The Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) has approved a new round of project preparation grants and set aside more than $70 million for 18 new projects in 21 countries, including 13 Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States. The approvals keep the momentum for the less than 1-year-old fund housed at the Global Environment Facility to put nature on a path to recovery before 2030.
The resources will fund action on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (the Biodiversity Plan) in Angola, Belize, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Fiji, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Mozambique, Nauru, Palau, Peru, the Philippines, Samoa, Senegal, South Africa, Suriname, and Tonga.
GEF CEO and Chairperson Carlos Manuel Rodríguez celebrated the announcement during the week of the International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB). “The approval of these grants shows the new fund commitment to allocating resources efficiently to impactful projects that will promote inclusiveness. We are part of the Plan," said Rodríguez in a reference to this year’s IDB theme, which is a call to action for all stakeholders to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity.
The projects will advance many of the Biodiversity Plan targets - particularly 1, 2, 3, 9, 10, 13, 18, 19, 22, and 23 - and have high outcome targets for enhancing biodiversity, including support to more than 8 million hectares of terrestrial and marine protected areas.
The second round of preparation grants includes projects from six GEF implementing agencies: the Asian Development Bank, Conservation International, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank, and WWF-US.
In March, the GBFF approved a first round of preparation grants for four projects totaling nearly $40 million in Brazil, Gabon, and Mexico. Together, the two rounds set aside $110 million for 22 projects in 24 countries, with 35 percent of this funding expected to support action by Indigenous Peoples and local communities for biodiversity. GBFF resources are allocated in a country-driven manner to projects through consecutive selection rounds open to all eligible countries.
The GBFF was launched last August during the GEF Assembly in Canada to support the Biodiversity Plan. So far, it received contributions from six countries: Canada, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
Project Preparation Grants Approved (Second Round)
| ID | Project Title | Agency | Country | Funding Request (including PPGs) |
|---|
| 11582 | Advancing integrated participatory spatial planning to enhance Samoa’s globally significant biodiversity at a national scale | FAO | Samoa | $1,160,000 |
| 11583 | Scaling up biodiversity-positive and culturally inclusive agrifood and agritourism systems in Palau | FAO | Palau | $1,160,000 |
| 11588 | Reimagining National Parks for People and Nature – Leveraging Durable Financing Mechanisms for Mega Living Landscapes (MLL) to achieve Target 3 in South Africa | WWF-US | South Africa | $5,000,000 |
| 11589 | Strengthening Globally Significant Biodiversity Corridors in the Philippines through Local Community Empowerment | ADB | Philippines | $3,000,000 |
| 11590 | Community-based conservation for biodiversity and livelihoods in the context of climate change in DRC | FAO | Congo DR | $6,560,000 |
| 11595 | Delivering Target 3 at the regional scale in Peru: Applying the ecosystem approach in the Northern Transversal Economic Corridor of Peru (Northern TEC) | WWF-US | Peru | $12,570,000 |
| 11598 | Support for the development of a national policy, institutional and monitoring framework to effectively implement the Nagoya Protocol in Belize | UNDP | Belize | $1,160,000 |
| 11600 | Philippines Biodiversity Financing Program | UNDP | Philippines | $4,000,000 |
| 11604 | Advancing ABS implementation in Cambodia | UNDP | Cambodia | $1,350,000 |
| 11606 | Responding to Pacific priorities for ecosystem management and NBSAP implementation through strengthening capacities for effective planning and monitoring of ecosystems | UNDP | Fiji, Nauru, Tonga, Regional | $4,630,000 |
| 11609 | Strengthening transboundary conserved area management of the Sangha Tri-National (TNS) | WWF-US | Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Regional | $7,259,526 |
| 11612 | Empowering Indigenous Peoples for Sustainable Development: Inclusive Biodiversity Management through a Social and Solidarity Economy Approach | UNDP | Suriname | $1,160,000 |
| 11616 | Restoring Forest Ecosystem Functions Through Community-Based Management in the Royal Botanic Garden of Jordan | UNDP | Jordan | $870,000 |
| 11626 | Effective protection of Mozambique’s Miombo woodlands and marine hotspot conservation areas enhancing global coping mechanisms to climate change | CI | Mozambique | $4,876,006 |
| 11636 | Sustainable Management and Restoration of Threatened Ecological Corridors in Kenya | World Bank | Kenya | $3,896,750 |
| 11638 | Enhancing co-benefits of conservation/protected area management through an inclusive wildlife-based ecotourism strategy (ECOTOURISM) | UNDP | Indonesia | $7,000,000 |
| 11640 | Strengthening the protected area system in Angola through innovation and capacity development | UNDP | Angola | $3,260,000 |
| 11642 | Support for the development of protected areas for the conservation of biodiversity | UNDP | Senegal | $1,749,625 |
| | | | TOTAL | $70,661,907 |
Project Preparation Grants Approved (First Round)
| ID | Project Title | Agency | Country | Funding Request (including PPGs) |
|---|
| 11508 | Biodiversity Conservation in Indigenous Lands | Funbio | Brazil | $9,880,000 |
| 11509 | Caatinga Protected Areas Program – ARCA | WWF-US | Brazil | $9,880,000 |
| 11512 | Addressing Outstanding Barriers and Leveraging Durable Financial Mechanism to Achieve Target 3 in Gabon | WWF-US | Gabon | $1,518,910 |
| 11510 | Mex30x30: Conserving Mexican Biodiversity through Communities and Their Protected Areas | CI | Mexico | $18,500,000 |
| | | | TOTAL | $39,778,910 |
About the Global Environment Facility
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is a multilateral family of funds dedicated to confronting biodiversity loss, climate change, and pollution, and supporting land and ocean health. Its financing enables developing countries to address complex challenges and work towards international environmental goals. The partnership includes 186 member governments as well as civil society, Indigenous Peoples, women, and youth, with a focus on integration and inclusivity. Over the past three decades, the GEF has provided nearly $25 billion in financing and mobilized another $138 billion for country-driven priority projects. The family of funds includes the Global Environment Facility Trust Fund, Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF), Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF), Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF), Nagoya Protocol Implementation Fund (NPIF), and Capacity-building Initiative for Transparency Trust Fund (CBIT).
