The future is bright for PEFC’s Collaboration Fund

25 April 2013 Collaboration Fund

PEFC's Collaboration Fund is now into its third year of operation after the recent closing of the 2013 call for proposals. "We received tremendous interest in the Fund this year and now have the tough job of selecting which projects will receive investment from PEFC," commented Sarah Price, PEFC Head of Projects & Development. 

This year the Fund received a total of 42 proposals from all over the globe, each presenting a project with unique and fresh ideas from motivated partners committed to supporting PEFC's efforts in stimulating growth in sustainable forest management. 

"It's a real shame we won't be able to fund more of the projects," said Ms Price, when asked about the selection process. "Our success in attracting such high caliber proposals means we need to more actively look for partners to contribute to PEFC's Fund and create more investment capital." At the moment, PEFC has 100.000 CHF available to invest in 2013 which will likely mean that only a handful of projects can be selected. Successful projects will be those that present the most promise for catalyzing action and impacts at the local level while also demonstrating real potential for scaling up relevance in support of PEFC's global objectives. To allow for the support of further projects, PEFC is open to discussions with potential funders to invest or co-finance in these important enabling projects promoting sustainable forest management at local level.

To date, the Collaboration Fund has directly invested 247,000 CHF and leveraged an additional 184,000 CHF through the Fund's co-funding requirements. The Fund has supported 11 projects implemented by 10 organizations across 14 countries, and supported the collaborative involvement of an additional 30 partner organizations.

Even though it is still early days for the Fund, it has succeeded in bringing a wide range of projects and inspiring collaboration and new partnerships all over the world to life. The Fund has actively invested in local efforts to raise awareness and capacity to promote forest certification, establish national certification systems, and undertake research and development for new products and services within PEFC certification. Reflecting on the 2011 projects and the activities undertaken in 2012, a number of positive impacts from the Fund can already be observed.

If you would like to consider investing in the Collaboration Fund please contact PEFC to further discuss at development@pefc.org.