PRIVATE INSTITUTE BRIEFS

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Wildlife Cashes In On Ecuador IOU

Two U.S. conservation groups have turned Ecuador's foreign debt into a boon for that country's wildlife areas and endangered species. The World Wildlife Fund and the Nature Conservancy have agreed to pay off $9 million of Ecuador's debt at a rate of 11 7/8 cents on the dollar' an expenditure of little more than $1 million. In exchange for having the debt retired, the Ecuadoran government will give a private conservation group in the South American country "Fundacion Natura" bonds worth the face value of the debt. Among the projects to be financed by this agreement, "Ecuador's largest debt-for-nature swap ever" will be a conservation data center staffed by Ecuadoran scientists, including an ecologist, botanist, and zoologist. Bonds worth $3 million will be dedicated to conservation work in the Galapagos Islands, especially in strengthening its protected wildlife areas. Other funds raised from the bonds will bolster management of national parks in other regions of the country and purchase about 6,000 acres of land in western Ecuador. The World Wildlife Fund and the Nature Conservancy have made previous debt-for-nature agreements with Ecuador, Costa Rica, and the Philippines.