Caribbean Natural Resources Institute

What Caribbean Natural Resources Institute does

Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) is a non-profit technical institute founded in 1989 and headquartered in Trinidad and Tobago. It operates as a regional facilitator for stakeholder participation in the stewardship of natural resources across the Caribbean, serving civil society organisations, government agencies, community groups, and inter-governmental bodies. Its work is organised around four core programmes — Resilience, Biodiversity and Ecosystems, Equity and Justice, and Participatory Governance — with an Innovation cross-cutting theme, and is delivered through a Partnership governance model in which an elected body of regional partners sets policy direction.

Its core methodological asset is the Capacity Strengthening Approach (CSA), a participatory framework for catalysing social change in natural resource management. The institute also applies GIS and drone-based spatial data capture in field projects, and increasingly digital channels (the Caribbean Resilience Knowledge Platform, online courses) for dissemination. Notable project platforms include the Caribbean Blue Tourism Initiative (2022–2026), funded by FFEM at €4.3 million, and Tech4CoastalResilience (2023–2025), funded by OACPS/EU at €392,000.

CANARI is grant-funded rather than commercially priced. Approximately $11.8 million from the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) was committed for the 2021–2027 Caribbean Hotspots Phase II programme, in which CANARI serves as the Regional Implementation Team. Multi-year grant commitments from FFEM, OACPS/EU, the Open Society Foundations, and others collectively support an operating profile of $1M–$5M annually. The model is non-commercial: there is no product pricing, and the "customers" are institutional funders and project beneficiaries that the institute convenes, capacitates, and advises.

Name

Caribbean Natural Resources Institute

Legal name

Caribbean Natural Resources Institute

Website

https://canari.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) is a Trinidad-based non-profit technical institute founded in 1989 that facilitates stakeholder participation in natural resource stewardship across the Caribbean, serving civil society organisations, governments, and community groups through grant-funded programmes and participatory approaches.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental and Conservation Services

NAICS

Environmental Consulting Services (54162), Political Organizations (81394)

SIC

Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus & Resilience Programming (BPADAEAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Technical Assistance, Policy Lending & Capacity Building Programs (BPADACAN), Development Finance & Blended Finance Facilities (BPADAOAD), Stakeholder Engagement, Indigenous/Tribal Consultation & Social Impact (SIA) (EUAHAAAH)

Keywords

• Natural resource management
• Conservation grantmaking
• Capacity building services
• Participatory governance
• Biodiversity conservation

Headquarters

HQ city

San Juan

HQ country

Trinidad & Tobago

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Grant funding and donor support: CANARI operates as a non-profit technical institute funded primarily through grants from international organisations and foundations. They channel funding to CSOs and local organisations through small grants programmes.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

CANARI is an independent non-profit technical institute that provides technical services, capacity building, research, advocacy, and grantmaking to support stakeholder participation in the stewardship of renewable natural resources in the Caribbean. It manages four core programmes (Resilience, Biodiversity and Ecosystems, Equity and Justice, Participatory Governance) and acts as the Regional Implementation Team for major donor-funded initiatives including the CEPF Caribbean Islands Phase II investment.

Product overview

CANARI offers an integrated portfolio of technical programmes, knowledge products, and capacity building services for natural resource stewardship in the Caribbean. The core consists of four interconnected programmes (Resilience, Biodiversity and Ecosystems, Equity and Justice, and Participatory Governance) unified by an Innovation cross-cutting theme. These are operationalized through five Flagship Focal Areas: Climate Justice, Nature-based Solutions, Local Ecosystem Stewardship, Local Green-blue Enterprises, and Empowered Civil Society. Supporting infrastructure includes three knowledge platforms (Caribbean Resilience, Local Green-Blue Enterprises, Civil Society SDGs), publications and toolkits, online courses, and a newsletter. The flagship CEPF Caribbean Islands Phase II project (2021-2027) and Caribbean Blue Tourism Initiative (2022-2026) demonstrate programme implementation at regional scale.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Resilience Programme
• Biodiversity and Ecosystems Programme
• Equity and Justice Programme
• Participatory Governance Programme
• Innovation Cross-cutting Theme
• Knowledge Platforms (Caribbean Resilience, Local Green-Blue Enterprises, Civil Society SDGs)
• Publications, Toolkits and Guidelines
• Online Courses and Webinars
• CEPF Caribbean Islands Biodiversity Hotspot Phase II (Regional Implementation Team services) CANARI serves as Regional Implementation Team for CEPF Phase II Caribbean Islands Biodiversity Hotspot, a US$11.8 million investment (August 2021 to July 2027) strengthening civil society capacity to conserve biodiversity across 32 priority Key Biodiversity Areas in Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
• Caribbean Blue Tourism Initiative Four-year initiative (2022-2026) under the global Blue Tourism Initiative to support a sustainable blue tourism economy in the Caribbean through awareness raising, eco-friendly practices, and stakeholder partnership. Total budget of €4.3 million funded by the French Facility for Global Environment (FFEM), implemented with IDDRI, IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation, eco-union, CORDIO, and Our Blue Future (GIZ).
• Tech4CoastalResilience Project Project applying innovative digital technologies (GIS and drone technology) and participatory approaches including participatory GIS to engage coastal communities and capture local knowledge for evidence-based decision-making on coastal resilience in Trinidad and Tobago. Implemented January 2023 to April 2025 with budget of €392,559 funded by EU through OACPS.
• Grantmaking to Civil Society (Small and Large Grants) Provision of small grants (US$5,000-US$50,000) and large grants (>$50,000) to civil society organisations for site-based and landscape-scale conservation, through competitive calls for proposals and strategic leadership on local knowledge.

