Biofund - Restoration of strategic ecosystems Biofund - Återställande av strategiska ekosystem Support to the Biofund Foundation who forward funds to national parks and other environmentally protected areas in their work with biodiversity. Stöd till stiftelsen Biofund som ger finansiellt stöd till nationalparker och andra miljömässigt skyddsvärda områden i sitt arbete med biologisk mångfald. The contribution supports three sub-programs (components) with their respective objectives and goals, as well as a capacity support to Biofund as an organisation. 

Sub-program 1. Support biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services in relevant land and seascapes

A. Protect and maintain biological diversity and eco-systems in under-resourced Protected Areas

This subcomponent will be implemented through grants to two priority under-resourced protected areas, namely: i. Pomene National Reserve; and ii. the recently established Maputo Environmental Protected Area. The parks were chosen in close discussions with MTA, ANAC, and MIMAIP with the main selection criteria being the need for funding for each respective park. 

B. Promote the effective establishment of existing but currently un-managed Paper Parks

This sub-component will cover two conservation areas and two coutadas, namely the Lago Niassa Partial Marine Reserve, The Malhazine Ecological Park, and Coutadas 4 and 13 outside Manica.

This subcomponent will be implemented in two stages. Phase one will be implemented by the BIOFUND Sida Program Unit and entails the discussions with the appropriate authorities for these CAs, and then preparing and running a tender for management partners.

For Lago Niassa, Biofund will work with the relevant authorities at central and local levels, to launch a tender for a co-management private partner for the Lake Niassa Reserve and provide co-funding to kick start this initiative, through the current proposed program.

For Malhazine, Biofund will work with the legal authority- the Maputo Municipal Council- to set up a co-management arrangement for the MEP, helping to find and fund or co-fund, an appropriate partner for the initiative.

For the two coutadas, both outside of Manica, Biofund will support ANAC to launch a public tender process to find suitable operators. Aftewards they will directly finance the initial restoration and, organizational set-up to start restoring the areas as functional and productive ecosystems, that can be managed for the long-term benefit of communities and biodiversity.

Stage two will then be run by the implementing partner identified, as a grantee or co-grantee of the Foundation.

C. Support to privately managed Protected Areas

The strategy for private protected areas goes beyond the support to finding new concession holders. It also focuses on diversifying the sources of income for these nature-based businesses away from the conservation hunting model.

This Sub-component will be implemented in two-phase. Phase one will be done in collaboration with ANAC in preparing and launching tenders for these areas.

Phase Two, will be implemented through a matching grant program with the selected operators rather than a pure grant process. This part of the program will be supported by the Innovative Financing Directorate of Biofund.

D. Promote and support new Protected Areas

This sub-component will be implemented via specific new grant programs to support the creation of new CAs of any of the categories listed, to be carried out by the Sida program unit.

To enhance sustainability, grants will be given to partner organizations who already have a presence and a track record in the conservation and already have a degree of co-funding available. Specific conditions and criteria will be developed at the beginning of the project.

E. Ecological monitoring

Essential ecological monitoring programs will be designed in collaboration with the Biofund Scientific Committee and other relevant partners. This group will then, together, select implementation partners to be funded with the purpose of carrying out the relevant studies. This activity will be overseen by the M&E Department of Biofund, that will need partial support from a specific technical lead for ecological monitoring.

Sub-program 2. Support innovative financing mechanisms to improve biodiversity value and productivity in relevant protected land and seascapes

A. Establishment of a Biodiversity Offsets Unit

Biofund has been working on this subject together with other partners for over 7 years in the country and has worked closely with the government in developing the necessary legislation and regulations for its application. The Biodiversity Offsets Ministerial Diploma was approved by the Government of Mozambique in December 2021 and was published in May 2022. In short, the offsets are a way to force industry and companies to pay for the biodiversity impact that their production and operation creates. 

The law was recently passed and while it shows potential for increasing the available financing for biodiversity conservation efforts - it also poses a risk towards appetite for business in Mozambique. The country already has a weak private sector and further pushing on the businesses could reduce the willingness to invest. The Embassy is aware of this risk and will have this as a talking point during the annual meetings, bringing up the reception of the law among the private sector, the willingness to pay for the offsetting, and how Biofund thinks the law affects appetite for business in Mozambique.

B. Diversifying the sources of income to support biodiversity conservation

This sub-component will be implemented directly by the Innovative Financing Directorate of Biofund, following the current incubation process for new conservation revenue streams (feasibility, strategy, pilots, and upscaling). 

For carbon for example,  Biofund will help coordinate scoping studies and assessments, and support PAs in assessing potential carbon partnerships. For game farming, Biofund will pass on the lessons learned from its pilot project in the Futi Corridor as well as work with ANAC and others on improving legislation in this area. The specific measures for each new stream will be tailored according to their current state of development.

