Creating biodiversity & protected area financing plan

Natural Strategies identifies opportunities to mobilize nature-positive finance including revenue-generating instruments, assesses their feasibility and structures roadmaps to turn them into action.

The oceanic island state of São Tomé and Príncipe (STP) features a remarkable wealth of biodiversity. Stretching over a quarter of it 1,001 square kilometers, the country’s native forests include some of the largest concentrations of unique species in the world. However, habitat loss, overexploitation and the introduction of non-native species threaten the biodiversity of STP.

In response to this, BirdLife International hired Natural Strategies to develop a country-wide sustainable finance plan to strengthen STP’s protected areas and biodiversity. To do so, Natural Strategies identified financing gaps for protected area management; developed options to address these gaps, based on a cost-benefit assessment; and modelled costs and revenues of prioritized scenarios. This included designing concrete opportunities to mobilize carbon finance from nature-based solutions projects; private sector impact investments in agro-forestry and fisheries; payments for ecosystem services; and debt-restructuring for nature conservation.

For the highest priority opportunities we also developed a monitoring & evaluation plan and an investment promotion plan - with the objective to generate returns on investments into the country’s protected areas and preserve its rich biodiversity while maintaining healthy ecosystems for its local communities.