Daiwa Securities Co. Ltd. – part of Japan’s second-largest securities firm – is aiding CI’s work through its support of enterprise development.

Daiwa Securities Co Ltd is helping to fund CI’s Verde Ventures investment fund in its support of the World Heritage Local Ecological Entrepreneurship Program (WH-LEEP) along with the United Nations Foundation and the United Nations Development Program / Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (UNDP / GEF SGP).

The $1 million program will help to protect seven of the world’s most precious and endangered natural wonders by offering grants and affordable loans for local entrepreneurs around World Heritage sites in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The goal is to promote the development of companies run by community members, while at the same time reducing poverty and conserving the biological diversity.

For more information about Daiwa Securities, please visit: http://www.daiwa-grp.jp/ir/english/index.cfm