After 15 years of existence, the Global Conservation Standard is suspending its operation. As most project sponsorships had run out and no new projects kept coming in, the membership voted for closure. 

“We have certainly left a mark”, said Executive Chairman, Dr. Michael Dutschke, resuming the NGO’s activity. He stressed that the basic concept, namely that conservation can only be successful, as long land owners and surrounding land users benefit from it, is still holding true. The GCS embraced the so-called landscape approach long before it received broad acceptance in the international discourse. Payments for environmental services (PES) have to be an ongoing land rent, instead of a one-off payment, or else projects will eventually fail. 

The GCS, the Chairman resumed in his statement to the general assembly, was founded in 2011, in order to gain independence from its original sponsor, a UK-based plantation company that later turned out to be a scam. Since then, its concept found wide recognition among governments and project owners. Project concepts were submitted from Malaysia, Cambodia, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and Costa Rica, partly supported by political contacts and international organizations like FSC or IUCN. However, the implementation of actual projects succeeded in Costa Rica only, due to the country’s stability and the ongoing efforts of the Costa Rican subsidiary of the German technical cooperation GIZ. 

Part of the GCS’ certification system was the technical support to the projects by its validators, which helped improve the project design in terms of conservation management and socio-economic stakeholder inclusion. 

The GCS will remain a network of respected experts. The NGO thanks all partners for their year-long trustful cooperation.