12 December 2012: The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE), the executor of the Central American Markets for Biodiversity (CAMBio) project funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), recognized six Honduran financial institutions for providing credit to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMMEs) contributing to biodiversity conservation.

The recognition ceremony was held on 12 December 2012 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, with Yuri Zenteno Linares, CAMBio Regional Coordinator, presiding.

The CAMBio project, which is implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and executed by BCIE, provides capital to intermediary financial institutions supporting biodiversity and conservation oriented SMMEs in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Access to financing is conditional on a series of requirements relating to biodiversity protection and environmental sustainability. Incentives under the project for biodiversity-friendly goods and services include a Bio Award, which refunds 20% of the principal loan granted by an intermediary financial institution, with 70% of the refund given to the loan recipients and the remaining 30% given to the financial institution.

The six Honduran institutions honored included: Banco de Occidente S.A; Banco del País; Banco Lafise Honduras; Banco Hondureño del Café S.A; Cooperativa de Ahorro y Crédito Ceibeña Limitada; and la Cooperativa de Ahorro y Crédito Intibucana Limitada.

In Honduras, the CAMBio project has provided US$6.99 million in loans to 16 cooperative and individual recipients and US$230,775.85 in technical assistance, benefiting some 3,368 persons. A US$93,415.93 has been refunded to 1,809 Hondurans through the Bio Award program. In Honduras, CAMBio has mainly supported the coffee, cacao agro-forestry and sustainable tourism industries.

BCIE notes that, to date, across these five Latin American countries, the CAMBio project has worked with 24 intermediary financial institutions, providing some 8,084 credits totaling a US$40.74 million. BCIE has also given US$1.3 million in technical assistance, benefiting a total of 20,066 individuals, while the Bio Award program has reached 4,729 persons with US$912,224.84 in support. These funds have bolstered activities for soil conservation, forest management, waste recycling, compost generation and water preservation in the region. [BCIE Press Release (in Spanish)]