Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 69

Conservation of Tropical Coral Reefs: A

Review of Financial and Strategic


Solutions Brian Joseph Mcfarland
Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://ebookmass.com/product/conservation-of-tropical-coral-reefs-a-review-of-financ
ial-and-strategic-solutions-brian-joseph-mcfarland/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...

Coral Reefs of Australia: Perspectives from Beyond the


Water's Edge Sarah M. Hamylton

https://ebookmass.com/product/coral-reefs-of-australia-
perspectives-from-beyond-the-waters-edge-sarah-m-hamylton/

Clinical Manual and Review of Transesophageal


Echocardiography 3rd Edition Joseph Mathew

https://ebookmass.com/product/clinical-manual-and-review-of-
transesophageal-echocardiography-3rd-edition-joseph-mathew/

Financial reporting, financial statement analysis, and


valuation: a strategic perspective 9E Edition Baginski

https://ebookmass.com/product/financial-reporting-financial-
statement-analysis-and-valuation-a-strategic-
perspective-9e-edition-baginski/

Coral Reef Rescue Coral Ripley

https://ebookmass.com/product/coral-reef-rescue-coral-ripley/
Strategic Compensation: A Human Resource Management
Approach, 9e 9th Edition Joseph J. Martocchio

https://ebookmass.com/product/strategic-compensation-a-human-
resource-management-approach-9e-9th-edition-joseph-j-martocchio/

Conservation of Marine Birds Lindsay Young

https://ebookmass.com/product/conservation-of-marine-birds-
lindsay-young/

The Red Vienna Sourcebook Rob Mcfarland

https://ebookmass.com/product/the-red-vienna-sourcebook-rob-
mcfarland/

Conservation of Books 1st Edition Abigail Bainbridge

https://ebookmass.com/product/conservation-of-books-1st-edition-
abigail-bainbridge/

Conservation Technology Serge A. Wich

https://ebookmass.com/product/conservation-technology-serge-a-
wich/
Conservation of
Tropical Coral Reefs
A Review of Financial and
Strategic Solutions
Brian Joseph McFarland
Conservation of Tropical Coral Reefs
Brian Joseph McFarland

Conservation
of Tropical Coral Reefs
A Review of Financial and Strategic
Solutions
Brian Joseph McFarland
Windham, NH, USA

ISBN 978-3-030-57011-8 ISBN 978-3-030-57012-5 (eBook)


https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57012-5

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2021


This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether
the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse
of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and
transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar
or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication
does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant
protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book
are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or
the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any
errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional
claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Cover illustration: Emma Holman/gettyimages

This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
I would like to dedicate this book to my family and friends – particularly my son
Attila, my wife and dive buddy Brigitta, my dad Joseph, my mom Tamara, my
brother Trevor, my brother-in-law Dani, my sister-in-law Amanda, and my
mother-in-law Eva - for all their love and support.
I would like to share a special dedication with my son Attila: when you are older,
I hope that we, as humanity, have come up with the solutions to save tropical
coral reefs and mitigate global climate change and so you can see, in person, all
the wonderful animals that I used to read to you about. Likewise Attila, I began
writing this book when you were three and just learning how to swim in our
pool; jumping off the diving board and getting comfortable with swimming
underwater with your eyes open and getting used to putting on a mask and
snorkel; and how can we forget you “SCUBA diving” into pillow piles. I wish
the same for my niece Adrian, my nephew Paul, and my goddaughter Olivia.
I would also like to thank my former teachers Dan Bisaccio, Christopher Brooks,
and Joseph Domask and the School for Field Studies for teaching me about the
natural world, about how to be an analytical thinker, and opening up my mind
to a world of adventurous travels. A special thank you is reserved for Dan
Bisaccio who provided my first opportunity to snorkel over coral reefs, in Puerto
Morelos, Mexico, along with a special thank you to my dear friend Mike
Edmonds who helped turn me on to SCUBA diving.
I would like to thank my hardworking colleagues at Carbonfund.org,
particularly Jarett Emert, Linda Kelly, and Suzie Kaufman, and a particular
thank you to Carbonfund.org’s President and Founder Eric Carlson, along with
Carbonfund.org’s Chairman Paul Rowland, for all the opportunities that have
been provided to me over the last 13+ years at Carbonfund.org.
I would also like to say thank you to Gabriel Thoumi for all his hard work. I
truly appreciate the time and effort of María José González for writing the
foreword and of Peter Gash for writing the epilogue, along with the kind
endorsements by Jennie Gilbert, Eric Carlson, and Cary Krosinsky.
In addition, thank you to the entire team at Palgrave Macmillan for their
dedication and support.
Foreword

As the oceans go, so do we.


—David Doubilet

Coral reefs, especially those in the tropics, are possibly the world’s most
diverse ecosystems. Although they only cover about 284,000 km2 of the
world’s surface, equivalent to about 5% of the world’s rainforest cover, they
are home to between one million and three million species depending on
different projections.
Coral reefs provide many benefits to humans. Among others, they are a
critical natural infrastructure that protect coastal communities from storm
surges, beach erosion, and wave-induced damage. They reduce the threat to
lives and property posed by hurricanes, and they are an important source of
income, mainly through tourism and fisheries. For local communities, they
provide livelihoods and food security.
Sadly, they are also one of the most degraded ecosystems and much of the
information coming from scientists is telling us they have a bleak future. The
biggest threat is global climate change, which is causing increased frequency
and intensity of storms and hurricanes, as well as coral bleaching and seawater
acidification. The bleaching events of 2016 and 2017 alone caused the
mortality of half of the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, the largest reef on the
planet. Climate change exacerbates anthropogenic threats to corals, such as
overfishing, untreated sewage, solid waste and plastics, land use change and
sedimentation, and coastal development. Human-caused threats reduce the

vii
viii Foreword

resilience of coral reefs to climate change, making it more difficult for them
to recover from climate-related events.
Coral reefs were symbols of time and permanence. For centuries, they were
the barriers that protected/guarded tropical islands. They were the demise of
adventurers and explorers; the end and the beginning of Robinson Crusoe
and Lord Greystoke. It is an eerie sensation to realize this is changing dramat-
ically during our lifetimes. Thanks to documentary films, families that have
never seen the ocean now know of the wonders of coral reefs, but also that
they are threatened and dying. For many scientists and recreational divers, it
is happening before our eyes.

I can mention many moments that were unforgettable and revelatory. But
the most single revelatory three minutes was the first time I put on scuba gear
and dived into a coral reef. It’s just the unbelievable fact that you can move
in three dimensions.
-Sir David Attenborough

In results presented at a scientific meeting in early 2020, research indicates


that climate change will be the main cause of the loss of the world’s coral
reefs.1 By 2100, almost all of the coral habitats could be gone, and between
70–90% may disappear in the next 20 years. It seems to be a downward spiral
with no return.
Is there hope? I think there is. There are reasons for optimism. An excellent
program that operates in the Mesoamerican Reef (MAR) ecoregion, called
the Healthy Reefs for Healthy People Initiative (HRI), measures the health of
the MAR biennially and puts out a report card with a reef health index inte-
grated by the following four variables: live coral cover, fleshy macroalgae cover,
commercial fish biomass, and herbivorous fish biomass. In their recently
published 2020 Report Card,2 results indicate that over the whole MAR, live
coral cover increased. This is good, very good given recent trends.
However, for the first time since their first Report Card in 2008, the overall
reef health index dropped, mostly due to severe reductions in fish. This high-
lights another key aspect related to the health and potential permanence of
reefs: they are intimately intertwined with other marine, coastal, and terres-
trial ecosystems. So, a reduction in fish in the MAR may be a consequence
of overfishing, but may also be tied to a reduction in mangrove forests that
are critical nurseries for fish larvae, to lack of sewage treatment that pours
untreated waters into the reefs, and of land use change upstream that washes
Foreword ix

sediment into the sea. How other ecosystems are managed—or not—will
have an impact on coral reefs. It is important to protect and restore reefs, but
also seagrass beds and mangroves, and other ecosystems along the watersheds
that can ultimately affect reefs. To protect corals, we must have a ridge-to-reef
approach.
Understanding this alone does not guarantee success. Effective protec-
tion and restoration of ecosystems requires funding. Actually, large amounts
of funding. And obtaining continued, timely, and adequate funding is not
an easy task. To provide insight into the possibilities for coral conservation
finance, Brian McFarland skillfully provides an in-depth compilation on the
sources of funding and strategies available for coral conservation, manage-
ment and restoration today. This book begins with a careful account of coral
reef degradation, ecology, and conservation policy that provide perspective on
the conservation finance information provided.
The initial framework sets the stage for the array of thoroughly analyzed
funding options for coral reefs. They encompass from philanthropic sources
and government budgets, which are the more “traditional” sources—though
by no means less important—to debt swaps, impact investing, payment for
ecosystem services and innovative funding currently being piloted, such as
blue bonds and parametric insurance for reef restoration. Critical to under-
standing these different financial mechanisms are the detailed case studies.
They clearly explain how each mechanism or strategy has been established,
how it operates, what challenges it has met with and lessons learned, among
others. This is a very effective way for coral reef stewards to evaluate if a
given mechanism is viable given their own specific circumstances. Overall,
the author provides an extremely valuable toolbox for coral reef conservation
finance.
Certainly, financial resources themselves will not protect nor restore corals.
They are a means to an end. We need to work together, to share our experi-
ences, to experiment with diverse strategies and to communicate successes, as
much as failures, in order to move effective coral conservation and restora-
tion forward. And we need to get involved with, and liaise outside, the
strict coral conservation/restoration sphere, across professions and sectors, to
sewage treatment, controlled and sustainable coastal development, sustainable
fisheries, sustainable agriculture, sustainable tourism and, especially, to poli-
cies and actions that will contribute to the control of climate change if coral
reefs are to survive.
We all need coral reefs, regardless of where we live and what we do. We
cannot just stand by and continue to read the dismal news regarding the
world’s corals. We must take action from our neck of the woods, be it in
x Foreword

the water out planting coral fragments grown in a nursery, teaching about
recycling, supporting policies for conservation of resources and reduction of
greenhouse gases, or by contributing financially for any of the range of finan-
cial mechanisms and strategies detailed in this book. Humans are the main
cause of the current situation in which corals find themselves today, and yet
we are also the hope for coral reefs and we need to act now.

March 2020 María José Gonzalez


Executive Director, Mesoamerican Reef Fund
Guatemala City, Guatemala

Notes
1. Yeung, Jessie. “Climate Change Could Kill All of Earth’s Coral Reefs 102
by 2100, Scientists Warn.” CNN . February 20, 2020. Accessed March
11, 2020. https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/20/world/coral-reefs-2100-intl-
hnk-scli-scn/index.html.
2. Healthy Reefs for Healthy People. “Mesoamerican Reef Report Card 2020.”
Accessed March 11, 2020. https://www.healthyreefs.org/cms/wp-content/upl
oads/2020/02/SmithReefs_RC19_Pages_BIL_f_E_LO.pdf.
Preface

The inspiration for this book comes from a lifetime of observing firsthand
some of the world’s most spectacular landscapes and wildlife, and the hope
my son will be able to see the same seascapes, landscapes and wildlife when he
is older. There are few things in life that I appreciate more than seeing wildlife
in their natural landscapes. Over the years, I have snorkeled with whale sharks
(Rhincodon typus) the size of a school bus, swam near Amazon river dolphins
(Inia geoffrensis), come upon fresh jaguar (Panthera onca) tracks, watched
colorful scarlet macaws (Ara macao) fly overhead, and stood face-to-face with
a wild black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) (Fig. 1).
While growing up in the small town of Amherst, New Hampshire, my
life was complemented by a close family, wildlife, and a well-financed public
school system. I recall memories of my dad feeding hummingbirds out of his
hand, my mom tending our vegetable garden, watching a moose (Alces alces)
drink from the pond outside my bedroom, and fishing for largemouth bass
(Micropterus salmoides) with my brother. Growing up relatively close to the
ocean meant frequent trips to the seashore where I would spend time climbing
over rocks to catch crabs, starfish, and sea urchins—so much climbing, that I
often wound up with sprained ankles and crutches.
It was during the summer after my junior year at Souhegan High School
that I traveled to Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula with our teacher Dan Bisaccio,
the now-retired and former Director of Science Education at Brown Univer-
sity, for real-world fieldwork in conjunction with the Smithsonian Insti-
tution’s Monitoring & Assessment of Biodiversity Program.1 Although it

xi
xii Preface

Fig. 1 Brigitta and Brian Diving the Great Barrier Reef (Credit: Brigitta Jozan)

took years working in a restaurant to earn the money to fund the trip, I
became forever impassioned with conservation biology and our intercon-
nected globe. For the first time, I saw poverty, I walked in a tropical rain-
forest, I snorkeled over the Mesoamerican Reef, and I watched Yucatan spider
monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi yucatanensis) in the canopy. I started to understand
the connections between poverty, commercial development, slash-and-burn
agriculture, commercial agriculture—particularly the global cattle trade—and
tropical deforestation, tropical degradation, catastrophic climate change, and
its impact on coral reefs.
Since then, I traveled back to Mexico and shortly thereafter onto Costa
Rica, Tanzania, and Kenya. During these additional education programs, I
gained further insights into the interconnectivity between natural resource
management, ecotourism, and sustainable economic development. Next, I
chose to study under Joseph Domask at American University. During this
time, I interned at the US Environmental Protection Agency and spent a
month in Brazil studying tropical ecology and income inequality. I later
enrolled in a dual Master degrees program in Global Environmental Policy
and Business Administration at American University in Washington, DC.
Preface xiii

