Conservation company Everland announced the launch of HALO (Holistic Alignment for Lasting Outcomes), a financing facility intended to provide early-stage and continuity funding for community-led forest conservation projects.
HALO has an initial funding ambition of $50 million. According to Everland, the facility is designed to support Indigenous and traditional community conservation projects during development stages before they can access institutional financing.
Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, former CEO and Chair of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and former Minister of Environment and Energy of Costa Rica, was appointed inaugural Chair of HALO. He will oversee fundraising, governance, and strategic development for the facility.
HALO was developed following work on the Indigenous Amazon Outcome Bond initiative, which focuses on mobilizing institutional capital for forest conservation projects under Equitable Earth, a carbon standard for Indigenous and traditional forest communities.
Everland said 23 projects across Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru have expressed interest in participating in the initiative. The projects represent nearly 90,000 community members and cover approximately 17 million hectares of Amazon rainforest.
According to Everland, discussions with communities and investors identified limited access to development-stage financing as a barrier for some projects seeking institutional investment. HALO was established to provide bridge and catalytic funding for activities related to project preparation and investment readiness.
“Durable conservation is most likely to be achieved when communities are at the center,” said Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, “and REDD+ projects have proven to be one of the most effective ways to channel private finance to forest communities and biodiversity protection. Yet too often, promising projects fail because they lack access to the right capital at the right time. HALO was created to overcome this challenge, and I’m proud to serve as its Chair. Our aim is to help create the conditions for communities to build sovereign wealth while safeguarding millions of hectares of threatened rainforest.”
HALO is currently seeking support from philanthropic organizations, public-sector institutions, and private-sector partners for its initial capitalization.
Puyr Tembé, a leader from the Tembé people and former Indigenous Secretary of the State of Pará, said: “Across the Amazon, Indigenous Peoples and traditional communities remain on the frontlines of forest protection, confronting daily invasions, deforestation, illegal mining, and other pressures that threaten our lives, our territories, and our ways of being. We are not merely witnesses to the climate crisis, we are part of the solutions the world is searching for. The challenge is not a lack of knowledge, wisdom, or capacity within our territories. The challenge is that those who profit from the destruction of the forest continue to have greater access to financial resources than those who dedicate their lives to protecting it. That is why we advocate for direct funding to Indigenous Peoples and traditional communities, without barriers that prevent resources from reaching those who are safeguarding the forest on the ground. When Indigenous territories are strengthened, the forest remains standing, biodiversity is protected, and climate stability benefits not only the Amazon, but all of humanity. Reforesting minds and investing in Indigenous Peoples means investing in real solutions for the future of our planet.”
Everland operates forest conservation projects focused on community-led models and voluntary carbon markets. The company states that revenue from carbon credit sales linked to its portfolio has supported the protection of almost 2.4 million hectares of forest and programs involving more than 276,000 local people. Everland has operations in Brazil, Colombia, Singapore, the UK, and the US.
Sustainable finance remains on the top of the global agenda, despite the ongoing geopolitical pressures. Last year, at the 30th United Nations Climate Conference (COP30) in Belém, Brazil, multilateral development banks (MDBs) reaffirmed their commitment to mobilising greater climate finance, pledging to expand innovative funding mechanisms to strengthen climate adaptation and resilience in developing nations.
