Kenya is set to receive substantial support for its ecological conservation efforts through the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF), which has recently approved over $70 million in project preparation grants. Among the 18 new initiatives approved, the World Bank will oversee a significant project in Kenya titled “Sustainable Management and Restoration of Threatened Ecological Corridors,” with a funding allocation of $3,896,750.
The GBFF, housed at the Global Environment Facility (GEF), aims to advance the targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. This latest round of grants will fund biodiversity projects in 21 countries, including 13 Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States, such as Angola, Belize, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Fiji, Indonesia, Jordan, Mozambique, Nauru, Palau, Peru, the Philippines, Samoa, Senegal, South Africa, Suriname, and Tonga.
GEF CEO and Chairperson Carlos Manuel Rodríguez heralded the announcement during the International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) celebrations. “The approval of these grants underscores our commitment to efficiently allocate resources to impactful projects that promote inclusiveness,” Rodríguez stated, emphasizing this year’s IDB theme: a call to action for all stakeholders to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.
The new projects will address multiple Biodiversity Plan targets, particularly goals 1, 2, 3, 9, 10, 13, 18, 19, 22, and 23. The initiatives aim to enhance biodiversity across more than 8 million hectares of terrestrial and marine protected areas.
The approved projects involve six GEF implementing agencies: the Asian Development Bank, Conservation International, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank, and WWF-US.
This follows the first round of grants approved in March, totaling nearly $40 million for projects in Brazil, Gabon, and Mexico. With these two rounds, the GBFF has allocated $110 million for 22 projects in 24 countries. Notably, 35 percent of the funding is designated to support actions by Indigenous Peoples and local communities for biodiversity conservation.
Launched in August during the GEF Assembly in Canada, the GBFF aims to support the global Biodiversity Plan, with contributions from Canada, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The fund’s resources are allocated through a country-driven selection process, ensuring inclusive and strategic conservation efforts worldwide.
