Founded in 1999, EcoLogic Finance (formerly EcoLogic Enterprise Ventures) is a nonprofit organization that operates as a "green" loan fund, offering affordable financing to eco-enterprises located in environmentally sensitive areas of Latin America and the Caribbean. Targeting the rural credit market, EcoLogic Finance provides small-business loans to support productive activities that foster biodiversity conservation and grassroots economic development. Preference is given to businesses that are located in and around protected terrestrial, coastal and marine habitats and are unable to secure financing from conventional commercial sources due to their small size, lack of collateral and/or operating history. Target sectors include sustainable agriculture, non-timber forest products, certified wood, sustainable fisheries and ecotourism. EcoLogic Finance restricts its lending to groups with established market linkages to international trading companies that are undertaking commercial pursuits for conservation purposes.

Since launching operations, EcoLogic Finance has made available 21 loans totaling about $2.1 million to rural producer organizations located in environmentally sensitive areas of Latin America. In all cases, EcoLogic Finance has supported the production and export of agro-forestry crops grown in rich and diverse forest environments in priority conservation areas of Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua and Peru.

The V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation has provided funds to support core operating expenses of Ecologic.

For more information visit: www.ecologicfinance.org

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