I started as an intern at Carbonfund.org Foundation when I began my


graduate studies and I still work today at Carbonfund.org and for its wholly-
owned subsidiary CarbonCo, LLC. These two organizations fund climate
change mitigation projects, along with the development and implementa-
tion of four, innovative forest conservation projects in the Brazilian Amazon.
While my expertise is more on the conservation of tropical rainforests, trop-
ical coral reefs are facing similar threats—particularly global climate change
and habitat loss—and it is important to understand that healthy forests and
responsible land use are related to healthy coastal areas, including tropical
coral reefs. Furthermore, in my free time, I have snorkeled and/or dove
throughout the Bahamas, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Mexico, and the Philip-
pines. For an applied research trip to help write this book, my wife Brigitta
and I also had the remarkable opportunity to dive the Great Barrier Reef from
September to October 2019. I also enjoy visiting aquariums, including ones
in Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, New Orleans, Monterey, and Seattle, along
with whale watching trips in California, Maine, and Washington State.
This book reflects my background. With travels to 30+ countries, 15+ years
of conservation finance experience, 70+ semi-structured, in-depth interviews,
and dozens of background readings, the book focuses on some of the finan-
cial instruments that can fund the conservation of the world’s last remaining
tropical coral reefs. The world’s tropical coral reefs, from the Mesoamer-
ican Reef to the Coral Triangle to the Great Barrier Reef, are under grave
threat. These threats include, but are not limited to: global climate change
and warming oceans; ocean acidification; plastics and other pollution such as
runoff from cities and farms; overfishing; the spread of invasive species and
disease; and the construction of megaprojects for infrastructure development
such as ports, shipping lanes, and hotels.
The degradation and loss of tropical coral reefs are serious global envi-
ronmental issues. For instance, conserving coastal ecosystems—including
mangroves, seagrasses, and salt marshes - help mitigate global climate change
by sequestering, at times, more carbon dioxide emissions per hectare than a
primary tropical rainforest. Furthermore, conservation of tropical coral reefs
can improve the livelihoods of local people who depend on reef fish for a
large source of their protein. Finally, conservation can provide refuge for the
world’s highest levels of marine biodiversity, with coral reefs often being refer-
enced as the “rainforests of the sea.” However, conserving these tropical coral
reefs is contingent upon raising both sufficient and long-term international
financing that is structured to support scalable, seascape-level initiatives.
xiv Preface

This book follows a chronological order. It briefly examines the histor-


ical development of conservation finance for tropical coral reefs. Conserva-
tion finance originally developed from governments in the form of domestic
budgeting from taxation for the creation and maintenance of protected
areas alongside philanthropy, followed by utilizing tax deductions created for
conservation easements, and then by international aid to assist foreign coun-
tries with their own protected areas. Conservation finance then evolved to
include impact investing, payments for ecosystem services, debt-for-nature
conversions, and ecotourism. Today, conservation finance includes these
approaches while also expanding into certified sustainable products and the
issuance of blue bonds.
The book, in order to help an interdisciplinary audience, will begin with
a context of tropical coral reef degradation and loss, followed by a review of
coral reef ecology, global environmental policy, and international finance.
Each chapter will then be dedicated to a unique conservation financing
instrument. Each of these chapters will follow a similar format, starting with
a brief historical overview of the instrument, followed by an explanation of
how the instrument works, then by providing background information on the
size of the instrument, and concluding with a presentation of case studies, a
financial analysis, a policy analysis, and a future outlook for the instrument.
All 30 case studies, which span 23 countries and 6 continents, are based
off the following format:

I. The Problem
i. Identify the Problem.
ii. Explain Why the Problem Is Important.
iii. How Was the Problem Identified?
iv. Was the Process for Identifying the Problem Effective?
II. Steps Taken to Address the Problem
III. Results
IV. Challenges and How They Were Met
V. Beyond Results
VI. Lessons Learned.2

The financial analysis will examine the return versus risks of the financial
instruments. The risk categories are:

• Business;
• Strategic;
Preface xv

• Reputation;
• Liquidity;
• Operational;
• Market;
• Legal and Regulatory; and
• Credit.

The policy analysis will utilize the following format:

I. Defining the Problem.


II. Establishing Goals.
III. Selecting a Policy.
IV. Implementing a Policy.
V. Evaluating the Policy.3

I would like to highlight, upfront, the following:

First, this book focuses on tropical coral reefs. While all biomes are impor-
tant—from tropical rainforests to the deep ocean, cold water reefs—trop-
ical coral reefs are the focus of this book given their unique issues.
Second, marine protected areas (MPAs) and conservation projects are often
financed via complex mechanisms such as a combination of trust fund
financing, domestic budgetary allocations, and revenue from ecotourism.
This said, if a case study is categorized under domestic budgetary allo-
cations, that is not to say that the MPA received exclusive financing
from domestic budgetary allocations. Rather, projects and programs should
seek diversified revenue models. For instance, ecotourism outfitters should
adopt blue procurement models and impact investors should leverage
matching funds from nonprofits and/or governments. Yet, a significant
funding gap continues to exist.
Third, U.S.-based and EU-based conservation is different than conserva-
tion throughout the tropics. For example, Indigenous Peoples and local
fishing communities are often living near tropical coral reefs and their
buffer zones. In addition, there tends to be greater income inequality and
less overall wealth in the host countries of tropical coral reefs. For example,
the GINI coefficient—which is a leading economic indicator of wealth
inequality among households—was 28.2 (in 2015) in the Netherlands,
32.7 (2015) for France, and 41.5 (2016) for the U.S., while the Philip-
pines was 44.4 (2015), Seychelles was 46.8 (2013), and Mexico was 48.3
(2016).4 Competing for government budgets are other pressing domestic
xvi Preface

issues such as poverty, energy access, education, and healthcare. Further-


more, corruption tends to be higher in such areas,5 and the ease of doing
business is often more difficult.6
Fourth, the requirements for effective tropical coral reef conservation
include the rule of law, transparency, social justice, and long-term financing
requirements. This said, the term “fisherfolk” will be used instead of
“fishermen” because many “fishermen” around the world are in fact women.
Fifth, there are sources of financing, there are conservation outcomes, and
there are financing instruments that bridge the gap between the sources
of financing and these conservation outcomes. These three groups can
often be confused. To clarify, sources of financing can come from individ-
uals, foundations (corporate and family), businesses (small and medium
enterprises and publicly traded corporations), and governments (domestic
spending and through bilateral or multilateral channels). Conservation
outcomes include: MPAs, international peace parks, conservation conces-
sions, and conservation easements. The financing instruments that bridge
the gap between the sources of financing and the conservation outcomes—
which will be the focus of this book—include: debt-for-nature conver-
sions, payments for ecosystem services, premiums for blue procurements,
taxation, and tax deductions.
Sixth, unfortunately, developing long-term financing to conserve tropical
coral reefs may not protect such reefs unless global climate change and
ocean acidification are also mitigated.
Seventh, for every investment in the conservation of tropical coral reefs,
there needs to be a root cause analysis to make sure funds are specifically
targeting the underlying drivers and agents of coral reef degradation and
loss.
Eighth, while tropical coral reefs are beautiful, they can be incredibly tough
environments to work and live in. From remote atolls to hot, humid
weather, work in the tropics—to say the least—is challenging and yet
rewarding and absolutely necessary because of the need to conserve the
world’s remaining tropical coral reefs, halt the catastrophic collapse of
biodiversity, and to improve the livelihoods of local communities.
Ninth, while I truly believe that tropical coral reefs have intrinsic value—
due to their tremendous biodiversity and the resources they provide for
local livelihoods—if there is no extrinsic value placed on these ecosystems,
then decision-makers, whether it be political or business, will be more apt
to undertake activities and policies that will lead to the conversion of these
ecosystems to other uses.
Preface xvii

Tenth, I tried to include as many case studies as possible, but some amazing
places—such as Fiji, the Maldives, New Caledonia, and Vanuatu—were
unfortunately excluded.

April 2020 Brian Joseph McFarland


Windham, NH, USA

Notes
1. UNESCO. “Man and the Biosphere Programme.” Accessed December
30, 2019. http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/environment/eco
logical-sciences/man-and-biosphere-programme/.
2. Pathfinder International. “Preparing a Case Study: A Guide for Designing and
Conducting a Case Study for Evaluation Input.” April 2006. Accessed August
1, 2019. http://www.pathfinder.org/publications-tools/pdfs/Preparing-a-Case-
Study-A-Guide-for-Designing-and-Conducting-a-Case-Study-for-Evaluation-
Input.pdf.
3. American University. “Tips for Writing a Policy Analysis.” Accessed August 1,
2016.
4. Index Mundi. “GINI Index (World Bank estimate)—Country Ranking.”
Accessed March 17, 2020. http://www.indexmundi.com/facts/indicators/SI.
POV.GINI/rankings.
5. Transparency International. “Corruption Perceptions Index 2019.” Accessed
March 17, 2020. https://www.transparency.org/cpi2019?/news/feature/cpi-
2019.
6. World Bank Group. “Doing Business: Economy Rankings.” Accessed March
17, 2020. http://www.doingbusiness.org/rankings.
Acknowledgments

The remarks that follow should not be attributed to any of the following
interviewees unless otherwise noted. Nevertheless, I am very grateful for their
comments, the thought-provoking conversations we had, and their dedication
to the field:

• Abolade (Bola) Majekobaje


• Agustin (Tin Tin) Llanasa
• Alice Grainger
• Amy Gash
• Anabelle Plantilla
• Barrington Lewis
• Ben Kneppers
• Bill Crew
• Bryce Risley
• Chad Wiggins
• Charles Sheppard
• Charley Waters
• David White
• Denise Garcia
• Doug Rader
• Erik von Uexkull
• Fernanda F. C. Marques
• Fernando Secaira

xix
xx Acknowledgments

• Gabriel Thoumi
• Gayatri Reksodihardjo-Lilley
• Gonzalo Merediz Alonso
• Guy Pinjuv
• Helen Pitman
• Helio Hara
• Helvig D. W. Cecilia-Thode
• Henk van de Velden
• James Bentley
• James Eaton
• James Schultz
• James Wright
• Jay Wink
• Jennie Gilbert
• John McManus
• Judith Denkinger
• Kelly Kryc
• Kenneth Johnson
• Kevin Kun He
• Leonard Sonnenschein
• Les Kaufman
• Marcel Bigue
• María Eugenia Arreola
• María José Gonzalez
• Melanie McField
• Michelle Portman
• Mike Berwick
• Nadia Bood
• Nick Zarlinga
• Nicola Bassett
• Nicolas Pascal
• Nigel Wenban-Smith
• Nilda S. Baling
• Nina Abalajon
• Paulina E. Martis-van Arneman
• Pervaze Sheikh
• Peter Gash
• Petra Lundgren
• Phil Townsing
• Rob Dunbar
Acknowledgments xxi

• Rob Weary
• Sam Teicher
• Scott Dowd
• Scott Settelmyer
• Scott Winters
• Shannon Switzer Swanson
• Simon de Lestang
• Steve Box
• Ted Cheeseman
• Tim Fitzgerald
• Tim Miller-Morgan
• Tom Moore
• Trevor Jones
• Vic Ferguson
• Yael Teff-Seker

I would also like to acknowledge the companies, civil servants, local commu-
nities, volunteers, and dedicated professionals working to address tropical
coral reef degradation and loss. Thank you for all that you do.
Timeline

This is a timeline outlining when conservation organizations and associations


were established. Not every organization is listed, as this is illustrative. More
detailed timelines are in each chapter.

