund. Eternal Mongolia initiatives would not be possible without philanthropic support from Jennifer Speers, Pamela Tanner Boll, The Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham Environmental Trust, Joanna & Stuart Brown, The Lorinet Foundation, China Global Conservation Fund, Sabra Turnbull & Clifford Burnstein, Trafigura Foundation, Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies, Arcadia, Fondation Hans Wilsdorf, The Gallogly Family Foundation, and Robert W. Wilson Charitable Trust.
The full version of this press release with more information and additional quotes, including those from the Government of Mongolia, can be found at www.nature.org/en-us/newsroom/eternal-mongolia-pfp-announcement/
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