Conservation Agreement

The Secretary of State is authorized, in consultation with other appropriate officials of the Federal Government, to enter into a Conservation Agreement with any eligible country concerning the operation and use of the Fund for that country. The requirements contained in section 2430g(b) of this title (relating to contents of an agreement) shall apply to an Agreement in the same manner as such requirements apply to an Americas Framework Agreement. Amounts disbursed from the Fund in each beneficiary country shall be administered by a body constituted under the laws of that country. The administering body shall consist of— individuals who represent a broad range of— A majority of the members of the administering body shall be individuals described in subparagraph (A)(iii). The requirements contained in section 2430g(c)(3) of this title (relating to responsibilities of the administering body) shall apply to an administering body described in paragraph (1) in the same manner as such requirements apply to an administering body described in section 2430g(c)(1) of this title. Amounts deposited in a Fund shall be used only to provide grants to conserve, maintain, and restore the tropical forests and coral reef ecosystems in the beneficiary country, through one or more of the following activities: Grants made from a Fund shall be made to— In providing grants under paragraph (1), priority shall be given to projects that are run by nongovernmental organizations and other private entities and that involve local communities in their planning and execution. Any grant of more than $250,000 from a Fund must be approved by the Government of the United States and the government of the beneficiary country. In the event that a country ceases to meet the eligibility requirements set forth in section 2431c(a) of this title, as determined by the President pursuant to section 2431c(b) of this title, then grants from the Fund for that country may only be made to nongovernmental organizations until such time as the President determines that such country meets the eligibility requirements set forth in section 2431c(a) of this title.