In the first week of December, in the city of Maputo, the Steering Committee of the Biodiversity Conservation Programme (BCP) held its first session. The programme is funded by the Embassy of Sweden and coordinated by the Foundation for the Conservation of Biodiversity (BIOFUND), in partnership with the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC). The meeting brought together representatives of beneficiary Conservation Areas, members of the Steering Committee and institutional partners, with the aim of ensuring strategic alignment and close follow-up of ongoing activities under the Programme.

At the opening of the session, ANAC’s Director-General and Chair of the Steering Committee, Pejul Calenga, highlighted the importance of the meeting to strengthen coordination and clarify conservation priorities. As he noted, “This meeting is highly relevant because it allows us to align previously defined priorities with the Government’s new strategy for biodiversity management. This is a milestone that opens a new path for us to clarify our main focus even before moving forward with the mid-term review.”

Representatives of the beneficiary Conservation Areas, in turn, reinforced the need to consolidate mechanisms for continuous dialogue and for sharing good practices, to ensure greater effectiveness in BCP implementation. The Administrator of the Maputo Environmental Protection Area, Luís Buchir, stressed the importance of institutionalising regular meetings, stating that “This is the Committee’s first formal meeting, but for some time we have sought to establish more regular meetings. We hope this process results in the development of a guide to good practices and the creation of a flexible adjustment mechanism, operationalised through mid-term evaluations.”

Throughout the session, participants reviewed the status of implemented activities, the challenges faced in the Conservation Areas, and strategic priorities for the next implementation period. Key points included the need to strengthen inter-institutional coordination, improve information flows, reinforce technical supervision mechanisms, and ensure greater effectiveness in implementing initiatives financed by the Programme.

With this first session, the Biodiversity Conservation Programme strengthens the consolidation of a strategic platform for coordination, dialogue and decision-making, ensuring that funded interventions contribute effectively to strengthening the National System of Conservation Areas. Through this mechanism, the Programme aims to ensure greater coherence in implementing activities, improve results monitoring, and promote more integrated, transparent and impact-oriented management across the beneficiary Conservation Areas.