Financial Mechanism and Resources

IDB Dialogue on International Financing for Biodiversity: AfDB

African Development Bank Financing for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services


AFDB - Mahamat Assouyouti
Mahamat Assouyouti
Senior Climate Change Officer
Energy, Environment and Climate Change Department

Video: How AfDB address biodiversity in Africa
Safeguards and Sustainability Series: African Development Bank Group’s Integrated Safeguards System — Policy statement and operational safeguards, French version, 2013, African Development Bank Group
Introduction. The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group is a premier multilateral development finance institution in Africa and one of the five major global multilateral development banks (MDBs). The AfDB was established in 1964 to contribute to the economic development and social progress of its regional members, both individually and collectively, and to mobilize resources for financing economic integration on the African continent.
The AfDB has a strong, demonstrated commitment to biodiversity conservation in Africa. Over the last 15 years, it has developed programs and projects aimed at protecting biodiversity and the continent’s unique wildlife by reinforcing the capacity of institutions in charge of managing protected areas and improving livelihoods of communities living in their vicinity. Critical problems related particularly to elephant poaching and illegal trafficking of wildlife products have compelled the AfDB to work closely with African countries to halt wildlife trafficking, considered not only an environmental issue but a security one as well. It fuels organized crime and corruption and compromises regional security. It breeds violence and threatens peace and the rule of law. And it erodes the revenue that many African countries can earn from tourism and other activities based on wildlife. In May 2013, during its Annual Meetings in Marrakesh, the Bank launched the Marrakesh Initiative in partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), This Initiative is a global call for action and commitment from governments and other institutions to combat illicit wildlife trade.
The AfDB, as a Global Environment Facility (GEF) implementing agency since 2007, has mobilized a total of $218 million GEF financing and around $1.5 billion in co-financing. By the end of 2014, the portfolio comprised 28 projects of which 6 specifically target biodiversity conservation or biodiversity mainstreaming in Africa.
For the period 2013-2014, the Bank has financed more than $50 Million to directly improve the management of wild fauna and flora (in-situ conservation) and more than $30 Million to support local communities in adopting more environmentally-friendly activities as a way of reducing poaching and habitat destruction. These interventions include:
  • Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This is Africa's first national park classified as a World Heritage Site and is very popular for its mountain gorilla population. The Bank, through a major regional program entitled Congo Basin Ecosystems Preservation Program, is supporting the Congolese Institute of Wildlife Preservation and other NGOs to improve the working conditions of national park guards and to halt the rapid deforestation degrading natural habitats.
  • Kahuzi-Biega National Park (DRC): This is one of the African’s richest national parks in terms of diverse endemic mammal species. It is the primary home of gorillas. However, poaching and habitat alteration are endangering the park. Today, the National park service and other NGOs are being supported by the Bank to improve park surveillance, with additional funding provided for equipment and training of park personnel.
  • The Sangha Tri-National Park. This is a national park shared by the three countries of Central African Republic, Congo and Cameroon. The park hosts an important population of elephants and is currently receiving funds from the Bank to reinforce its capacity in wildlife protection and to improve livelihoods of communities living around the protected area.
  • The Selous National Park Project: In 2000, the Bank funded a $7 Million project in Tanzania to better preserve wildlife in one of its largest game reserves and better equip the park to fulfill its wildlife protection mission. The implementation of this project led to the development of eco-tourism in the region.
  • School of Fauna of Cameroon. This is the main school in Africa that trains park managers. The Bank offers scholarships to selected students from several African countries. As of 2013, more than 70 students have received full scholarship for a two years duration of study.

Examples of biodiversity projects funded by AfDB in 2014-2015
Programme d’Appui à la Conservation des Ecosystèmes du Bassin du Congo
Mainstreaming Biodiversity in Fulfulso-Sawla road project in Ghana
The Lake Chad Basin Sustainable Development Program (PRODEBALT)
Regional Project on Sustainable Management of Endemic Ruminant Livestock in (PROGEBE) - Gambia, Guinea, Mali and Senegal
Projet pour la conservation de la biodiversité en Afrique centrale (Cameroun)
Projet pour la conservation de la biodiversité en Afrique Centrale (CAR-TCHAD)
Lakes Edward and Albert Natural Resources Management Project
Communal forests management support project (PAGEFCOM)
Integrated Land & Water Management
Reconciling the Needs of the Logging Industry with sustainable forestry
Mano River Union Forest Ecosystem Project
VAMPEEM – Valorization of African Medicinal Plants for Mainstreaming Entrepreneurship and Environmental
Programme de réhabilitation et de renforcement de la résilience des systèmes socio-écologiques du bassin du lac Tchad (PRESIBALT)

Biodiversity-related funding policies and programmes
The Marrakech Declaration: A 10-Point Action Plan To Combat Illicit Wildlife Trafficking
The Congo Basin Forest Fund (CBFF)
ClimDev Africa
CBFF - Quantifying Carbon Stock and Emissions in the Forests of Congo Basin
CBFF - Stabilizing Carbon Emissions in the Sangha Tri National Forest Complex


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