Quantifiable outcome

• 72 grants awarded, US$10.8 million committed to 50 organisations
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• IDDRI (Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerImplementing partner for the Blue Tourism Initiative, working on sustainable tourism governance and policy development.
• IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Centre for Mediterranean CooperationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerImplementing partner for the Blue Tourism Initiative, providing conservation expertise for Mediterranean-Caraibbean knowledge exchange.
• eco-unionsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerImplementing partner for the Blue Tourism Initiative focusing on environmental governance and sustainable tourism.
• CORDIO (Coastal Oceans Research and Development Indian Ocean)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerImplementing partner for the Blue Tourism Initiative, contributing to coastal and marine research.
• Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerHosts the Collaborative Social Accountability Team (CSAT) in the Dominican Republic, collaborating on multi-actor partnerships for conservation.
• Integrated Health Outreach (IHO)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerLeads the Collaborative Social Accountability component in Antigua and Barbuda as part of CEPF Phase II.
• Our Blue Future (GIZ)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerSupports the Blue Tourism Initiative with expertise in sustainable tourism development.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• IDDRI (Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations): IDDRI is an independent policy research institute working on sustainable development governance, already a CANARI partner on the Blue Tourism Initiative — directly comparable as a think-and-do tank bridging research and policy implementation.
• Blue Ventures: Blue Ventures is a marine conservation organisation that works with coastal communities on co-managed fisheries, conservation financing, and participatory approaches — directly comparable to CANARI's coastal resilience and Blue Tourism Initiative work.
• Rare: Rare is an international conservation organisation that designs behaviour-change and community engagement campaigns for environmental stewardship — directly comparable to CANARI's participatory and stakeholder engagement methodology for natural resource management.
• Wetlands International: Wetlands International is a global not-for-profit dedicated to wetland conservation and sustainable use, working through regional offices and partner networks — comparable to CANARI's coastal/marine ecosystem stewardship and community-based conservation approach.
• Fauna & Flora International: FFI is a global conservation NGO working with local partners on biodiversity protection and capacity building across multiple regions — closely aligned with CANARI's model of partnering with CSOs and governments on biodiversity and ecosystem stewardship.

Broad incumbents

• Conservation International: Conservation International is a global conservation organisation and CEPF donor that operates large-scale biodiversity programmes including in the Caribbean — comparable to CANARI's CEPF Regional Implementation Team role and broader biodiversity mandate at much larger scale.
• Environmental Defense Fund: Environmental Defense Fund is a major global environmental organisation using science, economics, and partnerships to address climate, oceans, and ecosystems — broadly comparable to CANARI's environmental technical assistance and stakeholder engagement work at much larger scale.
• The Nature Conservancy: The Nature Conservancy is a global environmental organisation with active Caribbean programmes on climate resilience, coral reefs, and sustainable fisheries — overlapping with CANARI's coastal resilience and biodiversity focus but at vastly larger scale.

Emerging players

• Forest Trends: Forest Trends works on forest conservation, environmental markets, and indigenous/community land rights through analysis and convening — overlapping with CANARI's focus on equity, justice, and local green-blue enterprise development.
• Earth Innovation Institute: Earth Innovation Institute promotes sustainable rural development, forest protection, and indigenous-led land-use planning through participatory research and partnerships — closely aligned with CANARI's participatory governance and small-grants-for-CSOs model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CanariCaribbean
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/2011CANARI
• Facebookfacebook.com/CANARICARIBBEAN
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/canari-caribbean
• Instagraminstagram.com/canari_caribbean

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles19 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Caribbean Natural Resources Institute