Reinforcing the national system for protected areas in the Bijagos Archipelago

A small Portuguese-speaking West African country, Guinea-Bissau is home to exceptional biodiversity with the second-largest extent of mangrove in Africa and the best-preserved forest cover in West Africa, together with globally-significant wetlands which comprise major over-wintering sites for migratory birds.

The Bijagós Islands (a UNESCO biosphere reserve) is a natural and cultural jewel which includes the most important nesting site for marine turtles in Central and Western Africa and a globally-unique population of saltwater hippopotamus. 

Guinea-Bissau has implemented a National System of Protected Areas (SNAP) covering 26% of national territory, managed by the Institute for Biodiversity and Protected Areas (IBAP). The BioGuiné Foundation, a conservation trust fund, dates back to 2011. BioGuiné aims to be a sustainable and long-term financing instrument for maintaining biodiversity conservation in Guin-ea-Bissau. Its role, in line with the Convention on Biological Diversity and the National Strategy for Biodiversity Conservation, is to catalyse strategic actions promoting conservation and the sustainable utilisation of biodiversity for sustainable development. Its beneficiaries are firstly the IBAP, with which it has renewed an agreement, and its partners, in particular local communities and NGOs. 

The project comprises two mutually-dependent components, with a third to maximise and evaluate results:

• Supporting the operations of the BioGuiné Foundation (FBG) through a pilot subsidy granting scheme to support the Orango Marine Protected Area (MPA) and the Urok community MPA, both located in the Bijagós Islands;
• Capitalising the Foundation’s trust fund;
• Monitoring and evaluating the pilot subsidy granting scheme. 

FFEM financing is essential to strengthen the financial viability of the country's biodiversity conservation efforts. This is achieved through a contribution to the FBG allocation, prior to establishing a long-term revenue flow for biodiversity conservation, and through the financing of projects as part of a pilot subsidy granting scheme to benefit a range of actors (IBAP, NGOs, communi-ties) and various activities (surveillance, community projects, mobilisation of additional resources, etc.).

The project aims to strengthen and contribute to the structuring of a national conservation trust fund, the goal of which will be to ensure long-term financing for preservation of the biodiversity and unique natural resources of Guinea-Bissau. This initiative guarantees ongoing financial support for protected areas and promises local sustainable development to benefit the communities. Capitalisation of this environmental fund demonstrates the significant advances made in conservation and local development over recent decades. In addition, this approach may positively influence the government’s future development strategies in natural resource management. The use of existing trust funds and the implementation of pilot actions to award subsidies are key elements in the operationalisation of this project, and will optimise functional costs and strengthen the fund’s credibility as pursues financing.