Backgrounder: Canada announces $62 million for sustaining livelihoods by protecting biodiversity in developing countries

Today, during the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP16), the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of International Development, announced a total of $62 million in funding for the following projects:

Project: Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund
Partner: Conservation International
Funding: $20 million for fiscal years 2024 to 2025 and 2025 to 2026

The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund aims to support the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in 3 biodiversity hot spots: the Cerrado in Brazil; countries in the Indo-Burma region, namely Cambodia, Laos and Thailand; and countries in the Tropical Andes region, namely Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Canada’s contribution will advance gender equality by strengthening leadership skills among women conservationists and enhance locally driven conservation in key biodiversity areas through financial and technical support.

Project: Biodiversity Ecosystem Restoration for Community Resilience in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh
Partner: UN Development Programme
Funding: $12.5 million for fiscal years 2024 to 2025 and 2025 to 2026

This project aims to strengthen biodiversity conservation and resilient ecosystems in climate-vulnerable and marginalized communities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region of Bangladesh. The project will work with these communities to develop and implement community-based biodiversity conservation plans. It will also increase women’s role in decision making and in implementing inclusive biodiversity ecosystem restoration plans with local government agencies, as well as improve the restoration of biodiversity ecosystems by vulnerable households and enhance resilient alternative livelihoods of ecosystem-dependent communities to improve market access and biodiversity conservation.

Project: Supporting the Protection of Marine Biodiversity Within the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean Through Dark Vessel Detection Technologies
Partner: Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Funding: $5 million for fiscal years 2024 to 2025 and 2025 to 2026

This project shares Canadian technical expertise to assist Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama and Peru in protecting their unique marine biodiversity and supporting coastal communities, specifically women, Indigenous people and Afro-descendants. The project will provide access to innovative Canadian satellite surveillance technology by MDA Space Ltd. to support monitoring and enforcement efforts to reduce the threats posed by illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities.

Project: Strengthening Marine Law Enforcement in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean
Partner: WildAid
Funding: $5 million for fiscal years 2024 to 2025 to 2026 to 2027

This project will help improve the protection and sustainable use of marine ecosystems in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama and Peru. This will be achieved by strengthening the capacity of national marine authorities and government-endorsed community organizations to reduce the threats posed by illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. The project will increase the effectiveness of maritime law enforcement by advocating for compliance through education, outreach and the creation of community-wide benefits.

Project: Enhancing Indigenous Peoples’ Resilience to Climate Change in Colombia
Partner: World Food Programme
Funding: $9.5 million for fiscal years 2023 to 2024 to 2027 to 2028

This project will help increase the resilience of Indigenous communities in the Amazon. The rich and diverse ecosystems in the southern Colombian Amazon rainforest are highly sensitive to climate change, facing rapid alterations in temperature and water availability. This degradation directly affects the food security and nutrition of forest-dependent communities, particularly Indigenous people and women. The project will focus on climate adaptation, sustainable agriculture and environmental management by combining ancestral practices with modern technology. It will promote sustainable agri-food value chains to improve food security and enhance the role of women in climate governance. Project activities will be carried out in Putumayo, Caquetá and Amazonas.

Project: Podong Indigenous Peoples Initiative
Partner: International Union for the Conservation of Nature
Funding: $7 million for fiscal years 2024 to 2025 and 2025 to 2026

This initiative is the result of a collaboration between the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Indigenous leaders and the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity. Canada’s contribution will help Indigenous people build their capacity to implement gender-responsive biodiversity conservation actions, build leadership skills to engage in global environmental forums and negotiations, and address the barriers Indigenous peoples face in accessing funding for their self-determined climate and biodiversity priorities and actions.

This initiative will take place in Guatemala, Nepal, Panama and Tanzania. It advances the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, which emphasizes Indigenous peoples’ right to conservation and protection of the environment and the productive capacity of their land.

Project: Accelerating Systemic Change for Gender Equality and Biodiversity Conservation Through the National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans Accelerator Partnership
Partner: UN Environment Programme
Funding: $3 million for fiscal years 2024 to 2025 and 2025 to 2026

The National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) Accelerator Partnership is a global initiative launched in Montréal at COP15. It provides knowledge, technical and financial support to developing countries for the preparation and implementation of their national biodiversity strategies and action plans. NBSAPs are essential road maps that guide decision making and on-the-ground action to conserve and use biodiversity in a sustainable manner.

Canada’s support will help Antigua and Barbuda, Comoros, Costa Rica, Eswatini, Tajikistan, Thailand and Togo develop and update their NBSAPs and ensure that they are gender-responsive and inclusive.