Biofund

35 year old António has been a ranger for 14 years, and he has worked in the Niassa Special Reserve (REN) for the past 8 years. His work at REN has been marked by leadership in the fight against poachers from Tanzania.

This is a capacity building exercise under objective 1 of the Mozambique Conservation Leadership Programme (PLCM), which seeks to strengthen the skills of the professionals of the National System of Conservation Areas (SNAC). It is taking place in the Southern Africa Wildlife College, in South Africa, and lasts for two (2) months.

The new Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Foundation for the Conservation of Biodiversity (BIOFUND), Narciso Matos, in early August accompanied the activities of the interns of the Mozambique Conservation Leadership Programme (PLCM) in Luwire, in the Niassa Special Reserve.

The Foundation for Biodiversity Conservation (BIOFUND), in the framework of Biodiversity Offset Program, implemented with the financial support of the World Bank/Project MozBio2 and UNDP/BIOSFAC in partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the National Directorate Environment (DINAB) and the National Directorate of Forests (DINAF), is implementing pilot projects to improve habitats of Maputo Special Reserve (REM) and in the Licuáti Forest Reserve (RFL), both recently declared as Key Biodiversity Areas ( KBAs) or Important Biodiversity Areas at global level. These projects aim to test the technical and financial feasibility of biodiversity offsets in Conservation Areas and in Forest Reserves in Mozambique.

Martins Rodrigues is 54 years old, and has worked as a Ranger for 9 years. He works in the Maputo Special Reserve (REM), and he has become prominent in reducing poaching in the southern region of the REM.

João is a Ranger at the Bazaruto Archipelago National Park. He is 37 years old and has been a ranger for 18 years. He became prominent in blocking the wave of illegal night fishing, through neutralising illegal fishermen and their boats.

World Elephant Day is celebrated on 12 August. The date was created with the main objective of preserving this animal, which, although it is the largest land mammal on the planet, is vulnerable because of attacks by poachers.

This was the first award by the Dr Carlos Lopes Pereira Fund (formally set up in July 2020), at an event marking World Ranger Day, which is commemorated every year on 31 July. This year the ceremony was held in the Niassa Special Reserve, and was chaired by President Filipe Nyusi. The winners were chosen after a rigorous selection process held between 11 June and 5 July this year, when the administrators/managers of various Mozambican Conservation Areas submitted the candidacies of the Rangers who had stood out most over the previous year.

This information was announced on 31 July 2021, during an event celebrating World Ranger Day, organised by the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC), in the Niassa Special Reserve, after the Mozambican President, Filipe Nyusi, had visited the Biodiversity Exhibition developed by the Foundation for the Conservation of Biodiversity (BIOFUND).

The recognition was granted by Mozambican President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi at a ceremony held in the Niassa Special Reserve, on 31 July 2021, World Ranger Day,

Eight staff members of the National Forestry Directorate have benefitted from building their capacity in designing and management of data bases, through the tools of Advanced Excel This training took place from 20 to 23 July, and was led by interns of the Conservation Leadership Programme of Mozambique (PLCM). During the sessions, which took place at the headquarters of the National Forestry Directorate in Maputo, the staff had the possibility of perfecting their skills so as to improve their performance during their day-to-day activities.

This is an agreement signed between the Foundation for the Conservation of Biodiversity (BIOFUND) and the Network for Environment and Sustainable Community Development in Zambézia (RADEZA), in the framework of the PROMOVE Biodiversidade programme, with financing from the European Union, to the sum of 792.000,00 (seven hundred and ninety two thousand) Euros, for the implementation of community development activities in the buffer zone of the Gilé National Park (PNAG) up to 2025.

The International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem was celebrated on 26 July, under the motto “Mangroves restored, Mozambique resilient”. The mangroves are unique, highly productive and complex forests that develop in zones of transition between the terrestrial and marine environment in tropical and sub-tropical areas.

On 15 July 2021, the “PROMOVE Biodiversidade” programme held the 1st meeting of its National Supervisory Committee, at a virtual event organized by the Foundation for the Conservation of Biodiversity (BIOFUND) and the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC).

Zambeze Delta Safaris – ZDS – in Official Game Reserve 11, in the framework of its management plan, has established, in a process of coordination with the communities, the zoning of Game Reserve 11, in order to separate the areas of settled population, in the northern zone of C11, from the hunting areas, and the areas of concentration of about 30,000 animals of 30 species and 250 varieties of birds.

In June, the interns of the Leadership Programme for Conservation in Mozambique (PLCM), took part in a training course on the management of conflicts between people and wild life and on community development, organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), through the Kheta project.

Banhine National Park (PNB), located in the northern part of Gaza province, celebrated its 48th anniversary on 26 June this year. To mark the date, interns of the Programme for Conservation Leadership in Mozambique (PLCM)

The Foundation for the Conservation of Biodiversity (BIOFUND) has renewed the membership of its management bodies. The members who ended their terms of office have, with dedication and professionalism, guided and supported the foundation since the first steps from its creation, establishment, consolidation and growth.

Still Standing, the Foundation for the Conservation of Biodiversity (BIOFUND), through the Biodiversity Offsets Programme, and the Wildlife Alliance, as part of the celebrations of World Environment Day, on 5 June, held a lecture in the Josina Machel Secondary School, in Maputo city, on the importance of mangroves and pangolins for the environment.

World Sea Turtle Day is celebrated on 16 June, with the aim of stressing the importance of turtles and the need to protect them globally.

