Founded in 2007, the Caucasus Nature Fund (CNF), is a German non-profit organization that supports the protected areas in the South Caucasus countries of

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

and Georgia. The fund's mission is to provide long-term funding for operating costs, improved

management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

and

sustainable development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...

of the region's protected areas. The trust works through public-private partnerships with the three governments by matching, but not exceeding the State budgets. This ensures each side is committing long-term support for the protected areas. Headquartered in Frankfurt/Main, Germany, with program offices in

Tbilisi, Georgia Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million peo ...

and

Yerevan, Armenia Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...

, the trust supports 18 protected areas across the three countries.

Caucasus Biodiversity Hotspot

The

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

Ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

is one of the most biologically rich regions on Earth. Home to an unusually high number of

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

plant and animal species, it ranks as one of the world's biodiversity “hotspots" according to both

Conservation International Conservation International (CI) is an American nonprofit environmental organization headquartered in Crystal City, Arlington, Virginia. CI's work focuses on science, policy and partnership with businesses, governments and communities. The organ ...

and WWF. Formed by the isthmus between the

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

and

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

s, the Caucasus ecoregion is a biological crossroads, where plant and animal species from

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

, the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

, and

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

mingle with

endemic species Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

found nowhere else on earth. About the size of France, the hotspot spans 500,000 square kilometers including

and Georgia, as well as small portions of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. Amazingly, this relatively small area holds 9 climate zones from

semi-desert A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

to high altitude tundra, from

alpine meadow Alpine tundra is a type of natural region or biome that does not contain trees because it is at high elevation, with an associated harsh climate. As the latitude of a location approaches the poles, the threshold elevation for alpine tundra gets ...

to deep forest. Here you can find over 6,400 plant species, 348 birds, 131 mammals, 86 reptiles, 17 amphibians and 127 freshwater fishes.

Funding activities

In 2022, CNF awarded four subdivisions of

's Ministry of the Environment €335,000 to cover expenses. €142,500 was allocated to the Zangezur Biosphere Complex, €80,000 to Khosrov Forest State Reserve, €82,500 to

Dilijan National Park Dilijan National Park is one of the four national parks of Armenia. Occupying an area of 240 km², it is located in the north-eastern Tavush Province of Armenia. It is known for its forest landscapes, rich biodiversity, medicinal mineral water ...

, and €30,000 to

Lake Arpi National Park Lake Arpi National Park is one of four protected national parks of Armenia. Occupying an area of 250 km2, it is in the northwestern Shirak Province. Formed in 2009, it is located around Lake Arpi at the Shirak and Javkheti plateau, at a heigh ...

Notable Board Members

A notable advisory board member is

Gabriela Von Habsburg Archduchess Gabriela von Habsburg (born 14 October 1956) is an abstract sculptor, working mainly in stainless steel as well as stone-printed lithography. She was the ambassador of Georgia to Germany from 2009 to 2013. She is the granddaughter o ...

, the granddaughter of

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

, last emperor of Austria.

References

External links

Caucasus Nature Fund
official Webpage
CNF Facebook Page
official Facebook Page
Conservation Finance Alliance
charter, financials and other documents Caucasus Environmental organisations based in Germany Wildlife conservation organizations {{Nonprofit-org-stub