Catalyzing Financing and Capacity for the Biodiversity Economy around Protected Areas

Overall Goal: To strengthen South Africa’s capacity to combat illegal wildlife trade and improve protected area landscape management for increased community benefits.

This project encompasses two pillars. UNEP is the implementing partner for Pillar 1 and the World Bank (WB) is the implementing partner for Pillar 2. The two pillars are defined through the following respective objectives:

? Pillar 1 focuses on strengthening South Africa’s capacity to combat illegal wildlife trade, including through building anti-poaching capabilities, training, forensic and legal support. It will be executed by the Department Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF), the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). This includes components 1, 2 and 3 presented in the UNEP project document.
? Pillar 2 focuses on leveraging financial resources to increase investment in three target protected area (PA) landscapes in order to grow the biodiversity economy and benefits to local communities. This pillar will be executed by DEFF, SANBI and South Africa National Parks (SANParks). Components 4, 5 and 6 in this CEO ER correspond to Components 1, 2 and 3 in the WB Project Appraisal Document.