THE Philippine government needs to commence resource mobilization to close the huge financing gap, currently estimated at P19 billion annually, for biodiversity conservation.
This was among the initial recommendations of experts who looked into the financing gap in biodiversity conservation between 2008 and 2013 through the Biodiversity Financing Initiative (BioFin) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
BioFin is a global partnership seeking to address the biodiversity finance challenge in a comprehensive manner by building a sound business case for increased investment in the management of ecosystems and biodiversity.
A copy of the recommendations drafted by experts working under the BioFin Project in the Philippines revealed that the government can augment its fund for biodiversity conservation, possibly from largely untapped government revenues, such as the Malampaya fund, motor vehicle user’s tax, mining taxes and royalties, and other fees from mining have been identified as possible sources of funding.
Through BioFin’s costing of the Philippine Biodiversity Strategy Action Plan (PBSAP), experts determined that the estimated cost of implementing the PBSAP from 2015 to 2028 ranged from P334 billion, or $7.4 billion, to P388 billion, or $8.6 billion.
Using the low scenario, wherein the government would need to spend P334 billion during the period, an estimated average of P23.87 billion, or $530 million, is required on a yearly basis from 2015 to 2028. This will cover actions on forest, coastal and marine, inland wetlands, caves and cave systems, protected areas, invasive alien species, agrobiodiversity, access and benefit-sharing and urban biodiversity.
Under a business as usual scenario, where a conservative government funding is provided, a financing gap of P19.7 million, or $437,000, annually to implement the PBSAP has been determined.
To commence resource-mobilization activities, it was recommended that several “biodiversity tagging” workshops involving the bureaus and attached agencies of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) be organized during the first phase, and in the second phase, involving the other PBSAP agencies.
Such biodiversity tagging can guide the Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB), as well as the other agencies of the DENR, in identifying activities contributing to PBSAP and accounting for biodiversity spending.
Aside from mobilizing resources, the government is urged to prepare an action plan on the “socialization” of the PBSAP to the other sectoral agencies and local governments that will include a reporting mechanism by which BMB can determine programs and expenditures relevant to biodiversity.
The BioFin Project proponents also recommended that biodiversity program similar to the National Greening Program be developed and designed within the climate change framework.
The Biofin Project aims to contribute to closing the global financing gap for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity by identifying, accessing, combining and sequencing sources of biodiversity funding to meet national needs.
The specific objectives of the project are to develop, test and disseminate a framework for mainstreaming biodiversity into national development and sectoral planning; a methodology for assessing a country’s biodiversity financing needs; a framework for national-level biodiversity financing. BioFin is currently being implemented in 29 countries.