Investors interested in preserving South Africa’s endangered wildlife will soon be able to do so through two new wildlife bonds.
The five-year bonds, a joint venture between Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) and the Peace Parks Foundation, aims to raise a total of US$223 million to preserve the wild dog population in South Africa, and reintroduce lion into a Mozambique park, reports Bloomberg.
‘Wildlife Bonds to Help Lions and Wild Dogs in Africa’ https://t.co/6Kpb2vYmED
— Dr Will Fowlds (@DrWillFowlds) May 29, 2024
The EWT says the African wild dog is the most endangered carnivore in South Africa and second-most endangered on the continent. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, there are about 1 400 African wild dogs left in the wild in Africa.
It is planned that the first bond, to raise US33 million to protect the wild dogs in southern Africa, will be released in November.
In a separate bond, RMB plans to raise US200 million to reintroduce lions to Mozambique’s Limpopo National Park, which border South Africa’s Kruger National Park.
The bonds are modelled on the five-year US$150 million World Bank Rhino Bond released in 2022 to aid the conservation of black rhinos in South Africa’s Addo Elephant National Park and Great Fish River Nature Reserve.
Investors receive a success payment on maturity, measured according to the success of the bond’s conservation efforts.
“Kudos must go to the World Bank,” says Martin Potgieter, RMB’s director of natural capital. “Their mandate is to do interesting things in parts of the world and have the commercial banks copy them.”
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