Biodiversity Conservation Focal Area: (*)
Projects will be funded that support or promote the conservation
and sustainable use and management of biodiversity in ecosystems
(including agro-biodiversity and agro-ecological systems). The operational
programmes are restricted to in situ conservation activities and
conservation of the genetic variability of wild relatives of domesticated
species.
Projects should be located in areas that contain globally significant
biodiversity.
• Is the ecosystem or constituent species threatened
or at risk?
• Is it a "hot spot" (a threatened area with
exceptional concentrations of species unique to the area)?
• Is there a significant presence of endemic species?
• Is the site rich in species?
• Does it contain habitats that are important to migratory
species?
• Does it fall under international treaties, laws, agreements
or conventions, such as the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), IUCN Red Data
Book on threatened species, Convention on Wetlands of International
Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat (Ramsar Convention),
or Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and
Natural Heritage?
* Please see "Designing GEF Biodiversity Projects," UNDP/GEF
Working Paper, available through the UNDP/GEF Intranet. |
| Operational Programme 1: Arid and
Semi-Arid Ecosystems. Projects will focus on the conservation
and sustainable use of endemic biodiversity in dryland ecosystems
including grasslands and in Mediterranean-type ecosystems, where
biodiversity is threatened by increased pressure from more intensified
land use, drought, and desertification. |
Potentially eligible activities:
• prevention and control of land degradation through
development of sustainable use methods for biodiversity conservation
• demonstration of community-based approaches to the
conservation of natural habitats and ecosystems in and around conservation
areas, including protected areas
• strategic interventions to rehabilitate degraded areas
in and around communities, e.g., restoration of native fodder species/vegetative
cover that are crucial to pastoral economies
• capacity-building efforts that promote the preservation
and application of traditional and indigenous knowledge and practices
relevant to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity/agro-biodiversity |
| Operational Programme 2: Coastal, Marine, and Freshwater
Ecosystems. Projects will concentrate on the conservation and
sustainable use of biodiversity in coastal, wetland, mangrove, estuarine,
marine, and freshwater ecosystems. |
Potentially eligible activities:
• development of integrated management plans for communities
and localities in coastal, lacustrine, and riverine areas
• creation of community-based livelihood alternatives
to relieve pressure on conservation and protected areas that conserve
coastal, marine, and freshwater biodiversity
• creation of community-based livelihood alternatives
that rehabilitate populations of endemic species in those areas
• removal of the causes of biodiversity loss and the
specific threats to the ecosystem arising in the surrounding productive
landscape, e.g., through reduced discharges of domestic, industrial,
and agricultural pollution
GEF could support the modification of activities to ensure sustainable
management of biodiversity:
• Tenure reform and land titling in the buffer zones-coastal
areas, lake environments, and wetland and freshwater systems around
globally important protected areas. |
Operational Programme 3: Forest Ecosystems.
Projects will support sustainable community-based activities in
forest conservation areas, including protected areas, and those
that demonstrate and apply sustainable use methods in forestry as
part of integrated land management in agricultural and forest landscapes,
focusing primarily on tropical and temperate forest ecosystem areas
at risk. (*)
* However, please note the restriction in Paragraph 36 of the
"GEF Corporate Business Plan FY00-FY02": "Among key
strategic issues needing attention, the role of the GEF in sustainable
forest management is key. In accordance with the OP, GEF would support
sustainable forest uses. The one current exception would be sustainable
logging, because the scientific debate on that matter is still ongoing.
So far, the relevance of sustainable logging to conservation objectives
remains very much open to question, and the GEF will need to consider
seek advice from STAP. In the meantime, projects on sustainable
logging will not be supported by GEF." |
Potentially eligible activities:
• community-led, participatory research leading to the
preparation of inventories of forest biodiversity and traditional/indigenous
sustainable knowledge and use of those resources
• establishment of community-level sustainable development
projects around protected areas
• creation of participatory schemes for natural resource
management by local and indigenous communities, including techniques
to conserve wild relatives of domesticated plants and animals
• provision of alternative livelihoods for local and
indigenous communities residing in buffer zones of globally significant
biodiversity areas
• promotion of sustainable production and use of non-timber
forest products
• development of environmentally sustainable ecotourism
schemes with local participation and management
GEF could support the modification of activities to ensure sustainable
management of biodiversity:
• tenure reform and land titling in the buffer zones
around protected forests
• improvement in rural and community woodlots specifically
to remove pressure on fuel wood obtained from protected forests;
adjusting logging regimes to protect natural habitats of global
significance
• intensification of agricultural productivity in surrounding
areas to minimize encroachment on marginal forested areas of high
biodiversity value
• establishment of long-term cost recovery mechanisms
and financial incentives for sustainable use |
Operational Programme 4: Mountain Ecosystems.
