GLF Shares Its Experience at the 28th RedLAC Congress

GLF, October 8, 2026

On the third day of the Congress in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, our Program Officer, Paulina Couenberg, joined the panel “Evolution of Environmental Funds: From Standards of Practice to Accessing Financing Mechanisms and Instruments,” held as part of the collaboration between RedLAC and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

During her presentation, Paulina shared GLF’s experience in meeting the environmental, social, financial, and governance standards established by the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to promote sound management practices, transparency, and accountability in the use of conservation funding. Meeting these requirements was a prerequisite for launching GLF’s First Call for Proposals.

Beyond fulfilling a requirement, this process helped GLF build a stronger institutional foundation, improve its management and transparency procedures, and strengthen the trust and credibility essential to managing conservation funds effectively.

Paulina also highlighted the Galápagos debt for nature swap, its connection to the Hermandad Marine Reserve, and GLF’s role as a sustainable financing mechanism supporting long-term marine conservation.