Welcome to the Conservation Finance Guide. The overall goal is to provide practical tools to support the rapid expansion of sustainable finance mechanisms that generate long-term funding for biodiversity conservation.
Welcome to the Conservation Finance Guide. The overall goal is to provide practical tools to support the rapid expansion of sustainable finance mechanisms that generate long-term funding for biodiversity conservation.
This section presents four case studies that give an indication of the array of interesting fiscal instruments already in use. More case studies are available on the Internet, at sites such as the Biodiversity Economics Library (http://biodiversityeconomics.org).
A tax deduction scheme in Hungary
The Hungarian Government has initiated a scheme which allows Hungarians to contribute 1% of their taxes to a charitable fund and an additional 1% to a religious organization. Individuals simply collect a form from the local tax office, fill in a section of the form with the bank account number of the foundation of their choice and turn it in with their normal forms. The government then makes the payment to the foundation concerned.
Under this scheme, the Kiskunsag National Park Foundation invests funds in the protected area by sponsoring research projects as well as staff travel to international events and nature conservation activities. A modest start has been made by raising160,000 forint (about US$900) in 1998. There is, of course, much competition for these funds from other charitable organizations, but the foundation plans an information campaign to take advantage of the opportunities and encourage people in the area, and throughout the country, to contribute to the national park.
Source: IUCN, 2000, Financing Protected Areas
For more details see Phillips, A. 2000. Financing Protected Areas: Guidelines for Protected Area Managers. IUCN. Switzerland.
Green Funds in The Netherlands
Launched in 1995, the Dutch Green Investment Scheme aimed at encouraging private investments into sustainable projects. By attaching a tax break to officially approved Green Projects, the government was providing a subsidy to private investors. As a result, green investments became financially attractive despite low interest rates.
Green Certificates are issued jointly by the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries. One requirement is for Green Funds to invest at least 70% of their assets into loans to green projects. Another requirement – although later partially lifted – was for projects to be based on Dutch soil.
Many mainstream Dutch financial institutions, including ABN AMRO, Rabobank have been actively involved in the financing of green projects. The ABN AMRO Green Fund, for instance, totaled EUR 336m in green loans by March 2000. Specialized “green banks” have also been established, such as ABN AMRO Greenbank B.V. and Postbank Green.
Demand for green funds far exceeded expectations, resulting in a lack of available projects. This led, initially, to the government widening the scope of relevant projects. It also later prompted the government to revise the tax breaks associated with those investments. The 2001 Tax Act, for instance, introduced ceilings for tax exemptions even though this was partially compensated by additional tax measures.
For more information, visit. http://www.triodos.nl/ ; http://www.abnamro.com/ or http://www.rabobank.nl/
Overview
1. Understanding Fiscal Instruments for Conservation
1.1 Overview
1.2 Key Actors and Motivations
1.3 Types of Fiscal Instruments
1.5 Success Factors
2. A Selection of Case Studies
2.1 Instruments for Raising Revenue
2.2 Instruments for Changing Behavior
3. Resources