National Environmental Funds are the most popular tools to mobilize resources for biodiversity and ecosystem services by countries. In 2016, Botswana launched its own national environmental sustainability plans under the National Environmental Fund or NEF. It provides long-term financing for sustainable environmental and natural resource management and aims to ensure access to financial resources to maintain and enhance the country’s national environmental management agenda.
NEF is aimed at shoring community-based projects linked to environmental protection, climate sustainability, waste management and pollution reduction. Since then, Botswana’s project has seen implementation of multiple ground-level projects effectively promoting green sustainability at local level.
During the recently concluded 15th Conference of Parties of UN biodiversity summit, Botswana’s NEF also featured at a side event at Montreal. Alex Owusu-Biney of the UN Environmental Programme praised Botswana’s domestic resource mobilization as “a breath of fresh air,” and hoped that other countries also learnt from it.
At the event, representing Botswana, Philda Nani Kereng, the country’s Minister of Environment and Tourism said that it is their commitment to develop a national biodiversity plan through public financing. She also stressed that its NEF is a people centric plan to promote biodiversity where communities live with nature, understanding the importance of balance between human life and wildlife. The Minister highlighted how her country used the COVID crisis as an opportunity to drive economic policies where environmental impact assessment puts communities at the centre of economic model.
The minister explained that Botswana developed its NEF to support civil society action in biodiversity management and its funding is derived from taxes, levies imposed on plastic carrier bags, and revenue which is collected in a special environmental fund. Botswana’s NEF has supported 47 civil society-led projects with grants to pursue biodiversity management projects. 40 percent of Botswana is covered with protected forests and the minister assured that it is committed to carry development with sustainability. She ended saying that “Biodiversity is the next diamond” and her government recently passed access and benefit sharing legislations for informed planning and development policies.
Botswana is a small landlocked nation located in southern Africa, and it faces the challenges of drought, land degradation and desertification which are accentuating with climate change. With its two million human population, Botswana is also taking care of its enormous wildlife heritage. The appreciable care of the Okavango Delta and strict anti-poaching laws show that the country is serious about biodiversity. The serious water scarcity has made the diverse cultures in the region extremely aware about the benefits of living sustainably with mother nature.
The impact of the NEF is considerable from the fact that it is appreciated by other African nations too. Recently, the NEF team of Botswana visited Namibia to study and learn from their counterparts. The benchmark visit exchanged notes and practices on GCF accreditation and funding, re-organization of NEF with assistance of EIF in terms of structural, governance, financial and operational frameworks, South-South Northern cooperation importance, etc.
While ecological issues are taking an important turn with the recent CBD summit in Montreal agreeing at a mechanism for rich countries to compensate sensitive ecological areas of poorer countries from disasters; it is the NEFs that are driving change at the ground level. Countries in the global south have seen the impact of disasters wiping out their entire GDPs. They need mechanisms to finance sustainable development, monetize their existing ecosystem services, and learn green technologies easily. Domestic and community-based sustainability is not new for the culturally oriented nations in the global south. However, success stories are rare, and Botswana’s example must be used to further promote green policies through community integration and development.