Global Conservation Organizations

Nineteenth Century

• 1826: The Zoological Society of London (ZSL).1


• 1846: Smithsonian Institute.2
• 1865: Massachusetts State Fish & Wildlife Agency—the first agency in the
United States.3
• 1873: Massachusetts Fish & Game Association (MFGA).4
• 1888: The National Geographic Society.5
• 1889: Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).6
• 1891: The Trustees of Public Reservations, became Trustees of Reservations
(TTOR), the world’s first regional land trust.7
• 1892: The Sierra Club is founded by John Muir.8
• 1895: Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), originally the New York
Zoological Society.9

xxiii
xxiv Timeline

• 1896: Massachusetts Audubon Society, the world’s oldest existing Audubon


Society.10

Twentieth Century

• 1903: The Society for the Preservation of the Wild Fauna of the Empire,
became Fauna and Flora International (FFI).11
• 1919: National Parks Conservation Association.12
• 1922: The Australian Coral Reef Society (ACRS), the world’s oldest
organization concerned with the study and conservation of coral reefs.13
• 1922: The International Council for Bird Preservation (ICBP), became
BirdLife International in 1993.14
• 1926: Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.15
• 1930: The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).16
• 1936: Ford Foundation.17
• 1945: Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE).18
• 1946: Barro Colorado Island joined the Smithsonian Institution in 1946,
in 1966, became the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI).19
• 1946: The Ecologists Union, became The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in
1950.20
• 1947: Defenders of Wildlife, formerly Defenders of Fur Bearers.21
• 1948: International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).22
• 1948: The Pew Charitable Trusts.23
• 1951: The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is incorporated.24
• 1951: Richard and Rhoda Goldman Foundation.25
• 1952: Resources for the Future (RFF).26
• 1959: The Charles Darwin Foundation.27
• 1959: Sea Turtle Conservancy (STC), formerly the Caribbean Conserva-
tion Corporation.28
• 1961: World Wildlife Fund (WWF).29 WWF is known as World Wildlife
Fund in the U.S. and Canada and known elsewhere as the World Wide
Fund for Nature.
• 1963: Weeden Foundation.30
• 1964: David and Lucile Packard Foundation.31
• 1965: National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA).32
• 1967: Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).33
• 1967: American Cetacean Society.34
• 1969: The Oceanic Society.35
• 1970: Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).36
• 1970: MacArthur Foundation.37
Timeline xxv

• 1970: The Perry Institute for Marine Science (PIMS); in 1984, PIMS
created the Caribbean Marine Research Center.38
• 1971: Greenpeace.39
• 1971: Pact International.40
• 1971: Earthwatch, formerly the Educational Expeditions International.41
• 1971: The Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute (HBOI).42
• 1972: Trust for Public Land (TPL).43
• 1972: The Haribon Foundation.44
• 1972: The Delta Corporation, became the Ocean Conservancy.45
• 1973: The Cousteau Society is founded by Jacques-Yves Cousteau.46
• 1973: American Rivers.47
• 1973: The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT).48
• 1973: Rare.49
• 1974: The Worldwatch Institute.50
• 1975: Marine Mammal Center.51
• 1976: TRAFFIC.52
• 1977: Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research, Education and Conser-
vation (JGI) is founded by Jane Goodall and Princess Genevievedi San
Faustino.53
• 1977: Sea Shepherd.54
• 1979: The Seychelles Island Foundation.55
• 1980: The School for Field Studies (SFS).56
• 1980: Pacific Whale Foundation.57
• 1981: Pronatura.58
• 1982: World Resources Institute (WRI).59
• 1982: The Equipe Cousteau, a sister organization to the Cousteau Society,
was founded by Jacques-Yves Cousteau as Fondation Cousteau in 1982;
became Equipe Cousteau in 1992.60
• 1983: The Fundación Defensores de la Naturaleza (FDN; Nature
Defenders Foundation).61
• 1983: The Oak Foundation.62
• 1984: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.63
• 1984: Environmental Investigation Agency.64
• 1985: Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC).65
• 1985: Winrock International is founded by the Rockefeller Family merging
Winrock International Research and Training Center, the International
Agricultural Development Service, and the Agricultural Development
Council.66
• 1985: The Conservation Fund.67
• 1986: Amigos de Sian Ka’an (Friends of Sian Ka’an).68
xxvi Timeline

• 1987: Conservation International (CI).69


• 1987: Curtis and Edith Munson Foundation.70
• 1987: Reef Relief began.71
• 1988: Ecosystem Survival Plan; Co-founders then founded The Center for
Ecosystem Survival and SaveNature.org in 1993.72
• 1989: Stockholm Environmental Institute (SEI).73
• 1989: CERES (Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies).74
• 1989: Gapforce.75
• 1989: Frontier.76
• 1989: Sea Turtle Restoration Project, now the Sea Turtle Restoration
Network.77
• 1990: International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).78
• 1990: Global Coral Reef Alliance.79
• 1990: Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF).80
• 1990: Tusk.81
• 1990: The Turner Foundation.82
• 1991: The Shark Research Institute.83
• 1991: Project Piaba.84
• 1992: EcoLogic Development Fund.85
• 1992: Project AWARE.86
• 1992: Foundation for the Philippine Environment (FPE).87
• 1993: The Waitt Foundation.88
• 1994: Yayasan Keanekaragaman Hayati Indonesia (KEHATI; The Indone-
sian Biodiversity Foundation).89
• 1994: The Mexican Fund for the Conservation of Nature.90
• 1994: Palau Conservation Society (PCS).91
• 1994: MarineLife Alliance.92
• 1995: The World Industry Council for the Environment (WICE) and the
Business Council for Sustainable Development (BCSD) merge to form the
World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). In 1990,
Stephan Schmidheiny created the first Business Council for Sustainable
Development (BCSD).93
• 1995: Wildlife Alliance.94
• 1995: Operation Wallacea.95
• 1996: Nature and Culture International.96
• 1996: Fundo Brasileiro para a Biodiversidade (FUNBIO, The Brazilian
Biodiversity Fund).97
• 1996: Reef Check Foundation.98
• 1996: Woodcock Foundation.99
• 1996: Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.100
Timeline xxvii

• 1996: Marine Conservation Biology Institute; became the Marine Conser-


vation Institute in 2011.101
• 1997: The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environ-
ment.102
• 1998: Forest Trends.103
• 1998: Conservation Strategy Fund (CSF).104
• 1998: The United Nations Foundation.105
• 1998: Global Nature Fund.106
• 1998: The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation.107
• 1999: Root Capital.108
• 1999: The Great Barrier Reef Foundation.109
• 1999: Mongabay.110
• 1999: Ocean Futures Society.111
• 1999: Algalita Marine Research Foundation.112

Twenty-First Century

• 2000: National Marine Sanctuary Foundation.113


• 2000: The Lighthouse Foundation.114
• 2000: Carbosur.115
• 2000: Trucost.116
• 2000: Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.117
• 2000: Kemitraan Partnership.118
• 2000: Gili Eco Trust, or Yayasan Ekosistem Gili indah.119
• 2001: The Center for Global Development (CGD).120
• 2001: BlueOrchard.121
• 2001: Oceana.122
• 2002: SECORE (SExual COral REproduction) International, SECORE
International formed in the U.S. in 2004.123
• 2003: The Ocean Foundation.124
• 2003: Save Our Seas Foundation.125
• 2003: Carbonfund.org Foundation.
• 2003: Blue Ventures.126
• 2004: Climate Focus.127
• 2004: Conservation Capital.128
• 2004: Green Fins.129
• 2005: Paso Pacifico.130
• 2005: Madagascar Biodiversity Fund.131
• 2006: Consilium Capital Limited.132
xxviii Timeline

• 2007: EKO Asset Management Partners. EKO merged with Wolfensohn


Fund Management in 2014 to form Encourage Capital.133
• 2007: ClientEarth.134
• 2007: Coral Restoration Foundation™ (CRF™).135
• 2008: Climate Advisers.136
• 2008: The World Federation for Coral Reef Conservation (WFCRC).137
• 2008: Southern Environmental Association (SEA-Belize) is created with
the merger of Friends of Nature (FoN) and the Toledo Association for
Sustainable Tourism and Empowerment (TASTE).138
• 2008: ClimateWorks Foundation.139
• 2009: The Carbon War Room.140
• 2009: Climate Bonds Initiative.141
• 2009: Corals for Conservation.142
• 2009: BACoMaB Trust Fund, Fonds Fiduciaire du Banc d’Arguin et de
la Biodiversité Côtière et Marine (BACoMaB Trust Fund, Banc d’Arguin
Trust Fund and Coastal and Marine Biodiversity).143
• 2010: Clarmondial.144
• 2010: Blue Marine Foundation.145
• 2010: Coral Triangle Center.146
• 2011: Althelia Ecosphere.147
• 2011: Oceans 5.148
• 2013: Bye Bye Plastics Bags is started by Melati and Isabel Wijsen at the
ages of 10 and 12.149
• 2014: SeaLegacy.150
• 2016: Nature Trust Alliance.151 The Nature Trust Alliance manages the
Blue Action Fund.152
• 2017: Jr Ocean Guardians is formed by Shelby O’Neil for her 2017 Girl
Scout of America Gold Award Project.153
• 2017: Blue Finance.154
• 2017: 4ocean.155

Associations/Networks
• 1870: The American Fisheries Society is established—“the world’s oldest
and largest organization dedicated to strengthening the fisheries profession,
advancing fisheries science, and conserving fisheries resources.”156
• 1973: Wild Oceans, formerly the National Coalition for Marine Conser-
vation.157
• 1975: National Wildlife Refuge Association.158
Timeline xxix

• 1977: Coastal Conservation Association.159


• 1980: International Society for Reef Studies (ISRS).160
• 1985: Society for Conservation Biology (SCB).161
• 1993: The Marine Fish Conservation Network.162
• 1994: Coral Reef Alliance.163
• 1995: Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC).164
• 1995: The Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN) established
by the International Coral Reef Initiative.165
• 1996: Tebtebba (Indigenous Peoples’ International Centre for Policy
Research and Education).166
• 1996: The WWF and Unilever convened a press conference to publish
a Joint Statement of Intent, which would later result in the Marine
Stewardship Council (MSC).167
• 1997: Environmental Markets Association (EMA).168
• 1997: Reef Conservation UK.169
• 1998: National Mitigation Banking Association (NMBA).170
• 1999: The International Emissions Trading Association (IETA).171
• 1999: Latin American and Caribbean Network of Environmental Funds
(RedLAC).172
• 1999: The Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans
(PISCO).173
• 2000: Carbon Disclosure Project, now CDP.174
• 2000: The International Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN).175
• 2000: Locally-Managed Marine Area (LMMA) Network.176
• 2002: Conservation Finance Alliance.177
• 2002: Wildlife Conservation Network (WCN).178
• 2003: Global Footprint Network.179
• 2004: The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition.180
• 2004: The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) initiated the Aquaculture
Dialogues, a multi-stakeholder roundtable launched in 2004; later in 2010,
the Sustainable Trade Initiative IDH and WWF Netherlands created the
Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC).181
• 2005: TNC launches the Reef Resilience Program, now the Reef Resilience
Network.182
• 2006: Conservation Finance Network was “envisioned at Lincoln Insti-
tute of Land Policy in 2006 and held at Yale School of Forestry &
Environmental Studies in 2007.”183
• 2006: Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP).184
• 2007: The Consortium for the Conservation of Coastal and Marine
Ecosystems in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO-C).185
xxx Timeline

• 2008: The Alliance for Water Stewardship.186


• 2008: World Ocean Council (WOC).187
• 2008: International Carbon Reduction & Offset Alliance (ICROA).188
• 2008: The Carbon Markets and Investors Association (CMIA) is formed
when the Carbon Markets Association (CMA) and International Carbon
Investors and Services (INCIS) merge.189 Rebranded in 2011 as the
Climate Markets and Investment Association.190
• 2008: The World Federation for Coral Reef Conservation (WFCRC).191
• 2009: Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN).192
• 2009: Consumer Goods Forum.193
• 2010: The informal network Big Ocean.194
• 2015: The International Partnership for Blue Carbon launched by Australia
at UNFCCC COP21.195
• 2016: The Conservation Finance Practitioner Roundtable.196
• 2016: Coalition for Private Investment in Conservation (CPIC).197
• 2016: Coral Restoration Consortium.198

Notes
1. ZSL. “Remember Sir Stamford Raffles, founder and first President of
ZSL.” Last modified July 1, 2015. https://www.zsl.org/blogs/artefact-of-the-
month/remembering-sir-stamford-raffles-founder-and-first-president-of-zsl.
2. Smithsonian Libraries. “From Smithson to Smithsonian: The Birth of an
Institution.” Accessed November 23, 2016. http://www.sil.si.edu/Exhibi
tions/Smithson-to-Smithsonian/intro.html.
3. Foster, Dave. “Meeting the Conservation Challenge in New England.” In
Conservation Capital in the Americas, edited by James N. Levitt. 20–21.
4. Ibid.
5. National Geographic Society. “This Day in History: January 13,
1888: National Geographic Society Founded.” Accessed November 23,
2016. http://nationalgeographic.org/thisday/jan13/national-geographic-soc
iety-founded/.
6. Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. “History of the RSPB.” Accessed
November 23, 2016. https://www.rspb.org.uk/whatwedo/history/.
7. Foster, Dave. “Meeting the Conservation Challenge in New England.” In
Conservation Capital in the Americas, edited by James N. Levitt. 20–21.
8. Sierra Club. “History: Sierra Club Timeline.” Accessed November 23, 2016.
http://vault.sierraclub.org/history/timeline.aspx.
9. WCS. “Zoos & Aquarium.” Accessed November 23, 2016. https://www.
wcs.org/parks.
Timeline xxxi

