Managing national parks and reserves requires reliable information about needed investments in equipment, infrastructure and research. CSF recently revamped the model, called the Minimum Conservation Investment model (IMC), used by Brazilian public land managers to calculate these needs. The project was a partnership between CSF-Brasil, the Brazilian Ministry of Environment and the German overseas cooperation agency.

In this process, CSF adapted and integrated financial models we had previously developed for protected areas. We reviewed and corrected unit cost figures used by the IMC and built in the capacity to forecast investments over a ten year period. Finally, we added a feature to permit forecasting investment needed to create new protected areas.

These advances will enable accurate predictions of protected area investment needs and help decision-makers take a long-term view. The project is one more successful partnership between Conservation Strategy Fund and public agencies responsible for safeguarding ecosystems.