Towards enhanced financial sustainability biodiversity conservation

Summary

The regional capacity building programme was organized by the Sustainable Finance Coalition in collaboration with the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and the European Union and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).

LIMCOM and its partners successfully participated in a Resource Mobilization and Sustainable Finance Capacity Building and Training Programme for Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs) practitioners and stakeholders held in Johannesburg, South Africa on 17-19 February.

The regional capacity build programme aims to enhance financial sustainability, institutional readiness and partnership development for non-state actors and community-based organizations to effectively play their role in regional cooperation and biodiversity conservation in southern African.

LIMCOM partners at the training programme were mainly drawn from the subgrantees spearheading the implementation of Sustainable Land Management (SLM) activities under the project, “Integrated Transboundary River Basin Management for the Sustainable Development of the Limpopo River Basin.”

LIMCOM is implementing the project in partnership with Global Water Partnership Southern Africa, with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), through funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

Four subgrantees, one each in the four LIMCOM Member States are implementing SLM activities at pilot sites.

The Botswana Water Partnership is supporting SLM activities at Mogobane Dam in Botswana, while the Instituto Superior Politécnico de Gaza (ISPG) is focused on the Massingir Dam in Mozambique.

The University of the Witwatersrand is spearheading efforts at the Mapochs in South Africa with Dabane Trust involved at Guyu-Chelesa in Zimbabwe.

The main aim of implementing SLM activities at a pilot scale in the basin is to reduce land degradation such as sedimentation and enhance land productivity, creating opportunities for replication and scaling through socio-economic benefits, including payment for ecosystem services models.

In this regard, enhanced financial sustainability, institutional readiness and partnership development offered by the training programme is critical in support the scaling of ecosystem-based interventions and contribute to long-term financial sustainability of pilot initiatives in the basin.

The regional capacity building programme was organized by the Sustainable Finance Coalition in collaboration with the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and the European Union and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).