10. National Audubon Society. “History of Audubon and Science-based Bird


Conservation.” Accessed November 23, 2016. http://www.audubon.org/con
tent/history-audubon-and-waterbird-conservation.
11. FFI. “110 Years of Fauna & Flora International.” Accessed November 23,
2016. http://www.fauna-flora.org/timeline/.
12. National Parks Conservation Association. “Our Story.” Accessed November
30, 2016. https://www.npca.org/about/our-story.
13. Australia Coral Reef Society. “About.” Accessed June 1, 2018. https://austra
liancoralreefsociety.org/about/.
14. BirdLife International. “Our History.” Accessed November 23, 2016. http://
www.birdlife.org/worldwide/partnership/our-history.
15. Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. “History and Founder.” Accessed
February 13, 2017. https://www.mott.org/about/history/.
16. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. “Home.” Accessed December 2,
2018. https://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=9305.
17. Ford Foundation. “Our origins.” Accessed February 13, 2017. https://www.
fordfoundation.org/about-us/our-origins/.
18. CARE. “CARE Package.” Accessed February 9, 2017. http://www.care.org/
care-package.
19. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. “History.” Accessed November 23,
2016. https://www.stri.si.edu/english/about_stri/history.php.
20. TNC. “Our History.” Accessed November 23, 2016. http://www.nature.
org/about-us/vision-mission/history/.
21. Defenders of Wildlife. “Frequently Asked Questions.” Accessed November
23, 2016. http://www.defenders.org/frequently-asked-questions.
22. IUCN. “About.” Accessed November 23, 2016. https://www.iucn.org/
about.
23. Pew Charitable Trusts. “About: History.” Accessed September 6, 2018.
https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/about.
24. TNC. “Our History.” Accessed November 23, 2016. http://www.nature.
org/about-us/vision-mission/history/.
25. The Goldman Environmental Prize. “Founders.” Accessed August 28, 2018.
https://www.goldmanprize.org/about-us/founders/.
26. Resources for the Future. “About.” Accessed April 5, 2017. http://www.rff.
org/about.
27. Charles Darwin Foundation. “About Us.” Accessed August 28, 2018.
https://www.darwinfoundation.org/en/about.
28. Sea Turtle Conservancy. “About STC.” Accessed September 6, 2018. https://
conserveturtles.org/about-stc-organizational-background/.
29. WWF. “WWF from 1961 to 2006.” Accessed November 23, 2016. http://
wwf.panda.org/who_we_are/history/wwf_conservation_1961_2006/.
30. Weeden Foundation. “Weeden Foundation Mission Statement.” Accessed
February 13, 2017. http://www.weedenfdn.org/Weeden-Foundation-Mis
sion-Statement.htm.
xxxii Timeline

31. David and Lucile Packard Foundation. “Our History.” Accessed February
13, 2017. https://www.packard.org/about-the-foundation/history/.
32. National Recreation and Park Association. “About NRPA.” Accessed
November 23, 2016. http://www.nrpa.org/About-National-Recreation-and-
Park-Association/.
33. EDF. “Our Story: How EDF Got Started.” Accessed November 23, 2016.
https://www.edf.org/about/our-history.
34. American Cetacean Society. “Home.” Accessed August 7, 2019. https://
www.acsonline.org/.
35. Oceanic Society. “About Us.” Accessed April 20, 2018. https://www.oceani
csociety.org/about.
36. Natural Resources Defense Council. “About Us.” Accessed November 23,
2016. https://www.nrdc.org/about.
37. MacArthur Foundation. “Our History.” Accessed February 13, 2017.
https://www.macfound.org/about/our-history/.
38. Perry Institute for Marine Science. “Our History.” Accessed December 2,
2018. http://www.perryinstitute.org/who-we-are/history-of-pims/.
39. Greenpeace. “About Us: History.” Accessed November 23, 2016. http://
www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/About-us/History/.
40. Pact International. “About Us.” Accessed November 23, 2016. http://www.
pactworld.org/our-promise.
41. Earthwatch. “History of Earthwatch.” Accessed August 7, 2019. https://ear
thwatch.org/About/History-of-Earthwatch.
42. Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute. “Who We Are.” Accessed
December 2, 2018. https://hboifoundation.org/who-we-are.
43. Trust for Public Land. “Our History.” Accessed November 23, 2016. https://
www.tpl.org/about/history.
44. Haribon Foundation. “About the Foundation.” Accessed August 21, 2018.
http://www.haribon.org.ph/index.php/haribon-foundation/about-haribon.
45. Ocean Conservancy. “About Us.” Accessed April 20, 2018. https://oceanc
onservancy.org/about/history/.
46. Cousteau Society. “Who We Are?” Accessed April 20, 2018. https://www.
cousteau.org/english/who.php.
47. American Rivers. “About American Rivers.” Accessed April 20, 2018.
https://www.americanrivers.org/about-us/who-we-are/.
48. Endangered Wildlife Trust. “Our Niche: History and Development.”
Accessed September 6, 2018. https://www.ewt.org.za/niche.html.
49. NGO Advisor. “Rare.” Accessed March 30, 2020. https://www.ngoadvisor.
net/ong/rare.
50. Worldwatch Institute. “History.” Accessed November 23, 2016. http://www.
worldwatch.org/mission.
51. Marine Mammal Center. “Fact Sheet.” Accessed August 7, 2019. http://
www.marinemammalcenter.org/about-us/media-center/fact-sheet.html.
Timeline xxxiii

52. TRAFFIC. “What We Do.” Accessed September 19, 2019. http://www.tra


ffic.org/overview/.
53. Jane Goodall Institute. “History of the Jane Goodall Institute.” Accessed
November 23, 2016. http://janegoodallug.org/about-us/history/.
54. Sea Shepherd. “Home.” Accessed April 20, 2018. https://seashepherd.org/.
55. Seychelles Island Foundation. “About.” Accessed August 28, 2018. http://
www.sif.sc/about.
56. School for Field Studies. “Our History.” Accessed November 23, 2016.
http://www.fieldstudies.org/about/history.
57. Pacific Whale Foundation. “Mission & Vision.” Accessed August 7, 2019.
https://www.pacificwhale.org/about-us/mission-and-vision/.
58. San Diego Natural History Museum. “PRONATURA.” Accessed
September 19, 2019. http://sdnhm.org/oceanoasis/behindthescenes/pro
natura.html.
59. WRI. “The WRI Story: 30 Years of Big Ideas.” Accessed November 23,
2016. http://www.wri.org/wri-story-30-years-big-ideas.
60. Cousteau Foundation. “Who We Are?” Accessed April 20, 2018. https://
www.cousteau.org/english/who.php.
61. Nature Defenders Foundation. “About Us.” Accessed March 24, 2017.
https://defensores.org.gt/en#conocenos.
62. Oak Foundation. “About Oak.” Accessed September 6, 2018. http://www.
oakfnd.org/about-oak.html.
63. National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. “About National Fish and Wildlife
Foundation.” Accessed February 15, 2017. http://www.nfwf.org/whoweare/
Pages/home.aspx#.WKT9G39WfeQ.
64. Environmental Investigation Agency. “Our History.” Accessed August 7,
2019. https://eia-international.org/about-us/our-history/.
65. Woods Hole Research Center. “About Us.” Accessed November 23, 2016.
http://whrc.org/about-whrc/.
66. Winrock International. “Winrock History.” Accessed November 23, 2016.
http://www.winrock.org/winrock-history/.
67. Conservation Fund. “History.” Accessed September 19, 2019. http://www.
conservationfund.org/about-us/history.
68. Amigos de Sian Ka’an. “¿What We Do and How We Work?” Accessed
February 12, 2017. http://amigosdesiankaan.org/en/who-we-are/what-we-
do-and-how-we-work.
69. CI. “About Conservation International.” Accessed April 14, 2020. https://
www.conservation.org/about.
70. Curtis and Edith Munson Foundation. “About the Curtis & Edith Munson
Foundation.” Accessed August 28, 2018. http://www.munsonfdn.org/about.
html.
71. Reef Relief. “History.” Accessed April 20, 2018. https://www.reefrelief.org/
history/.
xxxiv Timeline

72. SaveNature.org. “History and Milestones.” Accessed September 19, 2019.


http://www.savenature.org/content/about/History.
73. Stockholm Environment Institute. “About SEI Asia.” Accessed November
23, 2016. https://www.sei-international.org/asia/about-sei-asia.
74. Ceres. “Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Still Leaves a Painful Legacy.” Last modi-
fied March 2014. http://www.ceres.org/about-us/our-history/exxon-valdez-
oil-spill-still-leaves-a-painful-legacy.
75. Gapforce. “Gap Year Marine Conservation Volunteer Courses.” Accessed
September 19, 2019. https://gapforce.org/gb/gap-year-programs/marine-
conservation.
76. Frontier. “About Frontier.” Accessed August 21, 2018. https://frontier.ac.uk/
AboutUs.aspx.
77. Sea Turtle Restoration Network. “Our History.” Accessed August 7, 2019.
https://seaturtles.org/about-us/history/.
78. International Institute for Sustainable Development. “Sustainable Develop-
ment Timeline - 2012 – IISD.” Accessed November 23, 2016. https://www.
iisd.org/pdf/2002/sd_timeline2002.pdf.
79. Global Coral Reef Alliance. “About GCRA.” Accessed August 21, 2018.
http://www.globalcoral.org/about-gcra/.
80. REEF. “About REEF.” Accessed May 6, 2018. http://www.reef.org/about.
81. Tusk. “Who We Are.” Accessed September 6, 2018. https://www.tusk.org/
about-us/who-we-are/.
82. Turner Foundation. “Our Story.” Accessed February 13, 2017. http://www.
turnerfoundation.org/our-story/.
83. Shark Research Institute. “Mission: Work.” Accessed August 7, 2019.
https://www.sharks.org/mission-work.
84. Project Piaba. “Background About the Fishery and History.” Accessed April
10, 2017. http://projectpiaba.org/who-we-are/history/.
85. EcoLogic Development Fund. “History of EcoLogic.” Accessed September
19, 2019. http://www.ecologic.org/about-us/history-of-ecologic/.
86. Project AWARE. “About Us.” Accessed April 20, 2018. https://www.projec
taware.org/aboutus.
87. Foundation for the Philippine Environment. “Organization: Our Begin-
nings: Birth.” Accessed August 28, 2018. https://fpe.ph/about-fpe.html#
our-beginnings.
88. Waitt Foundation. “History & Community.” Accessed September 6, 2018.
http://waittfoundation.org/history-community/.
89. Yayasan Keanekaragaman Hayati Indonesia. “History of KEHATI Founda-
tion.” Accessed March 26, 2017. http://www.kehati.or.id/about-us-2/.
90. Mexican Fund for the Conservation of Nature. “History.” Accessed August
28, 2018. https://fmcn.org/history/?lang=en.
91. PCS. “History.” Accessed August 26, 2019. https://www.palauconservation.
org/about/history-and-mission/.
Timeline xxxv

92. MarineLife Alliance. “Historical Background.” Accessed March 12, 2020.


https://www.marinelifealliance.org/historical-background/.
93. WBCSD. “History.” Accessed November 23, 2016. http://www.wbcsd.org/
Overview/About-us.
94. Wildlife Alliance. “Who We Are: History.” Accessed September 19, 2019.
https://www.wildlifealliance.org/history/.
95. Operation Wallacea. “Dr Tim Coles OBE: Project Director and Founder of
Operation Wallacea.” Accessed August 21, 2018. https://www.opwall.com/
team/dr-tim-coles-obe/.
96. Nature and Culture International. “Celebrating 20 Years of conserva-
tion.” Accessed November 23, 2016. https://natureandculture.org/20th-ann
iversary/.
97. FUNBIO. “About Us.” Accessed November 28, 2016. http://www.funbio.
org.br/en/o-funbio/quem-somos/.
98. Reef Check Foundation. “Who We Are.” Accessed May 6, 2018. http://
www.reefcheck.org/#services.
99. Inside Philanthropy. “Global Development: Funders: Woodcock Founda-
tion.” Accessed September 17, 2018. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/
grants-for-global-development/woodcock-foundation-grants-for-global-dev
elopment.
100. Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. “Mission & History.” Accessed
February 13, 2017. http://www.ddcf.org/about-us/mission-and-history/.
101. Marine Conservation Institute. “Our History.” Accessed December 2, 2018.
https://marine-conservation.org/who-we-are/history/.
102. Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment. “About.”
Accessed September 17, 2018. http://www.granthamfoundation.org/about.
html.
103. Forest Trends. “Financial Information.” Accessed November 23, 2016.
http://www.forest-trends.org/page.php?id=189&name=Financial%20Info
rmation.
104. Conservation Strategy Fund. “About.” Accessed November 30, 2016. http://
conservation-strategy.org/en/page/about-conservation-strategy-fund.
105. UN Foundation. “Who We Are: Our Board: R. E. Turner (U.S.A.).”
Accessed August 28, 2018. http://www.unfoundation.org/who-we-are/
board/.
106. Global Nature Fund. “About Us.” Accessed August 24, 2017. http://www.
globalnature.org/34517/Home/About-us/resindex.aspx.
107. Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. “History.” Accessed September 6, 2018.
https://www.leonardodicaprio.org/about/.
108. Root Capital. “About Us.” Accessed November 23, 2016. https://www.roo
tcapital.org/about-us/our-team.
109. Great Barrier Reef Foundation “The Foundation.” Accessed August 7, 2019.
https://www.barrierreef.org/the-foundation.
xxxvi Timeline

