Biofund

Mozambique hosted the International Crescendo Azul Conference promoted by the Ministry of the Sea, Inland Waters and Fisheries (MIMAIP) between 23 and 25 May, with BIOFUND standing out with a multidisciplinary participation.

World Environment Day (WED) is celebrated on the 5th of June every year, and is the United Nation's principal vehicle for encouraging awareness and action for the protection of our environment.

BIOFUND will take part of "Growing Blue" conference, organized by the Ministry of the Sea, Inland Waters and Fisheries, between May 23 and 25, this year at the Joaquim Chissano Conference Center and the Fisheries Museum in the city of Maputo.

BIOFUND, in partnership with the COMBO Project held between 18 and 20 February 2019 an experience exchange workshop for Environmental Funds of Madagascar, Uganda and Mozambique on biodiversity offsets.

Initially shown in Maputo in 2015 , in a ceremony presided over by His Excellency the President of Mozambique, in Maputo, the BIOFUND Biodiversity Exhibition was transformed into an itinerant program, so that the first systematic survey of our natural heritage would also be appreciated in other capitals of the country.

BIOFUND held a visit to the Southern African Wildlife College in Hoedspruit (South Africa) from 16-18 January. The exploratory visit gathered information on the range of training courses offered by SAWC, mainly short and long-term courses related to biodiversity conservation. The two institutions discussed possible collaboration / partnership platforms for training staff from national conservation area system, youth conservationists and general public.

After Maputo (in 2015), Gaza (2016), Zambézia (2017) and Inhambane (2018), BIOFUND brings to Manica, in August 2019, the Annual Biodiversity Exhibition: “A Cultura da Conservação e o Desenvolvimento Sustentável”!

The Latin American and Caribbean Network of Environmental Funds (RedLAC) met from 27 October to 1 November 2018 in Santa Cruz de La Sierra city in Bolivia, at its 20th Annual Assembly with the theme of Creativity and Innovation for Sustainable Development.

A training program on Ecological Impact Assessment, Environmental Management Plans and Monitoring was held between October and November 2018 to train technicians from various Government institutions and members from Mozambican Environmental Impact Assessment Association – AMAIA in international best practices on Ecological Impact Assessment and application of the mitigation hierarchy, and environmental management plans.

Bio Card is the first biodegradable debit card in Mozambique, the product of a partnership between Banco Comercial de Investimentos (BCI) and the Foundation for Biodiversity Conservation (BIOFUND), launched on December 08, 2017.

Consortium of African Funds for Environment (CAFE) met on September 3 - 7, 2018, in Kasane, Botswana, at its 8th session on "Climate change and finance".

During the 4th Biodiversity Exhibition held in Inhambane from 3 - 12 August 2018, entitled "A Culture of Conservation and Sustainable Development", BIOFUND organized three days of environmental education for students from schools around the Conservation Areas of Inhambane.

The 4th edition of the Biodiversity Exhibition in Mozambique, organized by BIOFUND, was held in Inhambane from 3 to 12 August 2018. With a very positive balance, during these 10 days, the exhibition received more than 5 000 visitors!

Miguel Gonçalves, Park Warden of the Special Reserve of Maputo (SRM) and Partial Marine Reserve of Ponta do Ouro (PMRPO) - the Mozambique components of the Lubombo Transfrontier Conservation and Resource Area, received this month the African Ranger Award of 2018 a prestigious accolade presented by Paradise Foundation International and Alibaba Foundation.

The World Turtle Day is celebrated on June 23rd. The date was established in 2000 by the American Tortoise Rescue (ATR), with the aim of raising awareness about the need for rehabilitation, adoption and protection of turtles.

World Environment Day is celebrated on 5 June. The date was established by the United Nations in 1972 with the main objective of making civil society aware of the importance of preserving natural resources in order to create a critical and active attitude towards the environmental problems that exist on the planet.

From May 28th to June 1st, a training course in planning and finances for all Conservation Areas in the Country was organized by BIOFUND in partnership with the National Administration of Conservation Areas. This training builds on BIOFUND's administrative and financial procedures manual as a way of equipping the Areas with technical capacity to implement projects funded by the Foundation.

BIOFUND will organize on the 24th of May from 17.00 to 19.30, in the Montebelo Indy Maputo Congress Hotel (Indy Village), the Forum on the need for harmonization of economic development and biodiversity conservation in Mozambique and draws attention to the possible consequences of non-observance of international best practices in the economic development of the country.

May 11, 2018 is the International Day of Migratory Birds. This day is an opportunity to summon governments, organizations and individuals to save and conserve endangered species such as some migratory bird species. Currently more than 1,200 migratory birds are in danger of extinction.

