Protecting biodiversity in an island paradise

Project goal: Better funding for important biodiversity projects throughout the country

Project partner: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), supported by the International Climate Initiative (IKI)

Project size: 29 countries throughout the world, mostly in South America, Africa and Asia

Project budget: 17.3 million euros, financial needs in the Seychelles are currently being determined.

Project implementation: BIOFIN is a multi-step bottom-up process: initially, the key stakeholders and their exact financial needs for the protection of biodiversity are being determined. Then national strategies are developed and implemented.

Biodiversity: Half of the country's surface area is protected. Many endemic animal and plant species have developed and with 15 endemic and dozens of other species the bird life of the country is among the most diverse in the entire Indian Ocean.

Project duration: Until the end of 2016, an extension is already being considered.

For animals and plants, the Seychelles are heaven on earth. In the 1990s, the Indian Ocean islands became the first country in the world to integrate nature conservation into its constitution. Around 100 plants and several dozen animal species such as the giant tortoise, Gardiner's Seychelles frog, or the legendary Coco-de-Mer palm, can be found nowhere else in the world. In 2014, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched a BIOFIN financing scheme to ensure the continuation of conservation efforts. Representatives from NGOs, the government and the tourism and fisheries sectors meet in regular intervals to consult on effective conservation projects and determine their specific financial needs.

A film by Kilian Schütze