110. Mongabay. “About Mongabay.” Accessed March 27, 2017. https://www.


mongabay.com/about/.
111. Ocean Futures Society. “Our Organization.” Accessed April 20, 2018.
http://www.oceanfutures.org/about.
112. Algalita Marine Research Foundation. “Home.” Accessed August 7, 2019.
https://algalita.org/.
113. National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. “About the Foundation.” Accessed
August 28, 2018. https://marinesanctuary.org/about-the-foundation/.
114. Lighthouse Foundation. “Our Organization.” Accessed November 6, 2019.
https://lighthouse-foundation.org/en/Lighthouse-Foundation-Foundation-
for-the-seas-and-oceans.html.
115. Carbosur. “La Empresa.” Accessed November 23, 2016. http://www.car
bosur.com.uy/about/.
116. Trucost. “Company History.” Accessed November 23, 2016. http://www.tru
cost.com/about-trucost/company-history/.
117. Foundation Directory Online. “Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.”
Accessed February 15, 2017. https://fconline.foundationcenter.org/grantm
aker-profile?key=MOOR151.
118. Kemitraan. “Our History.” Accessed April 10, 2017. http://www.kemitraan.
or.id/our-history.
119. Gili Eco Trust. “About: History.” Accessed May 8, 2018. http://giliecotrust.
com.cp-45.webhostbox.net/about/.
120. Center for Global Development. “About CGD.” Accessed November 23,
2016. http://www.cgdev.org/page/about-cgd.
121. BlueOrchard. “About Us.” Accessed November 30, 2016. http://www.blu
eorchard.com/about-us/blue-orchard/.
122. Oceana. “What We Do.” Accessed April 20, 2018. http://oceana.org/what-
we-do.
123. SECORE International. “About Us.” Accessed April 20, 2018. http://www.
secore.org/site/about-us.html.
124. Ocean Foundation. “History.” Accessed April 20, 2018. https://www.oce
anfdn.org/our-story/history.
125. Save Our Seas Foundation. “Founder: Abdulmohsen Abdulmalik Al-
Sheikh.” Accessed September 6, 2018. https://saveourseas.com/foundation/
founder/.
126. Blue Ventures. “Rebuilding Tropical Fisheries with Coastal Commu-
nities: Blue Ventures Today and Tomorrow.” Accessed September
6, 2018. https://bjyv3zhj902bwxa8106gk8x5-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-
content/uploads/2018/05/BV-Today-Tomorrow-2018-web.pdf. 4.
127. Climate Focus. “About Us.” Accessed November 23, 2016. http://www.cli
matefocus.com/about-us.
128. Conservation Capital. “Our Team: Giles Davies.” Accessed August 7, 2019.
https://www.conservation-capital.com/senior-team.
Timeline xxxvii

129. Green Fins. “History.” Accessed April 20, 2018. http://greenfins.net/en/his


tory.
130. Paso Pacifico. “Mission Statement.” Accessed November 23, 2016. http://
www.pasopacifico.org/our-mission.html.
131. Madagascar Biodiversity Fund. “About Us.” Accessed August 28, 2018.
http://www.fapbm.org/en.
132. Consilium Capital Limited. “Credentials.” Accessed August 7, 2019.
https://www.consiliumcapital.co.uk/credentials-2/.
133. Encourage Capital. “Our History.” Accessed January 17, 2017. http://enc
ouragecapital.com/our-firm/our-history/.
134. ClientEarth. “James Thornton.” Accessed May 6, 2018. https://www.client
earth.org/people/thornton-james/.
135. Coral Restoration Foundation™. “The Coral Restoration Foundation Is
Born…” Accessed April 20, 2018. https://coralrestoration.org/about/about/.
136. Thoumi, Gabriel. Interviewed by Brian McFarland. February 2017.
137. World Federation for Coral Reef Conservation. “About.” Accessed February
12, 2020. https://www.wfcrc.org/about.html.
138. Southern Environmental Association. “Welcome to S.E.A. Belize.” Accessed
August 27, 2019. http://www.seabelize.org/.
139. ClimateWorks Foundation. “History.” Accessed February 13, 2017. http://
www.climateworks.org/about-us/our-history/.
140. Carbon War Room. “Frequently Asked Questions: When Did the Carbon
War Room start?” Accessed February 13, 2017. http://carbonwarroom.com/
what-we-do/faq.
141. LinkedIn. “Climate Bonds Initiative: About Us.” Accessed April 11,
2017.https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/1032198/.
142. Facebook. “Corals for Conservation.” Accessed August 21, 2018. https://
www.facebook.com/pg/C4Conservation/about/.
143. BACoMaB Trust Fund. “BACOMAB.” Accessed May 8, 2018. http://bac
omab.org/395-2/.
144. Clarmondial. “About Us.” Accessed April 10, 2017. https://www.clarmo
ndial.com/about-us/.
145. Blue Marine Foundation. “History.” Accessed May 6, 2018. http://www.blu
emarinefoundation.com/about/history/.
146. Coral Triangle Center. “Our Story.” Accessed December 27, 2019. https://
www.coraltrianglecenter.org/our-story/.
147. Ecosystem Marketplace. “Althelia Raises $80 Million For REDD And
Ecosystem Services.” Accessed December 13, 2016. http://www.ecosystem
marketplace.com/articles/althelia-raises-80-million-for-br-redd-and-ecosys
tem-services/.
148. Oceans 5. “About Oceans 5.” Accessed August 7, 2019. http://oceans5.org/
results/introduction/.
149. Bye Bye Plastic Bags. “Our Team: Founders.” Accessed June 1, 2018. http://
www.byebyeplasticbags.org/team/.
xxxviii Timeline

150. SeaLegacy. “About Us: Founders.” Accessed August 23, 2018. https://www.
sealegacy.org/about-us.
151. Nature Trust Alliance. “Home.” Accessed December 2, 2018. https://www.
naturetrustalliance.org/.
152. Blue Action Fund. “About.” Accessed December 2, 2018. https://www.blu
eactionfund.org/about-2/.
153. Jr Ocean Guardians. “About Us.” Accessed June 1, 2018. https://www.jro
ceanguardians.org/about.
154. Pascal, Nicolas of Blue Finance. Email message to author. November 19,
2018.
155. PR Newswire. “4ocean Co-Founders Andrew Cooper and Alex Schulze
Named Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneurs.” November 14, 2018.
Accessed November 20, 2019. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/
4ocean-co-founders-andrew-cooper-and-alex-schulze-named-forbes-30-
under-30-social-entrepreneurs-300750165.html.
156. American Fisheries Society. “About.” Accessed April 20, 2018. https://fisher
ies.org/about/.
157. Wild Oceans. “Our Mission.” Accessed August 7, 2019. https://wildoceans.
org/about-us-2/our-mission/.
158. National Wildlife Refuge Association. “About the Refuge System and FWS.”
Accessed December 6, 2016. http://refugeassociation.org/about/about-the-
refuge-system/.
159. Coastal Conservation Association. “Our Vision: Our Story.” Accessed
August 7, 2019. https://www.joincca.org/our-story/.
160. International Society for Reef Studies. “Home.” Accessed April 20, 2018.
http://coralreefs.org/.
161. Society for Conservation Biology. “What Is SCB.” Accessed November 23,
2016. https://conbio.org/about-scb/who-we-are.
162. Marine Fish Conservation Network. “Our History.” Accessed August 7,
2019. https://conservefish.org/about-us/our-history/.
163. Coral Reef Alliance. “Our History.” Accessed April 20, 2018. https://coral.
org/our-history/.
164. Alliance of Religions and Conservation. “About ARC.” Accessed November
23, 2016. http://www.arcworld.org/about.asp?pageID=2.
165. Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network. “Background.” Accessed February
26, 2020. https://gcrmn.net/about-gcrmn/background/.
166. Tebtebba. “Who We Are.” Accessed November 23, 2016. http://tebtebba.
org/index.php/content/who-we-are.
167. MSC. “The MSC Is Born.” Accessed April 20, 2018. http://20-years.msc.
org/.
168. Environmental Markets Association. “About EMA.” Accessed November 23,
2016. http://www.emahq.org/about-us/about-ema.
Timeline xxxix

169. Reef Conservation UK. “European Coral Reef Symposium: ECRS 2017
Was Brought to You By.” Accessed June 1, 2018. https://www.reefconserva
tionuk.co.uk/ecrs-2017.html.
170. National Mitigation Banking Association. “About.” Accessed November 23,
2016. http://mitigationbanking.org/index.php/about/.
171. IETA. “Our History.” Accessed November 23, 2016. http://www.ieta.org/
Our-History.
172. Latin American and Caribbean Network of Environmental Funds. “Home.”
Accessed November 30, 2016. http://redlac.org/en/.
173. Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans. “About Us.”
Accessed April 20, 2018. http://www.piscoweb.org/about-us-0.
174. CDP. “Staff: Paul Dickinson.” Accessed November 23, 2016. https://www.
cdp.net/en/info/staff.
175. The International Coral Reef Action Network. “Home.” Accessed January
14, 2020. http://www.icran.org/icran.html.
176. Locally-Managed Marine Area Network. “About the LMMA: History of the
LMMA Network.” Accessed September 6, 2018. http://lmmanetwork.org/
who-we-are/vision/.
177. Conservation Finance Alliance. “About the CFA.” Accessed November 23,
2016. http://www.conservationfinance.org/history.php.
178. Wildlife Conservation Network. “About WCN.” Accessed September 6,
2018. https://wildnet.org/about/.
179. Global Footprint Network. “At a Glance.” Accessed November 23, 2016.
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/pt/index.php/GFN/page/at_a_glance/.
180. Deep Sea Conservation Coalition. “Overview.” Accessed September 6,
2018. http://www.savethehighseas.org/about-us/.
181. Aquaculture Stewardship Council. “Our History.” Accessed December 31,
2019. https://www.asc-aqua.org/about-us/history/.
182. Braverman. Coral Whisperer. 115.
183. Conservation Finance Network. “About Conservation Finance Network.”
Accessed March 12, 2020. http://www.conservationfinancenetwork.org/abo
ut-cfn.
184. Sustainable Fisheries Partnership. “About Us.” Accessed November 6, 2019.
https://www.sustainablefish.org/About-Us/About-Us.
185. Consortium for the Conservation of Coastal and Marine Ecosystems in the
Western Indian Ocean. “About Us.” Accessed August 7, 2019. https://wio-
c.org/about-us/.
186. Alliance for Water Stewardship. “History of The Alliance for Water Stew-
ardship.” Accessed June 27, 2018. http://a4ws.org/about/organisation/#his
tory.
187. World Ocean Council. “About Us: The Organization.” Accessed December
4, 2019. https://www.oceancouncil.org/about-us/.
188. ICROA. “About ICROA.” Accessed November 23, 2016. http://www.icroa.
wildapricot.org/About-ICROA.
xl Timeline

189. MarketsWiki. “Carbon Markets and Investors Association.” Accessed


November 23, 2016. http://www.marketswiki.com/wiki/Carbon_Mar
kets_and_Investors_Association.
190. MarketsWiki. “Climate Markets & Investment Association.” Accessed
November 23, 2016. http://www.marketswiki.com/wiki/Climate_Mark
ets_%26_Investment_Association.
191. World Federation for Coral Reef Conservation. “About WFCRC.” Accessed
April 20, 2018. http://www.wfcrc.org/about-us/.
192. Global Impact Investing Network. “The GIIN History.” Accessed
December 6, 2016. https://thegiin.org/giin/history.
193. Consumer Goods Forum. “Our History.” Accessed November 23, 2016.
http://www.theconsumergoodsforum.com/about-the-forum/our-history.
194. Big Ocean. “Home.” Accessed September 19, 2019. https://bigoceanmana
gers.org/.
195. Wallington, Lucy of International Partnership for Blue Carbon. Email
message to author. October 25, 2018.
196. USDA. “Conservation Finance Practitioner Roundtable.” Accessed
November 23, 2016. http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/
national/technical/emkts/?cid=nrcseprd660806.
197. IUCN. “New Coalition Launches to Scale Private Conservation Investment
at IUCN World Conservation Congress.” Accessed December 12, 2016.
https://www.iucn.org/newsa/new-coalition-launches-scale-private-conservat
ion-investment-iucn-world-conservation-congress.
198. Moore, Tom. Interviewed by Brian McFarland. December 2019.
Contents

