Two of 3 parts
By Dr. Selva Ramachandran
UNDP Resident Representative
LGUs can improve their economic environment through plans, programs and investments in sustainable tourism, agriculture and fisheries and biodiversity-friendly enterprises that benefit communities.
Recognizing this as an opportunity, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)―through its Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) Project―has been working with LGUs since 2016 to mainstream biodiversity in local plans and programs, ensuring a stable flow of financing for conservation through good local governance.
BIOFIN is a global initiative launched by UNDP in 2012 to address the significant challenge of financing biodiversity conservation, now being implemented across 133 countries. It is supported by the European Commission and the governments of Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Belgium, Flanders, UK, Canada and France.
In the Philippines, UNDP, through BIOFIN, is working to ensure sustainable economic growth while conserving precious natural resources by supporting LGUs in formulating their local biodiversity plans.
A good example of this work is the Negros Island Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NIBSAP), which is anchored on the Philippine Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (PBSAP).
Local biodiversity finance plans accompanied the NIBSAP, which helps LGUs identify how much is needed to implement their biodiversity projects and programs and where they can source additional funding to bridge any financing gap. The finance plans of the LGUs paved the way for a steady increase in LGU budgets for conservation.
This initiative became a crucial model for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources–Biodiversity Management Bureau (DENR-BMB) to advance a policy advocating for the localization of the PBSAP.
Strengthening governance at the site level ensures that conservation efforts are tangible actions that directly contribute to national and international biodiversity goals.
(To be continued)