C. Diversifying the sources of income to support biodiversity conservation

A large part of component 2 will be used to establish and support community conservation areas, a new form of organisation where a number of communities can band together to create a legal entity that in turn can apply for conservation area concessions. Within the scope of the project, the two initial areas will be the Futi corridor, and hunting concession 7 of the Niassa reserve. The first of these was visited by the embassy on the 1st of November, providing an opportunity to create a better understanding of both the process itself as well as what opportunities the communities themselves see.

In these community conservation areas, the communities can work together with the private sector to create opportunities for tourism, game hunting, livelihoods, and other income streams. These income streams can then be used to improve the living conditions of the people living in the communities, for example through game fencing, services for tourism, or smaller infrastructure improving quality of life. This part of the project is a testament to Biofunds approach towards biodiversity conservation that includes and promotes participation of the local communities. The Embassy will during the project period work together with Biofund to see if more community areas can be created, as it is a strong mitigating measure towards the risk of bypassing or not including the poor in the project implementation.

Support from Biofund will for the Futi conservation area be provided to initial infrastructure in the form of game-fencing aiming at reducing human wildlife conflict, provision of of game protection to allow the wildlife to grow and develop, and by doing so, create the basis for sustainable development in the affected community. An international organization (Conserve Global) has already signed an agreement with the community to support the setup of this area, once the game fencing is in place. The details for hunting concession 7 are not yet decided.

Support will also come from the government through ANAC to ensure that the agreements between the communities and the private sector are fair and reasonable, this is extra important due to the communities having little to no experience of agreements from before.

Sub-program 3. Strengthen biodiversity conservation management through Policies and Human Development

A. Policy Support

This sub-component will be implemented by project unit at Biofund, by giving support to national policy processes, including workshops, policy papers, discussions and negotiations, and participation in key national, regional, and international meetings, as well as capacity building to ANAC and MIMAIP at national and local levels, as deemed necessary.

B. Conservation Leadership Programme (PLCM)

The PLCM has been managed by Biofund since its inception, with a specialized 2-person unit. However, the MozBio2 project which has been funding it, is winding down and the continuity of the program needs to be secured.

It is proposed that the current program provides continuity to this initiative that provides training, skills and potential job opportunities for young conservation professionals. With continued support the program will be able to extend the provision of interns to protected areas and other management institutions, along with a new support mechanism for 2 years of initial support for young professionals within the conservation areas themselves and within ANAC. The program would also support and extend training programs for existing staff in the protected areas Network to upgrade their skills in local and regional institutions, to strengthen the capacity of the beneficiary protected areas.



Biofund Programme Management Support

Capacity will be strengthened for communications, partnerships, and monitoring and evaluation at the Biofund secretariat. The implementation will be done with the support from the project unit at Biofund to be established during the inception phase. Similarly, to cover the social and environmental safeguards, it will be necessary to reinforce the current Biofund safeguards unit, with staff and training. The Biofund mechanism for dispute resolution lies under the Biofund safeguards unit and the Embassy has emphasised it's position on the need for a proper, well-functioning, and robust grievance mechanism.

Both the communication and M&E strategies are under approval and will be used to structure and implement this program components.



Expected measurable results

By 2027:

- the management units of Pomene National Reserve, Lake Niassa Partial Reserve, APA Maputo, Malhazine Park and 2 community conservancies are established and with sufficient technical capacities and skills to manage sustainably the biodiversity and ecosystems in these conservation and protected areas.

- the biodiversity of at least 675.5 thousand hectares within PAs are under protection and managed in a sustainable manner.

- a national census of large terrestrial mammals is carried out as a means to improve mechanisms to monitor ecological performance of PAs, and an eDNA[1] analysis in all marine protected areas is undertaken to inform biodiversity conservation.

- alternative revenue streams for nature-business initiatives are identified and piloted in at least two (2) conservation and protected areas.

- the requirements and framework to establish protected areas in Key biodiversity Areas (KBAs), falling outside currently designated PAs, are developed, and communicated for further legal declaration. 

- at least six communities in the program target areas adopt and implement climate adaptation measures.

- young conservation professionals have improved skills and knowledge in biodiversity conservation and the capacities of protected areas are enhanced.

- public awareness and capacities on biodiversity conservation and climate adaptation tools and best practices are improved, through appropriate communication of biodiversity conservation and climate resilience outcomes.

- gender mainstreaming and inclusion strategies as well as benefit sharing mechanisms are developed and implemented in the program target areas and disseminated for scale up and institutionalization in other protected areas.

During the project time, BD policies and strategies are developed and submitted for approval by relevant government entities e.g., the updated conservation policy, the national biodiversity financing strategy, and the new forest regulation.