Absalom Shigwedha
WINDHOEK – Paying for ecosystem services and raising park entrance fees in Namibia are some of the instruments identified for biodiversity financing in the country’s Resource Mobilisation Strategy for Biodiversity Conservation (Resmob).
This was said by Environment and Tourism Deputy Minister, Bernadette Jagger at the one-day Final Stakeholders Dialogue held in Windhoek on Tuesday.
Other instruments for biodiversity financing are the biodiversity off-setting, introduction of the environmental levies, eco-labelling, raising funds from lotteries and gambling.
Jagger gave a keynote speech at the dialogue, which was organised by the Resmob project, which is jointly being implemented by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism and the German Technical Cooperation (GIZ) – commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety.
She said the strategy was developed after a study conducted by the Resmob project, which revealed that the value of ecosystem services in Namibia exceeds N$13 million per year while the total biodiversity expenditure from all sources is slightly more than N$1 billion per year.
The aim of the dialogue was to finalise the major outcomes of the strategy. “’To fully achieve the targets of our Second National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP II, it is estimated that we need to double the level of investment in biodiversity. This strategy and action plan will run from 2013 – 2022)
The project has played a valuable role in supporting the Ministry in areas of natural capital accounting, the economic valuation of natural capital accounting and the development of economic instruments for biodiversity conservation,” she said.
Jagger said these are issues prioritised in Namibia’s NBSAP II and Action Plan and they are further reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals Target (target no.15.9) which calls for the integration of ecosystem and biodiversity values into national and local planning, development processes, poverty reduction strategies and accounts.
“We are all aware of the difficult economic and financial climate we are facing but, it is incumbent upon all of us to come up with innovative solution to mobilize resources to address the critical environmental challenges we are facing,” she added.
The team leader for the Resmob Project, Martin Nowack, said the project which had a budget of three million Euros, started in 2013 and will come to an end this year.
He explained that they mainly focused on natural capital accounting, capacity building and resource mobilization for biodiversity conservation.
The overarching goal of the project is to improve Namibia’s capacity in mobilising resources for biodiversity conservation, specifically to enable the country to implement the objectives outlined in its NBSAP 2 and Action Plan and fulfil its obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) as well as to enhance biodiversity conservation efforts.