The Commercial and Investment Bank (BCI) and the Foundation for the Conservation of Biodiversity (BIOFUND) have just launched a campaign to encourage the use of the Bio card, the first means of payment in Mozambique, produced on the basis of biodegradable material (maize), which contributes to the conservation of biodiversity here.

The Minister of Land and Environment, Ivete Maibaze, on 11 June 2021, launched, in the Gilé National Park, in Zambézia province, the biodiversity conservation programme, known as “PROMOVE Biodiversidade”.

Also known as the Rangers Support Fund, it was created with the aim of recognizing, motivating and rewarding the bravery and dedication of the rangers of Mozambique's public and private Conservation Areas, through an annual prize.

World Ocean Day is celebrated on 8 June with the aim of raising awareness about the vital importance of the oceans and the role they play in maintaining a healthy planet.

This is the consortium formed by WWF, R-CGRN and RADEZA, which will implement the PROMOVE Biodiversidade (“Promote Biodiversity”) project on Mount Mabu.

Under the motto “We are part of the solution for nature”, on 22 May Mozambique celebrated International Biodiversity Day.

The Fund was set up in June 2020, by the Foundation for the Conservation of Biodiversity (BIOFUND), with the aim of reducing the extreme impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the conservation areas in Mozambique (public and private areas), by guaranteeing the jobs of the rangers and of essential staff for supporting inspection, which were previously covered by income from tourism. The BIO-Emergency Fund was initially designed to cover a period of one year. However, due to the effects of COVID-19, which continue to have a negative effect on tourism and other sectors, BIOFUND has extended the period covered by the fund to the end of December 2021.

With the aim of seeing up close the activities that are being undertaken with the funds from the Bio card, a project resulting from a partnership between the Foundation for the Conservation of Biodiversity (BIOFUND) and the Commercial and Investment Bank (BCI), teams from BIOFUND and the BCI recently visited the Sábiè Game Park, the Conservation Area where the first pilot project financed with funds from this card has been implemented, for the conservation of white and black rhinoceros, which are species threatened with extinction in Mozambique. This project, designed by MozParks Initiative INC., supported the placing of satellite tags in order to better follow and protect these species.

The Foundation for the Conservation of Biodiversity - BIOFUND, in the framework of the BIO-Emergency Fund programme, in March 2021 held a survey among private sector beneficiaries with the purpose of assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the conservation of biodiversity and the management of the Conservation Areas. The survey was undertaken through an online questionnaire with open and multiple choice questions.

Set up in 2010, the Ratata Natural Resources Management Committee, is located in the buffer zone of the Gilé National Park (PNAG), on the side of Impaca locality, in Pebane district and it is working in coordination with the Park, to find sustainable alternatives that seek to improve the livelihoods of the more than five neighbourhoods which accommodate about 7,000 households.

High trees, a variety of plant species and bird song that enchants those who enter the forest in the Gilé National Park, in Zambézia province. But after an hour’s drive from this unique moment, there arises a new horizon which, with a magical stimulus, awakens the desire to see where those mountainous formations, discovered (documented) for the first time in 1920, end. Thus begins the climb to the top of Mount Pope, which is about 265 metres high.

The Foundation for the Conservation of Biodiversity (BIOFUND), in partnership with the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC) and the National Forestry Directorate (DINAF), on 6 April held the induction of interns at central level, from the 2nd edition of internships of the Mozambique Conservation Leadership Programme (PLCM).

In order to raise awareness about “PROMOVE Biodiversidade”, the Foundation for the Conservation of Biodiversity (BIOFUND), the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC) and the European Union, on 30 March 2021, presented the project “PROMOVE Biodiversidade” to the Council of Representation of the State Secretariat of Zambezia Province.

The Foundation for the Conservation of Biodiversity (BIOFUND), through the Mozambique Programme for Conservation Leadership (PLCM), will finance 15 scholarships for the 2021/2022 academic year.

The Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM) and the Foundation for the Conservation of Biodiversity (BIOFUND) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the creation of synergies in support of activities to conserve biodiversity in Mozambique.

Organised by the Foundation for the Conservation of Biodiversity (BIOFUND), in partnership with the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC), the workshop was held in a virtual format on 2 March 2021 and counted on the participation of all the interns of the Programme for Conservation Leadership of Mozambique (PLCM).

On 3 March 2021, World Wildlife Day is celebrated. The date was created by the United Nations in 2013, with the goal of celebrating world fauna and flora, and warning of the dangers of trafficking in species of wildlife

To this end, on the morning of Wednesday 3 March, a financing agreement was signed between the French Development Agency (AFD) and the Foundation for the Conservation of Biodiversity (BIOFUND) for the project designated ECO-DRR.

The Foundation for the Conservation of Biodiversity (BIOFUND), the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC), the French Development Agency (AFD), Fauna and Flora International (FFI), the MICAIA Foundation, the Chimanimani National Park (PNC) and the National Sustainable Development Fund (FNDS), through the MozBio II Project, on 11 February 2021, held the first meeting of the Steering Committee of the Chimanimani Biodiversity Conservation and Community Development Project, abbreviated as the Chimanimani Project.

With the onset of the rainy season in the Banhine National Park (PNB), a team of biologists consisting of two interns from the Programme of Leadership Conservation in Mozambique (PLCM), Golden Benedito Joaquim, with a licentiate degree in Biological Sciences, and Euderico Manjama, with a licentiate degree in Marine, Aquatic and Coastal Biology, are undertaking a sampling of aquatic species and birds predominant in that Conservation Area.