On 26 November 2021, an implementation partnership agreement was signed between Centro Terra Viva (CTV), the Foundation for the Conservation of Biodiversity (BIOFUND) and the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC), represented by the Minister of Land and Environment, under the Programme PROMOVE Biodiversidade (PROMOVE Biodiversity), to support the First and Second Islands Environmental Protection Area (APAIPS).

This programme is financed by the European Union and implemented by BIOFUND in partnership with ANAC, and seeks to ensure the sustainable management of the natural resources in the APAIPS up to 2025, through disbursing the sum of 3.060.000,00 Euros (three million and sixty thousand euros), to finance activities during these period.

With this intervention, it is intended to implement for the first time sustainable and strategic initiatives to improve the administration and management capacity in the APAIPS, specifically: (a) to improve the protection and preservation of the most critical biological components of the APAIPS; (b) to establish and make operational the infrastructure and resources necessary to guarantee the full functioning of this conservation area; and (c) guarantee ownership by all the interested parties, including the local communities and government at all levels in relation to the goals and function of APAIPS until the conclusion of the project. This support will allow , the establishment of human resources capacity, operational procedures, as well as infrastructures are put into place for the first time allowing the full functioning of this important conservation area, which was created in 2012. This support substantially complements the basic support for operational costs that BIOFUND provides annually from its endowment (originally from the contribution of Conservation International in 2015, for specific long term support for APAIPS).

The activities on the ground will be implemented by the consortium headed by CTV which includes two other institutions, namely TerraNautics (a consultancy company with experience in the design, management and monitoring of conservation projects, both marine and terrestrial, the development of technological applications for the management of protected areas and prevention of crimes against wild life), and Conserve Global (a company whose goal is to safeguard protected areas outside of the national parks, ensuring the sustainable use of natural resources for the subsistence of communities). This consortium was chosen through a public tender, and will begin activities on the ground this year, in close collaboration with the APAIPS administration, as well as with other operational organisations, such as WWF  and others.

The PROMOVE Biodiversidade programme also supports the implementation of community development activities, conservation of biodiversity, and dissemination of applied research and participatory studies linked to the management of natural resources on Mount Mabu and in the Gilé National Park.

This programme forms part of a broader, integrated Rural Development programme of the European Union, known as “PROMOVE Global” which consists of 6 (six) specific programmes, namely PROMOVE Agribiz, PROMOVE Biodiversidade, PROMOVE Nutrição, PROMOVE Energia, PROMOVE Comércio and PROMOVE Transporte, all focused on Zambézia and Nampula provinces, and implemented by various organisations.