What
The Herencia Colombia (HECO) Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) will secure, and sustainably finance a significant portion of Colombia’s National Protected Area System (SINAP), while improving the management of its surrounding landscapes and seascapes by 2030. It will create connectivity between PFPs in the region and help deliver a regional “cluster” of PFPs across the Andes-Amazon.

Goal
The overall goal is to secure permanent protection for at least 32 million hectares of protected areas and their surrounding landscapes. Over the next 10 years, HECO will support the creation of over 2 M ha of new terrestrial protected areas and over 19.4 M ha of new marine protected areas; improve management of 5.5M ha of existing marine protected areas and almost 6 M ha in 101 existing terrestrial national, regional, and private protected and promote sustainable production models in 7 corridors to improve connectivity and maintain ecosystem services. The expansion of marine protected areas offers a promising opportunity to secure broader transboundary protections as part of the larger Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor.

Recent activities
On June 23, 2022, HECO partners signed a joint declaration to launch the HECO PFP, which secures US $245 million of public and private finance to permanently protect 32 M ha of iconic Colombian landscapes and seascapes. This is the first PFP to close under the Enduring Earth partnership. Enduring Earth is an unprecedented collaboration among The Nature Conservancy (TNC), The Pew Charitable Trusts, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and ZOMALAB to permanently protect ocean, land, and freshwater by bridging the gap between conservation needs and required financing using Project Finance for Permanence (PFP). All PFPs are locally led, collaboratively designed, nationally supported, sustainably funded, and highly accountable.

Benefits
This work enables Colombia to meet its domestic and international environmental commitments including making progress towards the global agenda to protect 30% of land and seas by 2030, its national commitment under the Paris Accord of the UNFCCC, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

• It demonstrates Colombia’s leadership on mitigating global climate change through protection of more than 2.8 billion tons of CO2eq and preventing emissions of more than 2.1 million tons of CO2eq annually and more than 45 million tons of CO2eq by 2050;

• It serves as a cornerstone of a new paradigm for Colombia’s national protected area system (SINAP) in which key ecosystems are secured, while contributing to the economic development and social inclusion of its communities;

• It supports the creation or expansion of 7 protected areas and the effective management of 101 national, regional, and private protected areas within SINAP, as well as 7 corridors to improve connectivity and maintain vital ecosystem services.

• It contributes toward improving the quality of life for rural communities via sustainable development;

• Contributes to adaption to climate change through interventions that support water provision and regulation as well as flood and landslide hazard mitigation via improved management and restoration/rehabilitation of protected areas and associated corridors;

• Catalyzes the development of innovative finance mechanisms that will benefit other areas beyond the protected areas in this project and serve as a model for other countries.

Relevant links and resources
https://enduringearth.org/