1 Executive Summary 1

2 The Context of Coral Reef Degradation and Loss 5

3 Coral Reef Ecology 63

4 Global Environmental Policy 81

5 International Finance 107

6 The Origins and History of Coral Reef Conservation


Finance 123

7 Government Domestic Budgetary Expenditures 137

8 Conservation Easements 199

9 Government International Budgetary Allocations 265

10 Impact Investing 315

11 Payments for Ecosystem Services 371

xli
xlii Contents

12 Ecotourism 419

13 Debt Conversions 493

14 Blue Procurement Models 553

15 Blue Bonds and Seascape Bonds 621

16 Additional Solutions 649

17 The Future of Coral Reef Conservation Finance 687

18 Concluding Thoughts About Conservation Finance 707

Epilogue By Peter Gash 711

Bibliography 715

Index 725
About the Author

Brian Joseph McFarland is currently the Senior


Vice President of Carbonfund.org Foundation’s
Project Portfolio and the Senior Vice President
of Project Origination at CarbonCo, the wholly
owned subsidiary of Carbonfund.org.
At Carbonfund.org, he identifies climate change
mitigation projects in the energy efficiency, renew-
able energy, and forestry sectors, conducts due dili-
gence on such projects, and then structures the
financial support and manages the project portfolio.
This multimillion dollar project portfolio includes
215+ tree planting and carbon reduction projects
across 40+ US states and 25+ countries.
At CarbonCo, Brian designed, financed, and
now advises on the implementation of four
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and
Degradation (REDD+) projects conserving
~300,000 hectares of tropical rainforests, while
reducing 16 million tonnes of carbon dioxide
emissions and benefitting 2000+ local community
members. This includes spearheading the first-
ever, dual Verified Carbon Standard and Climate,
Community and Biodiversity Standards validated

xliii
xliv About the Author

and verified REDD+ project in the State of Acre,


Brazil.
Brian is a certified Project Management Profes-
sional (PMP) by the Project Management Insti-
tute (PMI), former certified Greenhouse Gas Inven-
tory Quantifier (GHG-IQ) from CSA Standards,
and a Certified Sustainability Professional from the
International Society of Sustainability Professionals
(ISSP).
Brian McFarland earned a dual graduate degree
in Business Administration and Global Environ-
mental Policy from American University. Brian’s
graduate thesis was entitled, Origins, Development
and Potential of the International REDD+ Market.
Brian has also published or co-published 20+ arti-
cles, along with a co-authored book chapter in
Sustainable Investing: Revolutions in Theory and
Practice. Brian authored two previous books enti-
tled, REDD+ and Business Sustainability: A Guide
to Reversing Deforestation for Forward Thinking
Companies and Conservation of Tropical Rainforests:
A Review of Financial and Strategic Solutions.
While finishing his Psychology and Interna-
tional Development undergraduate degree from
Clark University, Brian conducted authentic envi-
ronmental fieldwork in Mexico, Costa Rica, Kenya,
and Brazil. Such fieldwork included addressing
human-wildlife conflicts, working on sustainable
community development projects and biodiversity
monitoring. During graduate school, Brian also
volunteered for projects with the Smithsonian Insti-
tution, the United Nations Global Compact, and
the US Department of State. Today, Brian volun-
teers for a range of organizations including Code
REDD, along with on his town’s conservation
commission and forestry committee.
The opinions expressed in this book are those
of the author and do not necessarily represent the
views of Carbonfund.org or CarbonCo.
Acronyms

ABNJ Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction


ACES A Community of Ecosystem Services
ACRS Australia Coral Reef Society
ADB Asian Development Bank
AfDB African Development Bank
AIMS Australia Institute of Marine Science
AOSIS Alliance of Small Island States
APEC Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
ARC Alliance of Religions and Conservation
ASC Aquaculture Stewardship Council
AUM Assets Under Management
AUV Autonomous Underwater Vehicle
BBOP Business and Biodiversity Offsets Program
BCN Biodiversity Conservation Network (USAID)
BCSD Business Council for Sustainable Development
BIOFIN Biodiversity Finance Initiative (UNDP)
BNMP Bonaire National Marine Park
CBD Convention on Biological Diversity (UN)
CCAD Comisión Centroamericana de Ambiente y Desarrollo (Central
American Commission for Environment and Development)
CCOM/JHC Center for Coastal & Ocean Mapping/Joint Hydrographic Center
CDP Carbon Disclosure Project (now known as CDP)
CEF Closed-End Fund or Closed-Ended Fund
CFA Conservation Finance Alliance
CGD Center for Global Development

xlv
xlvi Acronyms

CHICOP Chumbe Island Coral Park Ltd


CI Conservation International
CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild
Fauna and Flora
CLDP Conservation and Limited Development Project
CMIA Climate Markets and Investment Association
CO2 e Carbon Dioxide Equivalent Emissions
CONABIO Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad
(Biodiversity National Council of Mexico)
CONANP Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas (National
Commission of Protected Natural Areas)
CONAP Consejo Nacional de Areas Protegidas (Guatemala, National
Council for Protected Areas)
COP Conference of the Parties
CORSIA Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Avia-
tion
CPIC Coalition for Private Investment in Conservation
CPUE Catch per Unit Effort
CRF™ Coral Restoration Foundation™
CSD Commission on Sustainable Development (UN)
CSR Corporate Social Responsibility
CTF Conservation Trust Fund
DFI Development Finance Institution
DFNS Debt-for-Nature Swap
DIB Development Impact Bond
DOD Disbursed and Outstanding Debt
DOPA Digital Observatory for Protected Areas
DWFN Distant Water Fishing Nation
EAI Enterprise for the Americas Initiative
EBRD European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
EDF Environmental Defense Fund
EEZ Exclusive Economic Zone
EFJ Environmental Foundation of Jamaica
EIB Environmental Impact Bond
EIB European Investment Bank
ENSO El Niño-Southern Oscillation
EROS Earth Resources Observation and Science
ESG Environmental, Social and Governance
ETF Exchange Traded Fund
EU European Union
EU ETS European Union Emissions Trading System
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
FASB Financial Accounting Standards Board
FAST Finance Alliance for Sustainable Trade
Acronyms xlvii

FCG Fundación para la Conservación de los Recursos Naturales y de


Ambiente en Guatemala (Foundation for the Conservation of
Natural and Environmental Resources in Guatemala)
FFEM Fonds Français pour l’Environnement Mondial (The French Facility
for Global Environment)
FFI Fauna and Flora International
FMAP The Future of Marine Animals Populations Study
FMCN Fondo Mexicano para la Conservación de la Naturaleza (The
Mexican Fund for the Conservation of Nature)
FPE Foundation for the Philippine Environment
FPIC Free, Prior and Informed Consent
FRM Financial Risk Manager
FSC Forest Stewardship Council
FUNBIO Fundo Brasileiro para a Biodiversidade (The Brazilian Biodiversity
Fund)
GARP Global Association of Risk Professionals
GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
GBIF Global Biodiversity Information Facility
GBRC Great Barrier Reef Committee
GBRCA Great Barrier Reef Catchment Area
GBRMP Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
GBRWHA Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area
GCRA Global Coral Reef Alliance
GCRMN Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GEF Global Environment Facility
GGGI Global Ghost Gear Initiative
GHG Greenhouse Gas
GIIN Global Impact Investing Network
GMO Genetically Modified Organism
GRID Global Information Resource Database (UNEP)
GSTC Global Sustainable Tourism Council
Gt Gigaton
GtCO2 eq Gigaton of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent
HDI Human Development Index
HIPC Highly Indebted Poor Country
IADB Inter-American Development Bank
IBAT Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool
IBRD International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
ICAO International Civil Aviation Organization
ICRAN International Coral Reef Action Network
ICRI International Coral Reef Initiative
IETA International Emissions Trading Association
IFC International Finance Corporation
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
accusation by appeal to the emperor, after the example of the
blessed Paul the Apostle. But Paul, when accused by his own nation
before the princes of Judaea, but not as yet judged, appealed to
Caesar, and by the princes he was sent to Caesar to be judged. That
does not at all coincide with the present case. For this cleric of evil
repute was accused, and judged, and sent to prison, and thence
escaped, and contrary to law entered the basilica, which he ought
not to have entered till after he had done penance, and still—it is
said—ceases not to live perversely; this man you say has appealed
to Caesar in the same manner as Paul. But he certainly is not
coming to Caesar as Paul did.
“We have given orders to Bishop Theodulf, by whom he was
judged and sent to prison, and from whose custody he escaped, that
he be brought back; and the bishop must bring him to our audience,
whether he speaks truth or falsehood; for it consists not with our
dignity that for such a man as this there should be any change of our
original order.
“We greatly wonder that to you alone it should seem fit to go
against our authoritative sanction and decree, when it is quite clear,
both from ancient custom and from the constitution, that the decrees
of enactments ought to be unalterable, and that to no one is it
permitted to disregard their edicts and statutes. And herein we can
not sufficiently marvel that you have preferred to yield to the
entreaties of that wretch, rather than to our authoritative commands.
“Now you yourselves, who are called the congregation of this
monastery and the servants of God, yea the true God, know how
your life is now frequently evil spoken of by many, and not without
cause. You declare yourselves sometimes to be monks, sometimes
canons, sometimes neither. And we, acting for your good and to
remove your evil repute, looked out a suitable master and rector for
you and invited him to come from a distant province. He by his words
and admonitions, and—for that he is a religious man—by his
example of good conversation, could have amended the manner of
your life. But—ah, the grief of it—all has turned out the other way.
The devil has found you as his ministers for sowing discord exactly
in the wrong place, namely, between wise men and doctors of the
church. And those who ought to correct and chastise sinners you
drive into the sin of envy and wrath. But they, by God’s mercy, will
not lend an ear to your evil suggestions.
“And you, who stand out as contemners of our command, whether
you be called canons or monks,[218] know that at our pleasure, as
our present messenger will indicate to you, you must appear before
us; and although a letter sent to us here excuses you of actual
sedition, you must come and wipe out your unjust crime by condign
amends.”
Alcuin’s reply was more than twice as long.
“To the lord most excellent, and of all honour Ep. 184.
most worthy, Charles, king, emperor, and most
victorious most great most good and most serene Augustus, Albinus
his servitor wishes the welfare of present prosperity, and of future
beatitude, eternal in Christ the Lord God.
“On the first face of this letter I see that thanks from my whole
heart must be given by me to our Lord God for your safety and
welfare, not to me only but to all Christians most necessary. Next,
with prostrate body, contrite heart, tearful voice, mercy must be
begged of the piety of your goodness for the brethren of St. Martin,
to whose service your goodness delegated me however little worthy.
I call God as the witness of my conscience that never have I
understood the brethren to be such as I hear that they are called by
some who are more ready to accuse than to save. As far as can be
seen and known, they worthily perform the office in the churches of
Christ, and I most truly bear witness that never any where have I
seen other men celebrating more perfectly or more diligently, in daily
course interceding for your safety and the stability of the Christian
empire. Of their life and conversation you can learn from a perfect
man, an incorrupt judge, and a faithful messenger, Wido [Count of
the shore of Britany]. He has looked into all their affairs and knows
what they have done and how they have lived.
“I have not been slow to admonish them concerning the strictness
of the monastic life, as they themselves will testify, if any one will
accept their testimony. And I do not know what faults they have
committed against their accusers, that they should pursue them with
such hatred.
“It is a matter of wonder why they[219] wish to push themselves,
contrary to the edict of the law, into another’s harvest. The illustrious
doctor forbids this where he says[220] Who art thou that judgest
another man’s servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth.
Yea he shall stand, for God is able to make him stand. For the city of
Tours has a pastor [Joseph, the Archbishop], in his life elect, in
preaching devout, who knows how best to give to the family of Christ
their portion of meat. Let each shepherd watch over his own flock,
that no member of it lack the grace of God; that when the shepherd
of all shall come He may find them worthy of eternal reward.
“With regard to the concourse and tumult which arose in the
church of St. Martin, or without in the atrium, I testify in the sight of
Him that knows the heart of each that it took place without any
incitement or foreknowledge or even wish of mine. And I confess that
never was I in greater trouble for other men’s offences than then.
Nor, as far as I have been able to understand or to hear, was any
thing done by design of the brethren. I have not even been able to
learn that they wished it; and there can be no doubt that no one who
fears God and cares for his own salvation, should—I will not say do
such a thing but—even think of it.
“Did not the venerable man Teotbert, sent by your authority, spend
nineteen days among them for the purpose of this enquiry? Whom
he would, he flogged; whom he would, he put in chains; whom he
would, he put on oath; whom he pleased, he summoned to your
presence.
“In vain have I so long time served my Lord Jesus Christ if His
mercy and providence have so forsaken me that I should fall into this
impious wickedness in the days of my old age....
“The true cause of this tumult, as far as I have been able to
understand, I am not ashamed to lay before your excellency, sparing
no one, so that I may produce testimony to the truth.
“It appears to me that in the doing of this impious deed no one has
offended more gravely than the guard of this wretch, from whose
negligence so many evils came. If I may say so to those who hear
this letter read, I think it would be more just that he by whose
negligence the accused man escaped from his bonds should suffer
the same bonds, than that the fugitive to the protection of Christ our
God and of His saints, should be sent back from the church into the
same bonds. I will not put this on my own opinion, I am supported by
the word of God who bade[221] the prophet say to the king of Israel
who had let go out of his hand the king of Syria, Thus saith the Lord,
Because thou hast let go a man worthy of death, thy life shall be for
his life.
“In the second place, I take it that the men were the cause of the
tumult who came armed in larger number than was necessary from
Orleans to Tours; especially because the report ran through the
populace that they had come to carry off with violence a man who
had fled to the protection of the Church of Christ and St. Martin. For
all men everywhere take it ill that their holy ones are dishonoured.
Perhaps, too, the miserable man had called upon the rustics who
came to his dwelling in their cups to defend the church of St. Martin
and not allow him to be snatched from it.
“There was a third cause of the tumult. Our holy father and pontiff
[Archbishop Joseph] inopportunely, the people being present,
entered the church along with the men who were supposed to have
come to drag away the man. He may have done this in the simplicity
of his heart, not imagining that any harm could come.[222] When the
ignorant people, always doing thoughtlessly inconvenient things, saw
this, they cried out, they took to their clubs; some energetic men ran
out when they heard the bells sound. They were rung by unskilled
hands; your own judges ascertained that, and our accusers
themselves allowed that it was so, for in their presence the holy
Gospel was brought; there was laid upon it the wood of the holy
Cross; they made such of the brethren as they chose, swear by that.
When the brethren heard the bells, they rushed out of the refectory
to learn why they were being rung. As I am informed, they did what
they could to allay the tumult; only some youths, who were found
and sent to your presence, were the offenders in the concourse.
From them it can be learned what they did; they have sworn that
they acted on the prompting of no man, only on the impulse of their
own folly. Not one of the servants of St. Martin was there, except a
man called Amalgarius, who was with me at the moment. Him I sent
at once with the other brethren to appease the tumult, and to
extricate the men of the venerable bishop from the hands of the
people, so that no harm should be done them. As soon as the tumult
was appeased, they were brought into the monastery, where they
were safe. These men were so burning with wrath against me that
they turned a kindness I had ordered to be done to them into evil,
saying that it was in insult that I had sent them some food.[223] This
was absolutely false. They did not know that I was imbued with the
Lord’s command, Do good unto them that hate you.
“Let your holy piety, most pious lord, consider these facts and
recognize the truth. Be favourable to thy servants in the love of God
omnipotent and in the honour of the holy Martin your intercessor,
who always has been honoured in the kingdom and by the kings of
the Franks.
“We are wont to say in confessing our sins, If thou, Lord, wilt be
extreme to mark what is done amiss, O Lord, who may abide it? And
to thee we may say, forasmuch as we know thee to be a member of
that same Head, if thou wilt be extreme to mark what is done amiss,
who, lord, may abide it? Above all, because the special virtue,
goodness, and praise of emperors has always been their clemency
towards their subjects; in so much that the most noble emperor Titus
said that no one should leave the presence of the emperor sad.
Rejoice the minds of thy servants by the highest gift of thy mercy; let
mercy rejoice against judgement. Men who have been guilty of the
greatest crimes of perfidy against your authority you have been able
to pardon with laudable piety; overlook our infelicity, in accordance
with the most pious nobility of your most holy disposition, which I
have always known to abound in a marvellous degree in the mind of
your wisdom. We read how David, the ancestor of Christ, was
praised in the greatness of his mercy and the justness of his
judgements. In like manner we know that your blessedness is, by the
gift of Christ, always worthy of all laudation and praise for these two
great merits.
“May the omnipotent God the Father, by His only Son our Lord
Jesus Christ, illumine, fill, and rejoice the heart of your blessedness
with all blessing and wisdom in the Spirit the Comforter, and deign to
grant to your most noble offspring, for the welfare of a Christian
people, perpetual prosperity, most dearly loved lord, best and most
august father of the fatherland.”
We know no more than this. There appears to be no possibility of
carrying the investigation further. Reading between the lines we
seem to see signs of ecclesiastical tension between the archbishop,
seated at his cathedral church of St. Gatian, and Abbat Alcuin of St.
Martin’s. Until the time of Alcuin’s penultimate predecessor, the
abbat of St. Martin’s had been the archbishop of Tours, and, as we
have seen, there are curious references to a claim of St. Martin’s to
have bishops of its own. This may have caused tension, beyond that
which was not very improbable under the ordinary conditions.
Theodulf of Orleans was an old friend of Alcuin, and an admirer.
He gives to Alcuin a large place in his description of the court of
Charlemagne. Theodulf was a laudatory poet, and his poem was
very properly meant to please those whom he described. Of the king
himself he says—

