CYNK and UNESCO have announced a new partnership to explore new innovative funding mechanisms for climate action projects led by indigenous peoples and local communities. This collaboration aims to leverage local knowledge and skills to protect biodiversity, create social impact and develop sustainable coexistence models within UNESCO designated sites. The partnership aspires to identify financing solutions which will help protect the world’s most valuable natural assets for today and the future. The partnership will support the critical work taking place by World Heritage Volunteers – “The Futurekeepers”1- to protect our planet’s most precious places.
CYNK is a leading climate finance platform that uses innovative technology to create and finance high-quality climate tokens and natural assets. CYNK supports the needs of local communities, climate action projects and ecological restoration by bridging the growing financing gap. This initiative with UNESCO puts indigenous peoples at the centre of regenerative climate action as custodians of nature, stewardship for healthy species, ecosystems and biodiversity at large.2
CYNK is partnering with Regenerative Resources in UNESCO’s Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage site to deliver climate finance for ecological restoration alongside regenerative economic development for local coastal
communities. This initial Futurekeepers project to restore blue ecosystems and invaluable fish stocks is being led by a women’s co-op group called the Mujeres Del Delgadito. This area is also home to the iconic Laguna San Ignacio, a critical whale sanctuary that serves as a cornerstone for the wider marine ecosystem, playing a pivotal role in preserving ocean biodiversity.
UNESCO natural World Heritage sites are critical for the conservation of ecosystem integrity and biodiversity. While they make up less than 1% of the Earth’s surface, they harbor more than 1/5 of mapped global species richness. This includes over 75,000 species of plants, and over 30,000 species of mammals, birds, fishes, reptiles and amphibians.
1 UNESCO World Heritage Convention: https://whc.unesco.org/en/futurekeepers/
2 Nature Finance: The Future of Biodiversity Credit Markets, 2023
“It is critical that indigenous people and local communities are at the heart of nature positive climate action and sustainable coexistence via increased biodiversity. Through this exciting new partnership with UNESCO, we hope to make a difference and raise significant climate financing to enable expert stewardship of our planet’s most invaluable assets through the new generation of Future Keepers” said Nils Razmilovic, CYNK’s Cofounder and Chairman.
This new partnership follows two recently published reports examining the key role which UNESCO natural World Heritage sites play in global carbon sequestration3 and protecting global biodiversity.4 Additional resources and access to private sector funding are needed to better protect the 266 natural and mixed World Heritage sites alongside other designated UNESCO areas that contain rich biodiversity acting as important carbon sinks and stable carbon stores for future generations.