The Conservation Investments and Incentives Initiative (CIII) was a multi-stakeholder project investigating the conditions and arrangements under which funds could be attracted to British Columbia to support conservation and conservation-based economic development in the B.C. central and northern coasts, including Haida Gwaii.
Cortex contributed to the successful management of the first phase, which produced:
- a market assessment of interest in funding conservation-based investments on the B.C. Coast
- a study clarifying opportunities for conservation-based economic development on the B.C. Coast
- institutional design recommendations for administering conservation financing
- a background report discussing the legal mechanisms for securing conservation investment in British Columbia.
The CIII led to the establishment, in 2007, of the Coast Opportunity Funds, which manages $120 million to support conservation management and sustainable economic development in the north and central coasts of British Columbia and Haida Gwaii.