O face, face more shining than gold thrice refined,


Happy he who always is with thee.
The head illustrious, the chin, the neck so beautiful,
The hands of gold, that banish poverty.
The breast, the legs, the feet, all laudable,[224]
All shining forth in beauty and in strength.

The latest wife of the king, Luitgard, has eight pretty lines devoted to
her, after an inauspicious opening address to “the fair virago,
Luitgard”. This dates the poem before 801, in which year Luitgard
died at Tours. The tower of St. Martin’s, now called the tower of
Charlemagne, was raised over her tomb.[225]
Alcuin was evidently a very prominent figure at court, keeping
things alive by his knowledge and wit and subtleties.

And Flaccus too is there, the glory of our poets,


Who pours forth many things in lyric foot.
An able sophist, a poet, too, melodious,
Able in mind and able in practice alike.
He brings forth pious lessons from Holy Writ,
And solves the puzzles of numbers with favouring jest.
He puts an easy question now, and then a hard;
Of this world now, then of the world above.
The king alone, of many that fain would,
Can solve the skilful puzzles Flaccus sets.

There was evidently no standing ill-feeling against the Abbat of St.


Martin’s on the part of the Bishop of Orleans.
CHAPTER XV
Alcuin’s letters to Charlemagne’s sons.—Recension of the Bible.—The “Alcuin
Bible” at the British Museum.—Other supposed “Alcuin Bibles”.—Anglo-Saxon
Forms of Coronation used at the coronations of French kings.

There is in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris a letter headed “In


nomine Dei summi incipit scriptum Albini magistri ad Karolum
imperatorem”. It is, however, held to be uncertain whether the letter
is addressed to the emperor or to his son Charles, who died some
three years before his father. The internal evidence appears to be
decidedly against its having been addressed to the emperor. Alcuin
could not have denied himself the pleasure of referring to the
emperor when he mentions king David as the authority for his
advice, and we have no letter of Alcuin to the emperor so completely
free from honorific titles and phrases, with nothing but the simple vos
throughout. It is to be said on the other hand that the author of the
Life of the blessed Alchuin the Abbat, with which we dealt fully in
Chapters I and II, refers[226] to a libellus which Alcuin wrote for
Charlemagne, setting forth the psalms which he was to use
according as penitence, tribulation, or joy, was his theme.
The interest of the letter in question fortunately lies in its advice,
not in the person to whom the advice is given. This is the letter, with
its ordinary heading:—
“Alcuin dedicates to Charles the Emperor a Ep. 244.
breviary[227] of prayer to God.
“The blessed David, the great king and servant of God most high,
gave us the rule of singing, how man should pour forth prayers to
God at certain stated hours. ‘Seven times a day,’ he says, ‘do I
praise Thee,’—that is, at the first hour of the day, the second, third,
sixth, ninth, the evening hour, and the twelfth. David the king, then,
gave praise to God at these seven hours. The holy Daniel, the
prophet, at the third, sixth, and ninth hour of the day, went into his
chamber to pray to the Lord, and with hands stretched upward to
Heaven entreated God for himself and for the people of Israel. The
same David said[228] further, ‘I will make mention of Thy
righteousness only.’ And again, ‘At midnight I will rise to give thanks
unto thee,’ that is, at the hour of night. And again he says, ‘I have
thought upon Thy name in the night season,’ that is, at cock-crow.
And, ‘Have I not remembered Thee in my bed, and thought upon
Thee when I was waking?’ Here are three courses of the office
during the night, and seven by day, making the ten courses which we
sing, following the number of the ten laws of Moses. But you have
asked me to write to you in a net form the order in which a layman in
active life should pray to God at the stated hours. You live after a
Christian fashion, and you desire to do Christian deeds; you are not
ignorant how prayer should be made to the Lord; but at your request
I will briefly state my opinion. When you have risen from your bed,
say first ‘O Lord Jesu Christ, son of the living God, in Thy name will I
lift up my hands, make haste to deliver me.’ Say this thrice, with the
psalm ‘Ponder my words, O Lord, consider my meditation. O
hearken thou unto the voice of my calling, my king and my God, for
unto Thee will I make my prayer. My voice shalt thou hear betimes,
O Lord, early in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee.’ Then,
‘Our Father,’ and the prayers, ‘Vouchsafe O Lord to keep us this
day,’ ‘Perfect my steps,’ ‘Praised be the Lord daily,’ ‘Direct and
sanctify,’ ‘O Lord let Thy mercy lighten upon us.’ Then, rising, begin
the verse ‘Thou shalt open my lips, O Lord’. When that is ended, with
the Gloria, begin the psalm ‘Lord how are they increased’. Then
follows ‘God be merciful unto me’. Then ‘O come, let us sing unto the
Lord’. Then psalms, as many as you will.”
We have two letters of Alcuin which were certainly written to
Charles the king, the eldest son of Charlemagne. The first was
written in 801 to congratulate Charles on his anointment as king by
Leo III on the same day (Christmas Day, 800) that saw his father
crowned as emperor.
“I have heard from the lord apostolic [Leo III] that Ep. 162.
with the consent of the most excellent Lord David
[Charlemagne] the title of king and the crown of kingly dignity have
been conferred upon you. I greatly rejoice in the honour both of the
title and of the power. I pray that your dignity and nobleness may be
for the safety of many peoples, nations, and churches of Christ; may
be glorious in the world and terrible to the adversaries of the
Christian religion; may be vigorous and strong through a long season
of prosperity; and with the blessing of God may always follow after
better things, ascend to higher, and grow even unto the perfect day
of eternal blessedness.
“Do justice, my best-loved son, and mercy, among Christian
people, for it is these, as Solomon testifies, that exalt the throne of a
kingdom and render the kingly power laudable and pleasing to God.
Have as counsellors men good, pious, prudent, and god-fearing;
men in whom truth reigns, not covetousness, for the gift blindeth the
wise and perverteth the words of the righteous.[229] Never allow the
dishonesty of others to sully the name of your dignity, nor permit
others to do with wicked mind in covetousness that which you would
not yourself do; the fault of the subject is often imputed to the ruler.
Let not the impious will of some, under the name of thy beatitude, fill
their money-bags with the mammon of unrighteousness.
“Good examples are not far to seek. In the home in which you
were brought up you have the best examples of all goodness. You
may have perfect confidence that you will by the gift of God attain to
the blessing of that most excellent and in all honour most noble
father of thine, ruler and emperor of a Christian people, if you strive
to imitate the manner of his nobility and piety and complete
discretion; and will most fully obtain the mercy of God, which is
better than all the glory of the world.
“Wheresoever your way may lead, may the footsteps of piety ever
follow thee, that you may have praise of men and eternal reward with
God.”
Alcuin must needs end a congratulatory letter to a royalty with
hexameter and pentameter:—

Prosperous even for ever be thou great hope of the nations.


Be to thee Christ as love, light, way, and safety, and life.

