Collaborative Initiatives Fund Overview
The Collaborative Initiatives Fund is a program designed to foster collaborations among Switzer Fellows working on similar issues in order to leverage their individual and organizational resources to advance progress on that issue. In September, 2011, the Foundation introduced a new program, Switzer Network Innovation Grants, which also funds collaborations among Switzer Fellows and which will replace the Collaborative Initiatives Fund starting in 2012. Interested Fellows should refer to the Network Innovation Grants description for more information.
Candidate Conservation Banking
Friday, January 6 2012 | by elloyd
Southeastern U.S.
40,000
This
project builds on an existing collaboration between Todd Gartner and Josh
Donlan, who are working on an innovative approach to endangered species conservation which they
hope will inform national endangered species policy in the coming years. The program, called Candidate Conservation
Banking, will be piloted over the course of 2012. It involves a voluntary marketplace where
conservation credits are bought and sold, providing landowners with financial
incentives to protect critical habitat. For
the pilot, Todd and Josh will be focusing on the Gopher tortoise in the
southeastern United States. They will
work with landowners and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and if the pilot
program is successful, it has the potential to be used as a model nationwide
for an alternative to traditional endangered species protection.