Former GEF CEO Carlos Manuel Rodríguez to Chair new forest finance facility launched by Everland

HALO Facility launched to address one of the most significant barriers facing community-led forest conservation projects: access to early-stage and continuity capital

NEW YORK, June 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- On World Environment Day, conservation organization Everland announced the launch of the HALO (Holistic Alignment for Lasting Outcomes) Facility: a new financing initiative designed to provide community-led forest conservation projects with the early-stage and continuity capital needed to establish strong foundations and advance toward investment readiness.

Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, former CEO and Chair of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and former Minister of Environment and Energy of Costa Rica, will serve as HALO's inaugural Chair. A recognized global authority on conservation finance, Rodríguez will oversee the Facility's fundraising, governance, and strategic development. 

HALO emerged from the Indigenous Amazon Outcome Bond initiative, which aims to mobilize institutional capital for community-led forest conservation projects under Equitable Earth: a next-generation carbon standard designed specifically to meet the priorities of Indigenous and traditional forest communities, and the integrity requirements of carbon credit buyers.

23 projects representing almost 90,000 community members across 17 million hectares of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia and Peru have stepped forward to participate. But many months of engagement with communities and investors revealed a consistent challenge: while institutional capital is increasingly interested in projects like these, many projects need money to complete fundamental development activities before they become ready for institutional investment.

HALO was created to address this gap.

As HALO raises capital, it will provide catalytic and bridge financing to high-potential projects, so they have the resources to establish the foundations upon which durable conservation depends. It is these foundations that mitigate risk and can unlock access to larger financing for projects and long-term revenue for communities.

"Durable conservation is most likely to be achieved when communities are at the center," said Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, "and REDD+ projects have proven to be one of the most effective ways to channel private finance to forest communities and biodiversity protection. Yet too often, promising projects fail because they lack access to the right capital at the right time. HALO was created to overcome this challenge, and I'm proud to serve as its Chair. Our aim is to help create the conditions for communities to build sovereign wealth while safeguarding millions of hectares of threatened rainforest."

HALO is currently seeking philanthropic, public-sector, and private-sector partners to support its initial capitalization and help bring high-potential Indigenous-and-traditional-community-led conservation projects to investment readiness.

Media contact: Will Richard, [email protected]
Full press release: everland.earth/carlos-manuel-rodriguez-to-chair-halo/
Learn more: everland.earth/halo

About HALO
HALO (Holistic Alignment for Lasting Outcomes) is a new financing facility, with an initial $50 million ambition. HALO is designed to provide catalytic and continuity capital to Indigenous and traditional communities' forest conservation projects. By supporting projects during critical stages of development, HALO helps projects establish the foundations necessary to access larger sources of institutional financing and generate long-term climate, biodiversity, and community impacts.