Projects will address the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity
in areas under increasing human pressure and imminent threat of
degradation, including the Mesoamerican, Andean, East African, and
Himalayan regions and the mountainous regions of the Indochina peninsula,
and tropical islands. |
Potentially eligible activities:
• promotion of sustainable land use practices on mountain
slopes in order to protect habitats of global significance
• implementation of carefully monitored and sustainable
schemes of reforestation with native species to protect watersheds
and combat erosion
• rehabilitation of mountain slopes as a means of promoting
local agro-biodiversity through the incorporation of traditional/ancient
terracing and water management approaches
GEF could support the modification of activities to ensure sustainable
management of biodiversity:
• integrated land use development and sustainable land
use management, activities to alleviate poverty and introduce alternative
livelihoods where needed to preserve mountain biodiversity, and
tenure reform and land titling (in protected mountain areas and
their buffer zones and in riparian corridors, river basins, and
watersheds that link highland with lowland ecosystems |
Operational Programme 13:
Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biological Diversity Important
to Agriculture.
The objective of this operational programme is to promote (a) the
positive impacts and mitigate the negative impacts of agricultural
systems and practices on biological diversity in agro-ecosystems
and their interface with other ecosystems; (b) the conservation
and sustainable use of genetic resources of actual and potential
value for food and agriculture; and (c) the fair and equitable sharing
of benefits arising out of the use of genetic resources. |
Potentially eligible activities:
• supporting capacity building efforts that promote the
preservation and maintenance of indigenous and local knowledge,
innovation, and practices relevant to the conservation and sustainable
use of agro-biological diversity, with their approval and involvement |
Biodiversity as Related to Land Degradation Issues:
The GEF/SGP will fund activities that
• Protect biodiversity and promote sustainable use in
arid, semi-arid, and Mediterranean-type ecosystems, and
• Prevent deforestation and promote sustainable use and
sustainable management of forests in order to conserve their biodiversity. |
| Climate Change Focal Area: GEF/SGP projects
will contribute to removing the cultural, institutional, technical,
and economic barriers to energy conservation and efficiency and
will promote dissemination of accessible, sustainable, climate-friendly
technologies and measures throughout a locality or region. They
will primarily involve building local capacity; raising public awareness
of climate change and energy conservation and efficiency issues;
and demonstrating and disseminating appropriate technologies and
measures. The projects may also aim to reduce the cost of suitable
technologies for communities by supporting applied and participatory
research and development. |
| Operational Programme 5: Removing Barriers
to Energy Conservation and Energy Efficiency |
Potentially eligible activities:
• participatory, community-based assessments of local
energy use, resources, and alternatives
• energy audits of homes and buildings, linked to advocacy
and training about energy efficient responses
• capacity-building and awareness-raising activities
about climate change and its repercussions at the local level, incorporating
local knowledge about climatic history and patterns
• capacity-building and awareness-raising activities
about energy efficiency
• advocacy for the removal of subsidies that encourage
the use of inefficient and polluting sources of energy |
| Operational Programme 6: Promoting
the Adoption of Renewable Energy by Removing Barriers and Reducing
Implementation Costs |
Potentially eligible activities:
• promotion of fuel-efficient, low-emission cooking and
heating devices
• promotion of alternative energy use such as autonomous
electricity (micro hydropower stations), solar, wind and biogas
• experimental creation of community woodlots to produce
sustainable harvest biomass for fuel in agricultural areas (for
example, guzapaija in cotton growing areas)
• support for collaborative community/academic research
and development in order to produce low-cost, sustainable energy
options
• introduction of improved, locally manufactured cookstoves
that reduce charcoal fuel consumption |
| Operational Programme 11: Promoting Environmentally
Sustainable Transport |
Potentially eligible activities:
• promotion of modal shifts to more efficient and less
polluting forms of public and freight transport through measures
such as traffic management and increased use of cleaner fuels
• promotion of non-motorized transport
• promotion of internal combustion engine-electric hybrid
busesигателями. |
Climate Change as Related to Land Degradation Issues:
GEF/SGP will fund activities such as
• rural renewable energy projects (solar, wind, and biomass
energy for lighting, water heating, cooking, and water pumping)
• energy efficiency projects (increased efficiency of
wood or charcoal burning stoves) that reduce the unsustainable use
of fuel wood
• biofuel activities that restore degraded land
• biomass cover in order to produce, harvest, and utilize
biomass in sustainable ways. |
International Waters Focal Area: GEF/SGP grants
will fund projects involving communities proximate to threatened
waterbodies and transboundary threats to their ecosystems. Priority
is placed on threats posed to international waters by land-based
sources of surface and groundwater pollution that degrade the quality
of international waters. This means preventing the release of persistent
toxic substances and heavy metals that cannot be neutralized by
marine and freshwater ecosystems, or that accumulate in living organisms.
