Reforming subsidies that impact biodiversity in Botswana

In collaboration with the UNDP Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) team and the Department of Environment Affairs of Botswana, Natural Strategies is analyzing the economic, environmental, and social impacts of subsidies across key sectors ranging from Mining to Agriculture to Tourism. Such government support, while well-intended, can have unintended effects on biodiversity, and in turn, on communities and the economy at the local and national level.

For the engagement, Natural Strategies has set-out to:

• Gain perspective from the private sector, government departments, academia, local communities / collectives, and NGOs

• Develop an inventory of subsidies across key sectors that impact Botswana’s biodiversity,

• Prioritise the inventory for targeted additional analysis, taking into account social, gender-related, environmental, economic, and political economy concerns,

• Propose reform recommendations for prioritised subsidies to improve biodiversity outcomes, and processes / action plans for implementation

Thereby, Natural Strategies seeks to strengthen key economic incentives to conserve biodiversity and support communities throughout the country.