Biodiversity Conservation and Participatory Sustainable Management of Natural Resources in the Inner Niger Delta and its Transition Areas, Mopti Region

This grant was initially a World Bank-IFAD initiative whose total ownership was transferred to IFAD in 2005 when IFAD signed the Memorandum of Understanding giving IFAD's direct access to GEF funds. This grant is fully blended within the IFAD-funded loan entitled, “Sahelian Area Development Fund" (SADeF). The global objective of this grant is the restoration, conservation and sustainable management of the ecosystems and their biodiversity in the Inner Delta of the Niger River and its transition zones. The project focuses on the protection and integrated management of biodiversity in ecosystems (“hotspots”) of national and global significance, such as around the three Ramsar sites, as well as on the restoration of the agro-sylvo-pastoral and fisheries potential through introducing biodiversity considerations and an ecosystem approach to sustainable natural resources management.