High priority is also placed on:
• abatement of common contaminants such as nutrients,
biological contaminants, or sediments that endanger species or threaten
ecosystems;
• prevention and control of ecological degradation of
critical habitats (such as wetlands, shallow waters, and reefs)
that sustain biodiversity; and
• management of the use of marine resources and prevention
of unsustainable use associated with over-fishing, excessive withdrawal
of freshwater, and resource extraction. |
Operational Programme 8:
Waterbody-based Programme.
Projects address the priority transboundary environmental concerns
that exist in a specific waterbody, such as a transboundary river
basin or a large marine ecosystem. |
Potentially eligible activities:
• support for capacity building and technical assistance
for species and habitat conservation in fishing and coastal communities
faced with biodiversity loss of critical river and lake species
• provision of sustainable technical and livelihood alternatives
in situations of excessive over-fishing and water resource extraction
• small-scale demonstrations of approaches to reducing
transboundary pollutant flows at the local level
• wetland restoration to provide habitats and to mitigate
the effects of pollutants before they reach international waters
• projects that test approaches to implementing existing
Strategic Action Programmes (SAPs) and National Strategic Action
Programmes (NAPs) at the local level |
Operational Programme 9: Integrated Land and Water
Multiple Focal Area.
These projects involve the integration of land and water resource
management as means of addressing the degradation of international
waters. They can involve other GEF focal areas as well as the crosscutting
issue of land degradation (desertification and deforestation). |
Potentially eligible activities:
• participatory inventories and community use assessments
of unique or endangered marine and coastal biodiversity in a joint
biodiversity/international waters multiple focal area project
• development of integrated freshwater basin-coastal
area management to address the causes of damage to the reefs, wetlands,
and mangroves that serve as nursery areas for the ocean's living
resources, particularly transboundary fish stocks
• capacity building and technical assistance to combat
salinization of coastal soils from over-use of freshwater and groundwater
from transboundary aquifers for irrigation and household consumption
(applicable in border towns and regions)
• projects that test approaches to implementing existing
Strategic Action Programmes (SAPs) and National Strategic Action
Programmes (NAPs) at the local level |
| Operational Programme 10: Contaminant-based
Programme. These projects demonstrate ways to limit contamination
of international waters. |
Potentially eligible activities:
• community initiatives to eliminate the causes of land
and marine-based sources of pollution, particularly Persistent Organic
Pollutants (POPs), nutrients and certain metals
• reduction of agricultural run-off in the form of chemical
fertilizers and pesticides
• reduction of industrial waste dumping through the promotion
of reuse and recycling |
| Operational Programme 12: Integrated
Ecosystem Management. This Operational Programme promotes widespread
adoption of comprehensive ecosystem management interventions that
integrate ecological, economic, and social goals to achieve multiple
and crosscutting local, national, and global benefits. These benefits
may include two or more of the following:(a) Conservation and sustainable
use of biological diversity, as well as equitable sharing of benefits
arising from biodiversity use;(b) Reduction of net emissions and
increased storage of greenhouse gases in terrestrial and aquatic
ecosystems. |
Potentially eligible activities:
• rehabilitation and/or improvement in the management
of rangelands to restore indigenous vegetation and improve water
management
• rehabilitation and/or improvement in the management
of forested watershed or floodplain wetlands, such as sustainable
forest management to achieve multiple benefits, including improvements
in soil and water conservation, aquatic biodiversity conservation,
flood control, minimization of sedimentation of globally important
water bodies, and reduction of net emissions or improved storage
of greenhouse gases
• integrated management of coastal and marine ecosystems
to improve coastal land use planning and protect globally important
habitats from degradation
• development of measures to control pollution from point
and non-point sources to prevent the degradation of globally important
habitats and minimize public health risks |