ABOUT | PONT

In accordance with its mission and role, PONT seeks to:

• Invest and raise funds aiming to generate complementary funding and provide long-term financial support to conservation initiatives.
• Co-finance key conservation actions, as a solid partner providing funding continuity for its beneficiaries, thereby contributing to long-term conservation objectives.
• Incite regional stakeholders and environmental actors to improve the quality and efficiency of management and to use the provided co-funding to reach the optimal impact on biodiversity conservation. This increases also their chances of receiving funding in the future.
• Promote transboundary cooperation and a collective ecoregional approach.
• Raise public environmental awareness and community engagement.
• Engage with governments to leverage funding and political commitments towards conservation.

PONT is a transboundry conservation trust fund. As a trust fund, PONT’s approach to conservation differs from the standard “project based” or “short-term” solutions. PONT’s funding is long-term and designed to ensure the sustainable management of the Prespa Ohrid ecoregion. Our model emphasizes long-term commitment, transparency, accountability and collaboration.

PONT combines investment income from its endowment with other available capital and annual donations to generate grant-making resources for the protected areas and environmental actors, including civil society, municipalities and science/academic institutions addressing nature protection in the region.

PONT raises and manages funds for the allocation of conservation grants supported by a rigorous monitoring and evaluation program, as well as to leverage collaboration, political commitment and funding towards the achievement of its mission.

Over the last 20 years more than 50 conservation trust funds have been created around the globe, aiming to ameliorate environmental management  primarily on a national level. To date there are only 8 transboundary conservation trust funds including PONT. PONT is the first transboundary conservation trust fund in the Balkans.