Biofund

It is a day to recognize across the globe the contribution of this group of professionals, who play a crucial role for conservation of biodiversity. The rangers work directly inside the conservation areas and their buffer zones to ensure the protection of wildlife, working day and night in often precarious conditions.

In order to guarantee their jobs and cover the wage costs of the rangers and staff who are indispensable for supporting inspection of the conservation areas during the period of crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Foundation for the Conservation of Biodiversity (BIOFUND) announced on Wednesday a fund of three million dollars that will help pay the wages of about a thousand rangers in conservation areas, under public and private management, which have seen their income fall as a result of the lack of visitors since the Covid-19 pandemic exploded across the globe.

The French Development Agency (AFD) and the French Fund for the Global Environment (FFEM), in partnership with the Foundation for the Conservation of Biodiversity – BIOFUND, are launching a new project to improve the balance between the conservation of biodiversity and ruraldevelopment in the Chimanimani National Reserve.

Today, 26 July, the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystems, is celebrated worldwide. In Mozambique the celebration is marked by the call for everyone to contribute to the conservation of mangroves.

The Foundation for the Conservation of Biodiversity (BIOFUND) on 14 July 2020 held the 3rd meeting of the Steering Committee of the Mozambique Leadership for Conservation Programme – PLCM.

The Foundation for the Conservation of Biodiversity - BIOFUND, promoted a contest called “Films for Awareness” celebrated on the 8th of June, under the motto “Innovation for Sustainability of the Oceans: Clean Sea, Protected Ecosystem”. The contest was led by the first group of interns of the Leadership Program for the Conservation of Mozambique - PLCM

The pre-launch of the Mozambique Conservation Leadership Program (PLCM) was held from 4 to 11 June 2020 in partnership with ANAC, the Gorongosa National Park and WWF. The main objective of this initiative was to attract young people from different parts of the country to the Biodiversity Conservation Sector in Mozambique.

Today, June 16, is World Sea Turtle Day. This day is especially dedicated to highlight the importance of these wonderful animals.

The Board of Directors of BIOFUND approved at its last meeting an emergency plan of up to three million dollars to help mitigate the economic impacts of COVID-19 in the conservation sector.

The virtual exhibition is part of the event to celebrate World Oceans Day, celebrated today, June 8, 2020, under the motto “Innovation and Sustainability of the Ocean: Clean Sea, Protected Ecosystem”.

World Environment Day is celebrated on the 5th of June of each year with the aim of raising awareness in the general population to implement practices that help to preserve the environment.

World Oceans Day is celebrated every year on June 8th. The purpose of the day is to inform the public about the impact of the human actions on the oceans, and developing a worldwide movement for managing sustainable oceans.

Today, the 22nd of May, is the International Day of Biodiversity, the date established by the United Nations (UN), on 22 May 1992, celebrated with the aim of raising awareness among the world’s population about the importance of Conserving our Biological Diversity.

During the first round of the PLCM Internship Program, HagnésioChiponde, a young graduate in veterinary medicine fromUniversidade Eduardo Mondlane, was assignedto the National Administration of Conservation Areas, in the Department of Protection and Inspection, and joined the inspection team of the Maputo Special Reserve for a period of timeto participate in the management of Human - Elephant conflict.

Around 100,000 pounds will be allocated to the creation of a mechanism to reward and create an emergency fund, from 2020, that will benefit the professionals that oversee the Conservation Areas of Mozambique

The Government of Mozambique, through the Council of Ministers approved on April 14, 2020 the National Mangal Management Strategy (2020 - 2024). This instrument was designed to combat and reverse the degradation and destruction of the mangrove ecosystem in the country. It is also intended that this instrument adds value to the efforts that have been developed to boost and guide the regulation of rights, duties and obligations regarding the sustainable use of the mangrove ecosystem in Mozambique.

Ten PLCM trainees have been integrated into its sites since 2nd March 2020. This is the first group, with three integrated in BIOFUND, five in the National Administration of Conservation Areas-ANAC and two in the Centro Terra Viva-CTV.

COVID - 19 (Coronavirus) - in the context of measures to prevent the spread of this pandemic that plagues the world, and with some cases already confirmed in Mozambique, BIOFUND, in alignment with its socially responsible posture, and with the aim of avoiding a potential spread of Coronavirus, decided to proceed with the following measures.

Took place on Wednesday, March 04 at Hotel Meliã, in Maputo City the launch of the campaign with the title "Poaching Steals from Us All".

The seminar for the induction of the members of the 9th legislature of the Mozambican Parliament took place between the 17th and 19th February 2020 and, in this context, on the 18th the discussions were around issues related to the conservation of biodiversity, with a view to broaden and facilitate the dissemination of information on the problem of climate change, at a global level and its incidence in countries like Mozambique.

