Safeguarding the Future of Namibia’s Protected Area Network through Financing4Future

Namibia has a Protected Area Network (PAN) of 23 terrestrial Protected Areas covering 17% of the country's land surface which protect the country's most distinctive, globally significant biodiversity. This PAN faces significant threats from climate change, escalating development, and under-resourcing of protected areas management authorities. 

The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT), responsible for the PAN, has an annual operational funding gap of $5.7M (NAD103M, 31%), for current baseline management operations. This project will help break funding barriers by catalyzing a suite of diverse sustainable financial mechanisms linked to institutional reforms to deliver improved management and safeguard Namibia’s PAN. The project will contribute to GBF Targets 3, 18, and 19 by achieving certain finance-related milestones. These will take time to translate into improved management on the ground, generating impact in the medium- to long-term. The project will (1) Create enabling conditions for long-term financial sustainability; (2) Facilitate resource mobilization; and (3) Improve financial knowledge management systems. The long-term impact of the project will be a financially sustainable PAN that result in thriving biodiversity and ecosystem services with increased livelihood opportunities.