Weekend of a Conservation Financista

Not much to report -- chugging away at the business plan for the trust fund in Cambodia and working with an engineer to build macros and functionality into the valuation model we prepared for the voluntary carbon project. Trying to add value wherever I can, learn new things, and make it through the week so I can go diving.

Before I launch into telling you about diving - I wanted to field one question from a reader (yes, there are actually people reading about conservation finance...) My mother asks, " One thing I wondered is, writing the plan, do you have any funding resources to start with, or does it all have to be generated within the plan? Or does the plan partly do this and works to entice others to invest/donate resources?"

Well, Mum, in a nutshell, there are a couple of organizations interested in funding conservation in the region through a sustainable financing mechanism. These organizations seek to leverage the money that they could set aside for conservation with commitments from other international organizations, and everyone wants a deeper commitment from the government of Cambodia on conserving the area.

So, part of the plan will look at the fundraising landscape -- mainly at international multilateral donors, large, private philanthropic foundations, and NGOs -- to identify their requirements for funding and gauge their interest.

On to diving!! The highlight of my dives can only be expressed with this photo of a Mola Mola (ocean sunfish). We spotted two of these prehistoric lopsided creatures on our dive on Saturday, which was 15 minutes off the coast of Padang Bai at a dive site called Mimpang.

The one pictured above had to be more than 2 meters in diameter. When I first saw it coming out of the deep blue down at ~25 meters below the surface, I thought it was a whale. After realizing it wasn't quite that big, I was still hesitant to approach it. Never having seen anything like it I wasn't sure what it would do. Luckily, it turns out that the Mola Mola, like most fish, is pretty mellow, and we swam in circles around him/her for a good 5-10 minutes.

Ceremonial Offerings Part of SG&A

CCIF has been around about three years. It has grown quite a bit in that time—set up an Indonesian affiliate, hired Indonesian and expat staff, moved offices, and started working on more than a handful of cool projects. This week I give you a virtual tour of the office I work in, but before I begin, let me tell you about the day I decided to take these photos.

Last Wednesday was a propitious day. I know because it was the day that was chosen for a special ceremony to anoint a small new wing of the office. It is also the day that Sarah, my office mate found out she had not only contracted typhoid fever, but amoebic dysentery. Don’t worry too much; she’s on a course of flagyl, a heavy-duty anti-biotic that should wipe both infections out, and I'm being very cautious about what I eat and drink, and washing my hands obsessively.

While Sarah was curled in a ball at home, at the office, we were giving offerings to the gods.

The ceremony began at the office park’s main temple (shown below). The official religion in Bali is Hinduism, but it is visibly different from Indian Hinduism. The Balinese fused Hinduism with the animistic traditions that they practiced before the religion got to the island. This is the largest of the three (or more) temples located at the office.

Saras who works for PhotoVoices (I’ll write more about them later) led the ceremony. She appeared to scoop water from a bowl with a flower and sprinkle it on the temple. Then, her lips moved in prayer as she moved her hand in a circular motion before the offering. Here's Saras in the new office extension lighting incense for the offerings, which also included fruit, flowers, various bread products, and arak, the local homebrew.

Daily offerings (pictured below) are less ornate, and usually include various flowers and a cracker.
The juxtaposition of ceremonial life and modern day Bali is sometimes surreal. I took this shot from right in front of our office. You can see offerings scattered on the ground to the right of the bikes.

Now for the rest of the tour. This is Building One, which is where I sit, and Building Two, which is where the principals sit removed from us plebs. We share the space with a non-profit called PhotoVoices, which gives people who aren’t usually able to participate in media, cameras and a voice. They are preparing (any day now) to launch their Indonesian site, and it promises to be really cool. Stay tuned for a link. For instant gratification, check out my friend Tommy’s website http://www.tommyschultz.com/– for great pics of SE Asia.

I’ve been crazy busy this week with financial analysis stuff and dealing with all the illness and internet problems, so didn’t have time to put more thought into the text of this week’s blog. Next week I’ll get back to conservation finance.