Notification 2026-079

Dear Sir or Madam, We are pleased to inform Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) that funding is available from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to support eligible countries in the development and implementation of national biodiversity monitoring systems and the preparation of the eighth national reports. Through a competitive process open to all GEF Agencies, the GEF Secretariat has identified the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as the Implementing Agencies that will co-lead this support. Support will be provided under the GEF Enabling Activity modality as a combination of global and regional technical assistance implemented by FAO and IUCN, and national grants. Eligible Parties may request their national grant through any interested GEF Agency. It includes FAO and IUCN, who will be co-leading and coordinating the programme. In addition, Conservation International, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) have signalled their interest to implement national grants. GEF funding will be provided from resources that were set-aside for Enabling Activities in the GEF-9 period (2026-2030). These resources are separate from and additional to country allocations under the GEF System for Transparent Allocation of Resources (STAR). Eligible countries can request a national grant of $577,500 US dollars (exclusive of agency fees) from the Enabling Activity set aside, which they may complement with their GEF-9 STAR resources. It is anticipated that the “Umbrella Programme to Strengthen Biodiversity Monitoring Systems and Prepare the 8th National Reports to CBD” will be presented for consideration by the GEF Council at its next meeting, which will take place from 25 to 29 January 2027. We invite the CBD and GEF focal points of eligible countries interested in receiving this support to coordinate, so that the GEF focal point provides a letter of endorsement to the GEF agency that is to implement their national grant by 5 November 2026. For countries that miss the deadline, another occasion will be provided to join the umbrella programme in early 2027. Parties are invited to the “GEF-9 support to national monitoring system and reporting” information session organized jointly by the GEF and CBD Secretariats, FAO and IUCN on 22 October 2026, from 6:15 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. (local time) in Yerevan, Armenia, in the GEF Pavilion at the CBD COP 17 venue. Questions can also be directed to Jurgis Sapijanskas (jsapijanskas@thegef.org) and Tasila Banda (tbanda2@thegef.org) at the GEF Secretariat; to faogef@fao.org and biodiversity@fao.org at FAO; and IUCNGEF@iucn.org and joshua.schneck@iucn.org at IUCN. We encourage all eligible countries to make full and timely use of this opportunity to strengthen their implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and its monitoring framework. Please accept, Sir, Madam, the assurances of our highest consideration. Astrid Schomaker Executive Secretary Convention on Biological Diversity Diego Mesa Puyo Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer Global Environment Facility

Executive Secretary

To: GEF Operational Focal Points, CBD National Focal Points, Cartagena Protocol focal points, and ABS focal points