SF workshop in Solomon Islands yields ideas for possible income sources for conservation
The Sustainable Financing Workshop on Costing the Solomon Islands National Plan of Action (NPOA) was organized by Mama Graun Conservation Trust Fund in collaboration with the Solomon Islands NCC from 27-28 April 2011. It was attended by 30 participants from various government ministries, NCC representatives, and community groups.
Mr. Egide Cantin, Sustainable Finance Specialist, discussed the concept of ‘back-of-the-envelope’ costing using the construction of a house as a model. This was useful to get an idea of the total financial resources needed to implement a program such as the SI National Plan of Action (NPOA) as a model.
Participants examined the draft NPOA and identified the factors that prevent them from doing a real costing. Emphasized was the need to define targets and community based resource management (CBRM) for proper costing.
PES Exercise for two sites
Also discussed were “how to know if a site is ‘PES-able,’ and “Fisheries, Threatened Species and Climate Change Costing.” Participants experimented with selected sites and used a costing template that identified the real cost of doing activities per year in a conservation site. The costing would be the basis for a “ back of an envelope” costing for that particular site.
Guided by Mr. Cantin and Mr. Eric Verheij (WWF), the participants identified two sites, i.e., Tetepare Island in the Western Province and Kia community in the Isabel Province. The full and thorough costing of these sites will occur in the next phase of the sustainable finance planning exercise which will be led by TNC and WWF.
Brainstorming on possible sources of income for conservation
Facilitators conducted a round-the-table exercise on possible sources of income for conservation. Seventeen ideas were recorded of which nine were deemed worth considering further in the coming months.
Participants also identified the activities, human resources, timeframe, and budget for the costing of the NPOA in the next six to nine months.
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Contributed by Egide Cantin and Delvene Boso, Knowledge Integrator for the Solomon Islands
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