CSF has gathered a group of emerging conservation economists in the tropical Andes to help them design research that will contribute to sustaining ecosystems in the region. The program is part of the Initiative for Conservation in the Andean Amazon (ICAA) of the United States Agency for International Development.

Today in Coroico, Bolivia, the CSF technical team is evaluating 20 research proposals - finalists from 100 submissions - in order to select up to 10 awardees, who will receive research grants and a year of mentoring from CSF. Proposals cover a wide range of topics - indigenous hunting practices, the cost of creating a wildlife corridor, the value of water flowing from forest land, and the demand for better management of tourism in an Amazon park, to name a few.

The purpose of the fellowships is to deliver real-time, relevant information to conservation decision-makers and build the skills of aspiring economists in one of the world's more biologically diverse areas. The projects, spanning Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador y Colombia, will be conducted over the next year.

---------- ICAA is a regional program of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) that seeks to promote and strengthen conservation in the Andean Amazon, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. The ICAA Support Unit is led by International Resources Group (IRG) and formed by the Peruvian Society for Environmental Law (SPDA), ECOLEX, Patrimonio Natural (PN), Conservation Strategy Fund (CSF), Social Impact (SI), and World Wildlife Fund (WWF).