Blue Halo S: New self-funded marine resource management framework

^{Delegates from the Indonesian government, Konservasi Indonesia and Conservation International at the launch of Blue Halo S at G20 Ocean 20 Summit. L to R: Dr. German Velasquez, Director of Division of Mitigation and Adaptation at Green Climate Fund, Ms. Meizani Irmadhiany, Senior Vice President & Executive Chair at Konservasi Indonesia, Mr. Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Coordinating Minister at Maritime and Investment Affairs, Mr. Sakti Wahyu Trenggono at Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Dr. M. Sanjayan, Chief Executive Officer at Conservation International. Image © Konservasi Indonesia}

At the Ocean 20 Summit in Bali in November, CI and our Indonesian implementing partner, Konservasi Indonesia, announced a new model for ocean conservation and fisheries management in Indonesia, together with the Indonesian government and the Green Climate Fund.

The framework, called Blue Halo S, is the first integrated marine protection and sustainable fishery management approach designed to fund itself over time.

Introduced at the Tri Hita Karana Forum, the pre-eminent sustainability G20 side event and the Ocean 20 conference, an ocean-focused meeting of the G20 Leaders’ Summit, Blue Halo S integrates two elements of marine management often seen as being at odds: environmental protection and economic production. Under the Blue Halo S initiative, the economic benefits of sustainable marine resources development are reinvested in environmental protection, which in turn bolsters the natural resources which support commercial production. This “protection-production” framework is the foundation for the Blue Halo S approach.

The framework will use a blended finance approach, mobilizing strategic public and philanthropic funding, to catalyze private investment in ocean conservation and sustainable development.

Blue Halo S is a vital and innovative concept which is scalable and replicable. CI’s ambition is to amplify this work within Indonesia and globally. To kickstart this, the Green Climate Fund approved a US$ 1.3 million Project Preparation Facility to facilitate the groundwork required to deliver Blue Halo S in Indonesia. The grant will be coordinated by CI, who will contribute ~US$ 350,000 in co-financing. In time, Blue Halo S aims to raise over US$ 300 million through a blended financing scheme.