Consult here the brochure with tourist information about the Maputo Special Reserve and the Partial Marine Reserve of Ponta do Ouro.

BIOFUND will hold its 6th General Assembly, as well as a discussion forum on Harmonizing Biodiversity Development and Conservation in Mozambique, and will focus on the analysis of the economic growth associated with the extractive industry in Mozambique in the last decade versus impacts on the conservation of biodiversity.

Mozambique currently has a population of hippos estimated at just over 7,000 animals, according to a recent aerial census commissioned by the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC), funded by the World Bank through the MozBio project.

A team from BIOFUND was in April 2018 at Chimanimani National Reserve, in Manica province, in a group visit with representatives of various partnerships on conservation (FNDS, ANAC, DNDR, World Bank, FFI, Carr Foundation and PPF). The main objective of this visit was to help defining and prioritizing main actions for Mozbio 2 activities. There was good understanding and engagement of the various working groups from all institutions.

Get to know a little more of some of the most beautiful landscapes of Mozambique from the videos available on the website of the National Administration of Conservation Areas

Earth Hour is a WWF initiative that began in 2007 in the city of Sydney, Australia, when about 2 million people and more than 2,000 companies turned off the lights for an hour as a form of positioning against the global warming and climate change! This global sustainability movement has grown to include 7,000 cities in 172 countries of which Mozambique is a part - showing support for this cause by symbolically switching off their lights for an hour.

The 3rd National Meeting about the study on Co-management Models in the Conservation Areas of Mozambique took place in Maputo on February 2018 and the final products of the consultancy were presented

The Foundation for the Conservation of Biodiversity – BIOFUND just received from the German Government through KfW, a donation of 9 million euros for the endowment fund.

The photographic exhibition “Biodiversidade de Moçambique (Biodiversidade Daqui)” [“Biodiversity of Mozambique (Our Biodiversity)] is open to the public, from 8 to 15 December in the auditorium of the head office of the Commercial and Investment Bank (BCI).

The Commercial and Investment Bank (BCI), in partnership with the Foundation for the Conservation of Biodiversity (BIOFUND), on 8 December launched Mozambique’s first biodegradable debit card- the bio card.

A training session on No Net Loss, Mitigation Hierarchy and Biodiversity Offsets took place on 28 November 2017 in the Higher Hotel and Tourism Industry School of the Eduardo Mondlane University, in the framework of the biodiversity offsets implemented by BIOFUND and by the COMBO/WCS project.

BIOFUND and COMBO are undertaking a baseline study in the conservation areas of Inhambane province to assess the capacity of implementing pilot areas of “concepts of aggregate offsets”.

The Board of Directors of BIOFUND met on November 23rd at its 10th Session. Its main agenda was to present and discuss the basis for a new strategy for BIOFUND, in the context of the greater demand for financing and the consequent growth of the institution. In addition to this theme, the main activities of BIOFUND have been discussed since the last session of the Board of Directors, with emphasis to the funding of 9 Conservation Areas (covering 6 provinces) financed by the World Bank (Mozbio Project) and by AFD (projecto Abelha).

BIOFUND held for the third time, from 17 to 31 October, the exhibition and multimedia fair, under the motto "The Culture of Conservation and Sustainable Development", which once again highlighted the objectives of BIOFUND's work on awareness of civil society

In this second week dedicated to the exhibition on Biodiversity in Quelimane, we reached a total of more than 3000 visitors who had the opportunity to know more about our natural heritage exploring the exhibition with the help of guides, and increased, enriched and shared knowledge, participating in lectures and mini-courses with emphasis on the theme: Environmental Education, Coastal Erosion: Mitigation Measures.

The translocation of animals to Maputo Special Reserve (MSR) and to Zinave National Park (ZNP) has already finished with the introduction of 3.108 animals of different species, corresponding to 66% of the 4.712 planned.

The last weekend in Zambezia had a special awareness touch about the importance of biodiversity for our country, supporting joint efforts for our success in conservation of nature.

The BIOFUND exhibition and biodiversity fair, which runs from October 17 to 31, 2017 at the Teacher Education Institute of Quelimane attracts in 3 days more than 1500 visitors with special participation of primary and secondary students from various schools of the city of Quelimane.

The multimedia exhibition on biodiversity was inaugurated yesterday (17th October) in the Quelimane Teachers’ Training College, by His Excellency the Governor of the Province, Mr. Abdul Razak Noormahomed. The exhibition displays more than 80 panels of important habitats and species of our country, 9 of them specifically illustrating the biodiversity of Zambezia. This is being supported by an information exhibition with more than 12 exhibitors on activities related to biodiversity and the environment.