The Government of Mozambique through the National Administration of Conservation Areas, ANAC, carries out from 10 to 16 February several activities to mark the commemorations of World Pangolim Day, which is celebrated internationally on the third Saturday of February, this year on February 15.

Around EUR 283 thousand is the amount of the first disbursement that BIOFUND will make to support the translocation of animals and the reinforcement of inspection patrols in the Gilé National Reserve by the end of the second quarter of 2020.

BIOFUND received with deep sadness the news of the death of JOSÉ DIAS DOS SANTOS MOHAMEDE, Administrator of the Gilé National Reserve, one of the Conservation Areas with which it has been collaborating closely, as one of the first beneficiaries of the Abelha Project (support to Conservation Areas - AFD/BIOFUND funding), as more recently one of the main beneficiaries of the Program Promove Biodiversity (European Union funding).

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 was one of the findings of the COMBO project (2016-2019) evaluation held under the theme Conservation, Impact Mitigation and Biodiversity Offset in Africa, in a partnership between Nature Conservation Society (WCS Mozambique), Biotope and Forest Trends.

“Visiting the exhibition was a unique opportunity to complement my knowledge about the biodiversity of Manica and Mozambique, with particular emphasis on the endemic species of flora,” said Chilasse Salvador Fernandes, a young graduate in Ecotourism and Wildlife Management by the Superior Institute of Manica, during the last edition of BIOFUND’sbiodiversity exhibition.

Surrounded by communities within and around 7 Conservation Areas, members representing the beneficiary communities were unanimous in stating with enthusiasm during the Vozes da Terra seminar on 25th and 26th of November that the project Mozbio has significantly improved its self-sustenance conditions.

BIOFUND, in partnership with the Mozambican Association for Environmental Impact Assessment (AMAIA) and the Government of Mozambique, represented by the Provincial Directorate for Land, Environment and Rural Development of Nampula (DPTADER), held between 28 October and 1 November 2019 the Training in Ecological Impact Assessment, Environmental Management Plans and Monitoring, for around 32 technicians from various Government institutions at Nampula province level, civil society organizations and the private sector involved in the environmental impact assessment process.

Challenges in the financing of Marine Protection Areas was the theme of the meeting between representatives of BIOFUND, WWF and Conservation Finance International, during the last week of 21-25 October 2019, in the United States of America.

The process of establishing the management conditions of the Primeiras and Segundas Environmental Protection Area (APAIPS) has taken a significant step with the establishment of local housing for the Administrator Ricardina Matusse from October 2019.

The French Embassy in Mozambique and BIOFUND co-organized, at the Franco Mozambican Cultural Center, between 21st and 24th of September 2019, the first edition of the Terra Nossa event, around the motto “Crossed look between human beings and the ocean.”

The Ministry of Land, Environment and Rural Development, through the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC), in partnership with USAID's SPEED + Project, is in the process of preparing the Proposed Professional Hunter Regulation.

More than 1,000 animal and plant species have been discovered by researchers in a section of the Chimanimani Conservation Area, including a number of species new to Mozambique and several species potentially new to science.

September 16th has been celebrated since 1987 as the World Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, in the context of the Protocol signed in Montreal, which promotes the reduction of ozone-depleting gases and in order to raise awareness of the need for planet protection. In allusion, the UN declared the date as World Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer.

BIOFUND participated in the 9th Annual Assembly of the African Environmental Funds Network (CAFÉ) on the theme Financial Markets and Portfolio Management for Environmental Funds. The meeting was held from 2 to 6 September 2019 in the city of Ouidah in Benin.

It is the title of the documentary presented on August 19th, in Maputo, addressing the efforts of biodiversity conservation in the Gilé National Reserve, as part of the European Union-funded Project aiming at strengthening the financial sustainability and preserving the biodiversity of the Gilé Reserve in the province of Zambezia.

BIOFUND, through the Mozambique Conservation Leadership Program (PLCM) will participates from 8th to 9th of September in Kigali - Rwanda in a Conference on Conservation Business with the theme “Environmental Investment - from scarcity to abundance”.

Almost 4000 people had access to the V edition of the largest sample of Biodiversity of Mozambique, between 8 and 17 August 2019, in the city of Chimoio, province of Manica, an event visited by His Excellency Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, President of the Republic and held in synergy with the all school games.

The 18th Conference of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora is under way until 28th of this month (CITES)

A special edition of Mapa das Artes, indicating several touristic and cultural points, as well as aspects about the biodiversity of Manica province, was launched in the city of Chimoio, during the V Edition of the Largest Mozambican Biodiversity Exhibition, under the motto “The Culture of Conservation and Sustainable Development”.