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Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) Indo-Burma Biodiversity Fund, Phase IV

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Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) Indo-Burma Biodiversity Fund, Phase IV
How to apply for CEPF Phase IV Frequently Asked Questions Grievance Mechanism RIT Contacts Ecosystem Profile: Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot

Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF)

The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) is designed to safeguard the world’s biologically richest and most threatened regions known as biodiversity hotspots. It is a joint initiative of l’Agence Française de Développement (AFD), Conservation International (CI), the European Union (EU), Fondation Hans Wilsdorf, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Government of Canada, the Government of Japan and the World Bank. In the Indo-Burma Hotspot, it is also supported by the Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies. 

A fundamental purpose of CEPF is to engage civil society, including community groups, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), academic institutions and private enterprises, in biodiversity conservation in the hotspots. To guarantee their success, these efforts must complement existing strategies and programmes of national governments and multilateral and bilateral donors. CEPF fosters collaborative partnerships among diverse groups, leveraging unique capacities and minimising duplication of efforts to achieve a comprehensive and coordinated approach to conservation. CEPF focuses on biological areas rather than political boundaries and examines threats to biodiversity and their root causes on a hotspot-level basis. CEPF targets transboundary cooperation in areas of high importance for biodiversity conservation that straddle national borders or in places where a regional approach will be more effective than a national approach. CEPF aims to provide civil society with an agile and flexible funding mechanism that complements the funding available to government institutions.

Photo: IUCN Asia

Photo: FCEE

Photo: IUCN Asia

Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot

The Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot comprises all non-marine parts of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, plus parts of southern China. With its high levels of plant and animal endemism, and limited remaining natural habitat, Indo-Burma ranks among the top 10 biodiversity hotspots for irreplaceability and the top five for threat. Indo-Burma holds more people than any other hotspot, and its remaining natural ecosystems, already greatly reduced in extent, are subject to intense and growing pressure from habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation, and over-exploitation of natural resources. 

 

Phases of Investment

In the Indo-Burma Hotspot, CEPF has awarded 315 grants with a total value of $25 million over two phases of investment: Phase I from 2008 to 2013; and Phase II from 2013  to 2020. During Phase III from 2020 to 2025, CEPF built on the achievements of the first two phases in the Indo-Burma Hotspot and awarded more than $13 million in 113 grants for biodiversity conservation across the Hotspot.

Some highlights of outcomes from Phase III include;

  • Long-term conservation programmes put in place for core populations of 53 priority species
  • Seven campaigns implemented to reduce consumer demand for wildlife and mobilise public participation in wildlife crime detection and reporting.
  • Strengthened protection and management of more than 34 KBAs.
  • Community-based conservation models piloted at 25 KBAs, including community forests, community fisheries and community-managed protected areas.
  • Tangible wellbeing benefits gained by more than 57,000 women and 60,000 men, including improved land tenure, food security, access to ecosystem services, and recognition of traditional knowledge.
  • Establishment or strengthening of 42 civil society networks, enabling collective responses to priority and emerging threats.
  • Strengthened capacity of more than 85 CSOs working on conservation issues.

 

IUCN Regional Implementation Team

In each Biodiversity Hotspot where it invests, CEPF engages with a local partner to establish a Regional Implementation Team (RIT) to coordinate its investment, work directly with grant recipients, and help to build the capacity of civil society. During Phase IV in Indo-Burma, IUCN will continue to serve as the RIT, building on its successful achievements during Phases II and III.  

Photo: IUCN Asia

Photo: IUCN Asia

Phase IV

During Phase IV (2026-2030), CEPF and IUCN will focus on approaches that have demonstrated success, moving from pilot projects to longer-term interventions and integrating results more concretely into public policy and private sector practice. Recognising that CEPF investment cannot realistically respond to the full range of conservation issues at play in the hotspot, CEPF will focus on actions where civil society organisations can add the greatest value and addresses gaps in the overall landscape of donor funding for conservation.

At least US$10 million in grants will be awarded during Phase IV under the Small Grants programme (up to US$50,000) and the Large Grants programme (between US$50,000-250,000). These grants will address selected Strategic Directions and Investment Priorities set out in the updated 2025 Ecosystem Profile for the Indo-Burma Hotspot; the full document is available here. CEPF and IUCN don’t recommend specific project concepts; rather, provide civil society groups with grants to develop these themselves. The grant making aspects of CEPF’s investment will be complimented with actions to strengthen the capacity of civil society organisations across the Hotspot. 

STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS (Phase IV) 

The 2025 Ecosystem Profile outlines a total of 13 Strategic Directions to guide conservation action in the Hotspot. During consultations to develop the Ecosystem Profile, stakeholders prioritised six Strategic Directions for CEPF investment. These are;

  • Safeguard priority globally threatened species by mitigating major threats and restoring wild populations;
  • Mitigate health risks and biodiversity loss by addressing illegal wildlife trade, unsustainable consumption and spillover risks at the wildlife–livestock–human interface within a One Health framework;
  • Strengthen the management effectiveness of Protected and Conserved Areas (PCAs) and the engagement of CSOs and Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) in their management and governance to improve conservation at priority sites;
  • Implement scalable approaches for integrating biodiversity, ecosystem services and Nature-based Solutions (NbS) into development planning in priority corridors;
  • Support the establishment, capacity and organizational development of civil society organisations to work on biodiversity, communities and livelihoods at regional, national, local and grassroots levels;
  • Provide strategic leadership and effective coordination of conservation investment through a regional implementation team

For more information, please visit the CEPF website.