“The pay-for-success financial structure protects an endangered species and strengthens South Africa’s conservation efforts by leveraging the World Bank’s infrastructure and track record in capital markets. “The Rhino Bond is a groundbreaking approach to enabling private sector investment in global public goods - in this case biodiversity conservation, a key global development challenge,” said World Bank Group President David Malpass. Through the WCB, investors are supporting the financing of activities to protect and grow a critically endangered species with clear conservation targets, contributing directly to biodiversity, and bringing jobs to local communities through the creation of conservation-related employment in a rural and underserved region of South Africa. Rhinos are considered an umbrella species that play a crucial role in shaping entire ecosystems on which countless other species depend. The WCB is a first-of-its-kind, outcome-based, financial instrument that channels investments to achieve conservation outcomes – measured in this case by an increase in black rhino populations. Also known as the “Rhino Bond,” this five-year $150 million Sustainable Development Bond includes a potential performance payment from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), which will contribute to protecting and increasing black rhino populations in two protected areas in South Africa, the Addo Elephant National Park (AENP) and the Great Fish River Nature Reserve (GFRNR). AENP is managed by the South African National Parks (SANParks) and GFRNR is managed by Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency (ECPTA). PRETORIA, March 23, 2022- The World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, IBRD) today priced the Wildlife Conservation Bond (WCB) in support of South Africa’s efforts to conserve endangered species.