Novel funding initiatives are on the cusp of implementation across the developing world. Community owned solutions for the management of ecosystem services have the potential to act as showcases for determining the most effective and efficient use of these emerging funding streams in order to maximise social justice and ecological sustainability. The COBRA project brings together key South American and European CSOs that have extensive experience in enabling and disseminating grassroots solutions to complex problems in the Guiana Shield region of Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. The RTDs on the project have scientific expertise to rigorously evaluate these grassroots solutions and determine their impact, while the SME brings with it the business and technical expertise for promoting the financial viability of these initiatives. The CSOs, RTDs and the SME have formed a partnership to help deliver effective community-led sustainable management of ecosystem services and to widely disseminate best practice. We therefore aim to: 1) review the emergence of novel social, economic and environmental challenges facing communities in the Guiana Shield region; 2) engage with established locally owned and developed solutions; 3) analyse and record these solutions in order to investigate their generic transferability; 4) test the approach in a wider range of communities confronting similar challenges; 5) facilitate communication between communities and governments to ensure local needs are addressed and emerging policies benefit local communities; and 6) develop a range of accessible communication and dissemination tools for engaging a wider global constituency. The COBRA project will be in a unique position to study the impact of new funding streams on the most marginalised sectors of society, how CSOs are able to respond positively, and to influence policy and implementation practices as these initiatives are rolled out in the rest of the world.