The next letter to King Charles was probably later. It seems to


indicate some anxiety on the part of Alcuin, and, indeed, Charles
was not as fine a character as his brother Louis, who is mentioned in
this letter. Alcuin would appear to have kept a copy of the former
letter, and to have made a good deal of it do service a second time.
“I rejoice, my dearest son, in the devotion of your Ep. 245.
good will which Osulf your attendant has narrated
to me, whether as regards the largeness of your alms-giving, or as
regards the gentleness of your rule. Know of a surety that all this is
greatly pleasing to God, and deserves at the hand of His mercy
perpetual blessing. Do thou, my son, my dearest son, always to the
utmost of your power work for the honour of God Almighty in all
goodness and piety; following the example of your most excellent
father in all honesty and sobriety, that the divine clemency of Christ
the God may grant to thee to possess his blessing by right of
inheritance.
“Be a pious hearer of the wretched, and judge their cause with the
utmost justness. Do not permit the judges who are under you to
judge for presents and gifts; for gifts, it is said in Holy Scripture, blind
the hearts of the wise, and subvert the words of the just. Hold in
honour the servants of Christ, those who are true servants of God,
for some come in sheeps’ clothing but inwardly are ravening wolves.
The Truth says, By their fruits ye shall know them. Have as
counsellors wise men, who fear God; not flatterers, for a flatterer, as
it is said, is a bland enemy and often seduces those who consent
unto him. Be prudent in thought and cautious in speech; always
setting your hope on God, for He never faileth them whose hope is
set on Him.
“Would that it were allowed me more frequently to address a letter
of advice to thy benignity, as the most noble youth Louis your brother
has asked me to do frequently for him. This I have done, and, if God
will, I shall continue to do; he reads my letters with great humility.
“My greatest joy is when I hear—as, indeed, it is right that I should
hear—of a good manner of life on your part. For this is the gift of
God, the prosperity of a kingdom, that the rulers of a Christian
people live most strict lives, and have their conversation among men
in a way pleasing to God. Thus a blessing from heaven is certain to
come on the nation and kingdom, which may God vouchsafe to grant
eternally to your nobility.
“May you flourish, grow, and be strong, advancing in all that is
good and prosperous, to the exaltation of His Holy Church, my
dearest son.”
We have only one of Alcuin’s letters to King Pepin, who died
young, leaving a son Bernard who became king on his father’s
death.
“To the most noble and beloved son Pippin Ep. 77.
Albinus sends greeting in the love of Christ.
“We give thanks to thy benevolence and to the piety of the lord
King who has piously consented to our petition concerning the
redemption of captives. I know that in such works of piety you earn
blessing and a long and prosperous reign.
“And do thou, most excellent youth, study to adorn nobility of birth
by nobility of conduct. Strive with all thy power to fulfil the will and the
honour of the omnipotent God, that His ineffable piety may exalt the
throne of thy kingdom and extend its bounds, and subject the nations
to thy power. Be liberal to the wretched, good to foreigners, devout in
the service of Christ, treating honourably His servants and His
churches that their sedulous prayer may aid thee. Be clean in
conversation, chaste in body. Rejoice with the wife of thy youth and
let not other women have any part in thee, that the blessing granted
unto thee may lead to a long posterity of descendants.
“Be strong against adversaries, faithful to friends, humble to
Christians, terrible to pagans, affable to the wretched, provident in
council. Use the advice of the old men, the service of the young. Let
equity be the judgement in thy kingdom. Let the praise of God
everywhere resound at the fitting hours, and especially in the
presence of thy piety. This kind of devotion to the offices of the
church will render thee loveable to God and honoured among men.
Let thoughts of sobriety be in your heart, words of truth in your
mouth, examples of honour in your conduct, that the divine clemency
may in all ways exalt and preserve thee.
“I pray you let this letter go with you as a testimony of my love.
Though it be not worthy to be hung at the girdle of thy veneration, yet
let its admonition be worthy to be stored in the mind of thy wisdom.”
We must now say something on the part which Alcuin played in
connexion with the revision of the manuscripts of the Bible.
Alcuin is credited with a revision of the whole of the Latin Bible,
both the Old Testament and the New. We have a letter of his in
which he states in precise terms that he had been commissioned by
Karl to correct the corrupted text. The letter is addressed to Gisla,
Abbess of Chelles, Karl’s sister, and Rotruda, Karl’s daughter, whom
he addresses as Columba, the Dove.
“I have sent for the solace of your sanctity a Ep. 136. a.d. 800.
small book, written in short sections, that you may
use it during these days[230] for your holy devotion. In such study
you best spend these most holy days, and especially in the Gospel
of the blessed John, wherein are the deeper mysteries of divinity,
and the most holy words of our Lord Jesus Christ which He spoke on
that night when He willed to be betrayed for the salvation of the
world.
“I might have sent you an exposition of the whole Gospel, if I had
not been occupied, by the command of the lord king, in the
emendation of the Old and the New Testament. But if life last and
God help, I will, when occasion serves, finish the task now begun,
and dedicate the completed work to your name.”
Gisla and Rotruda sent him a delightfully Ep. 137.
affectionate and bright letter in reply. They liken
Alcuin to Jerome sending the Scriptures from his cave in Bethlehem
to Rome; and in begging him to send the rest of the commentary on
St. John they remind him that the shallow Loire is crossed with less
danger than the Tuscan Sea, and that a messenger gets more easily
from Tours to Paris than from Bethlehem to Rome.
It is certain from the dedicatory verses of Alcuin’s which have been
preserved, that at least four complete copies of the whole Bible had
been corrected by him or under his direction, and sent to the
emperor. Of these, not one is known to be still in existence. Of one of
them Alcuin makes definite mention in the following letter:—
“To the most desired and entirely loveable David Ep. 205. a.d. 801-
the king Albinus wishes present prosperity and 3.
eternal beatitude in Christ.
“I have long deliberated upon the question what could the devotion
of my mind think of as worthy to be given towards the splendour of
your imperial power and the increase of your most rich treasury. I
feared lest the poor intelligence of my mind should remain torpid in
empty idleness, while others were offering various rich gifts, and the
messenger of my littleness should come before the presence of your
beatitude with empty hands. I have at length, by the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit, found something which it is fitting that I should send and
it may be agreeable to your prudence to receive.
“In the most sacred solicitude of your piety it is clear beyond doubt
what the Holy Spirit works through you for the safety of the whole
Church, and how earnestly all faithful people should pray that your
empire be extended to full glory, and be loved at home by all God’s
people, and terrible abroad to all the enemies of His Son. To my
questioning and desiring mind, nothing seemed more worthy of your
most peace-giving honour than a present of the divine books, which
by the dictation of the Holy Spirit and the ministration of Christ God
have been written by the pen of divine grace for the salvation of the
whole race of man. These, brought together into the sanctity of one
most clear body, and diligently emended, I have sent to your most
lofty authority by this dearest son of ours and faithful servant of
yours, that with full hands he may with most joyous service stand
before your dignity. He has been ill for a long time, but now that by
God’s mercy he has to some extent recovered, he has with the
greatest satisfaction hastened to approach your piety.
“The small gifts of my tears I send by faithful promise in prayer to
St. Martin for the ardently desired prosperity of your authority. Let my
messenger serve the most pious lord as is fitting; I will pray for the
most loved lord as the visitation of the Holy Spirit shall deign to
illumine my heart. If the devotion of my mind could have found
anything better, I would with ready will offer it towards the increase of
your honour.”
The messenger was Nathanael, that is, Fredegisus. We learn this
from Letter 206, which commences “Albinus greets Nathanael”, and
after addressing him as though he were the real Nathanael who was
seen under the fig-tree by Jesus, proceeds thus:—
“Salute Lucia my sister and Columba our Ep. 206.
daughter.[231] Pray them to be mindful of my old
age in sacred prayers and of their own salvation in good works. And
hide not from them the beauty of your wisdom, but irrigate the flower-
beds of good will in them. What is more beautiful than the flowers of
wisdom, which never fade? What is richer than the wealth of
knowledge, which is never exhausted? To this exhort them. Let them
live day and night in meditation on the law of God, that they may find
Him of whom Moses in the law wrote, and the prophets. Bid them
hold Him and not let Him go till they are led into the chambers of the
Kings glory to be supported by flowers of eternal blessedness, the
Bridegroom’s left hand of present prosperity under their head, and
the right hand of eternal bliss embracing them.[232]
“Convey the letter of my littleness, with the most holy gift of divine
Scripture and peaceful words of salutation, to my lord David. To him
we owe as many thanks and praises for all his goodness to me and
to my sons as this Book has syllables; to him may God give as many
blessings as in this Book there are letters.”
The natural supposition is that Alcuin brought—or had sent—from
York accurate copies of the Scriptures, from which he corrected the
faulty manuscripts of France and Germany, to use modern names.
Errors were due, probably, at least as much to mispronunciation on
the part of the person who dictated to the writers, or to mis-hearing
on their part, as to carelessness in transcribing. We have to
remember that the practice was for one monk to read out word by
word the sentence which the writers in the scriptorium were to take
down, so that in this way twenty or thirty—it is said as many as two
hundred—copies of a poem or a book could be written at the same
time. This practice gave many opportunities for error.
We have at the British Museum a magnificent Bible, one of the
largest manuscripts in existence, called Alcuin’s Bible. It contains
449 sheets of very fine parchment, 20 by 14½ inches. It was
purchased for the Museum in 1836 for £750, the price asked at first
being £12,000, reduced to £6,500 as “an immense sacrifice”. The
story of its acquisition, and the question of its date and its connexion
with Alcuin, were stated and discussed by Sir F. Madden in the
Gentleman’s Magazine for 1836, pages 358 to 363, 468 to 477, 580
to 587. That able archaeologist believed it to be of Alcuin’s own time,
and, indeed, to be the very copy which Alcuin presented to
Charlemagne in 801, on the completion of the recension which Karl
had entrusted to him. The evidence in favour of this view is found on
the last page of the MS., in some elegiac verses composed by
Alcuin. The verses begin with an appeal from the book itself to its
readers that it may be called a Pandect, and not a Bibliotheca,[233]
and after eight more verses, in which it is called a Codex, they end
as follows:—

Mercedes habeat, Christo donante, per aevum


Is Carolus qui iam scribere iussit eum.
Haec dator aeternus cunctorum, Christe, bonorum
Munera de donis accipe sancta tuis,
Quae Pater Albinus, devoto pectore supplex,
Nominis ad laudes obtulit ecce tui;
Quem tua perpetuis conservet dextra diebus,
Ut felix tecum vivat in arce poli.
Pro me quisque legas versus orare memento,
Alchuine dicor ego. Tu sine fine vale.

“May Charles, who bade this book be written, receive eternal


rewards. May the giver of all good accept this offering of His own
gifts, which Father Albinus has made, whom may Thy hand preserve
to live with Thee. Thou who readest these verses, remember to pray
for me; my name is Alchuine; mayest thou for ever fare well.”
That these verses were written in the great Pandect of Alcuin’s
recension, which Alcuin presented to Charlemagne, we may take to
be certain. But we may also take it as certain that they would be
written also in copies made from that special Pandect; and it has
been decided by the most competent modern critics that the Bible in
the Museum was not written till a generation had passed away after
Alcuin’s death.
That the verses were entered in other copies also is certain. The
Fathers of the Oratory della Vallicella at Rome had a copy of this
recension, which was believed to be written by Alcuin’s own hand
and presented to Charlemagne. In it there is a long copy of verses,
including those in the Museum Bible, but with curious alterations and
additions, which make it probable that the Vallicella Bible was written
for Charlemagne’s grandson, Charles le Chauve. Quae Pater
Albinus devoto pectore supplex is altered into Quae tibi devoto
Carolus rex pectore supplex, and verses are added, stating that the
Bible was written for a new church which Charles had just built. The
alteration cuts out the personal note of Alcuin, and the addition cuts
out Charlemagne and points to another Charles. This is far from
being the only case in which confusion is caused by the fact that
Charlemagne was himself for many years Charles the king; that his
oldest son was Charles the king; that his grandson was Charles the
king; as also two great grandsons, a great great grandson, and even
two generations further still.
Others besides Alcuin and the royal family were interested in the
various versions of Scripture. For example, his contemporary
Theodulf, the learned bishop of Orleans, sent to his own daughter
Gisla a psalter, radiant with silver and gold, with both the earlier and
the later versions of Jerome.
Our use of the word Graduale for the book containing the words
and the music sung by the choir at the service of the Mass is an
evidence of the large part played by the Gallican Church in the
arrangement and improvement of the early mediaeval service books.
Rome spoke of the Antiphonale Missarum and Antiphonale Horarum,
while Gaul spoke of the Graduale for Mass Music and Antiphonale
for the Music of the Hours. Under Alcuin’s guiding hand, the
influence of Charlemagne and his times upon the services was wide
and deep. In the document described as Ep. 31, a.d. 794, Karl has a
good deal to say about the success of his own efforts to put down
irregular methods of singing the services, and to bring all into
general accord with the Roman method.[234] Alcuin’s work re-acted
upon the Roman use itself, and is understood to have been the
operating cause of the mark left upon it.
Alcuin had strong opinions as to the best manner Ep. 72. a.d. 796.
of singing the services. In a letter to Eanbald II, he
writes thus, for the benefit of the Church of York:—“Let the clergy
chant with moderated voice, striving to please God rather than men.
An immoderate exaltation of voice is a sign of boastfulness. And let
them not be above learning the Roman Orders of Service, that they
may have eternal benediction from the blessed Peter, chief of the
Apostles, whom Our Lord Jesus Christ made the head of His elect
flock.”
Alcuin was versed in secular music also. We learn from Ep. 100
that Karl had asked him to write peaceful and soothing songs, both
words and music, for soldiers to sing when engaged in the horrors of
war, and that he complied with the request.
We have some very interesting evidences of the borrowing of
Anglo-Saxon manuscripts for use in France, and of the influence of
Anglo-Saxon forms on French services. There are two Anglo-Saxon
forms for the coronation of a king. One of these is found in the
Pontifical of Ecgbert, the Bishop and later the Archbishop of York, to
which a date of about 745 may be given. It is merely the supplement
to the Mass on the occasion of a coronation, and accordingly it does
not give the details of the ceremony. The other is a later form, and it
gives at length the details of the ceremony, one of the longest
prayers describing the king as raised to the royal throne of the
Angles and Saxons. But, curiously enough, we learn the most
interesting parts of the ceremony of crowning an Anglo-Saxon king,
not from this manuscript, but from three manuscripts of the form for
the coronation of a king of the French. The first of these to be
mentioned is a manuscript form of an Abbat of Corbie. In it we find
the prayer for “This thy servant whom with suppliant devotion we
elect equally to the kingdom of the whole of Albion, that is to say, of
the Franks ... That he may nourish and teach the Church of the
whole of Albion, with the peoples committed to his charge”. Here it
would appear that a marginal note had been added to the Anglo-
Saxon form at the first mention of “Albion”, “that is to say, of the
Franks,” and has afterwards been incorporated in one place and not
in the other. The “elect equally” indicates that the form was used for
an Anglo-Saxon king who claimed to be king of the whole land, while
yet the old division into three main nations was fresh in mind.[235] It
is a further evidence in favour of this being an Anglo-Saxon form,
that the only saint mentioned besides the Blessed Virgin and St.
Peter is “Holy Gregory, Apostolic of the Angles”. In the preparation of
the Sens Order, to be mentioned later, this flaw had been
discovered, and St. Denys and St. Remy put in the place of St.
Gregory.
In a manuscript in the National Library of Paris, we have a second
Order for the Coronation of a King of the Franks, which is indubitably
an Anglo-Saxon Order. The following phrases occur: “This thy
servant whom with suppliant devotion we elect equally ... That the
sceptre desert not the royal throne, that is to say, of the Saxons,
Mercians, and Northumbrians (Nordanchimbrorum) ... That
supported by the due subjection of both of these peoples...”
In a third Order for the Coronation of French Kings, from the
Pontifical of the illustrious Church of Sens, we find the prayer “that
the sceptre desert not the royal throne, that is to say, of the Saxons,
Mercians, and Northumbrians (Nordan Cymbrorum)”, and “that the
king, supported by the due subjection of both these peoples....”
It may be added that the French Benedictional of Archbishop
Robert, now at Rouen, has the form “Angles and Saxons”. So late as
1364 Charles V of France was crowned with a form which named the
throne as that of the Saxons, Mercians, and Northchimbrians; while
at the same time the peers of Guienne swore to protect him against
the king of England, his people, and allies.[236]

You might also like