Recent News

$1.5 million in Public Funds to Support Innovative Conservation and Bioknowledge Program
July 2010

After several months of work with government agencies and local universities, NCI, together with the Ecuadorian Ministry of the Environment, has formally submitted a proposal to the Ecuadorian government to secure $1.5 million in public funds for the first three-year phase (2011 – 2013) of an innovative new program, “Conservation of ecosystems, generation of bioknowledge and development of industry based on environmental goods and services.” The program suggests a shift in focus towards a new model of internal development that will involve the diversification of goods, markets and services as part of a plan to turn the country into an authority on biological knowledge and tourism services, as well as to ensure a balanced dynamic between society, State and market, in harmony with nature. The requested funds will help to create a Regional System of Protected Areas in southern Ecuador, integrating private, municipal and community conservation areas under NCI’s conservation vision. The funds will also help to establish a regional bioknowledge network, including the creation of a future bioknowledge institute that will help to advance the development of an environmental goods and services industry in the country. Official approval of the program from the government is nearly certain; we expect work to begin in early 2011.

Return to Recent News Headlines