The German development co-operation is putting five million Euro towards the establishment of a trans-border protected areas fund for the Southern Caucasus. The Federal Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul made the announcement at the opening of the conference "Nature Protection in the Caucasus", which Ecologic organised, on 9 March 2006 in Berlin.

The meeting, hosted by the Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development, the KfW Entwicklungsbank and the WWF, involved environmental ministers and representatives from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and other countries in the region. With the support of international donors, the foundation is expected to accumulate 40 million Euro. The Protected Areas Fund should cover the financing of about half of the most important sanctuaries in this species-rich region. The governments of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia must contribute the other half. The trust fund will be a central component of the protection strategy that WWF and KfW, together with experts and government representatives from the involved countries, have developed.  With this effort, the nations of the Southern Caucasus are making a key contribution to the implementation of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Environmental Ministers: Vardan Ayvazyan (Armenia), George Papuashvili (Georgia), Huseyngulu Baghirov (Azerbaijan)

Read the press report about the event in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung [German].

You can find the complete text of the press release on the WWF Germany web site [German].

More information on the conference (Programme, Background, Participants etc.) is posted on the event’s website [English + Russian].

Photos: Michael Kirsten