BIOFUND’s Board of Directors approved this Wednesday, 11th of December 2019, the doubling of the institution’s budget for 2020, from about USD 4.6 million to USD 8.4 million, of which about 5.6 million USD will be allocated to support Conservation Areas and Environmental Protection.

This coverage will represent significant growth considering that, since its public launch in 2015, BIOFUND has disbursed around US $ 3 million to strengthen the Conservation Areas law enforcement capacity. One of the highlights in 2019 was the additional support for Conservation Areas affected by Idai and Keneth cyclones.

A substantial part of this financing activity comes from BIOFUND’s own resources, from income based on its endowment of about $35 million, resulting from a substantial contribution from the German Development Bank (KFW), the Mozambican government through Global Environment Fund (GEF) and Conservation International.

The board meeting focused primarily on aspects related to its investment strategy and the 2020 business plan, highlighting the growing need to drive awareness on the required protection of marine areas in the context of climate change.

“The coming year will be marked by the entry of new donors such as the European Union, the solidification of innovative financing mechanisms and the implementation of a structuring program that aims to strengthen the capacities and skills of professionals in the Mozambique´s National Conservation Areas System (SNAC), train and motivate qualified young people to engage in conservation leadership” said Luis Bernardo Honwana, Executive Director of BIOFUND.

Remember that BIOFUND is a national private foundation created as a long-term solution to ensure sustainable funding of Conservation Areas, following the norms of the best international practices for Environmental Funds, enshrined in parameters of the CFA (Conservation Finance Alliance) – which recently underwent an independent institutional assessment that highlighted the positive performance of this institution.