BIOPAMA Programme

The Biodiversity and Protected Area Management Programme (BIOPAMA) is an EU-funded project that aims to improve the long-term conservation of biodiversity in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific Islands region by improving access to relevant information and data and enhancing the capacity of existing institutions and networks involved in biodiversity conservation and protected area management. BIOPAMA is implemented by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (EC-JRC) and the German Agency for International Collaboration (GIZ).

Within the eastern and southern African region, the BIOPAMA programme has identified land and resource use conflicts as one of the key threats to protected areas in the region. To address this threat, and in consultation with various stakeholders across the region, the BIOPAMA programme will focus on supporting cross-sectoral engagement for integrated sustainable planning with sectors and stakeholders active at the interface of Protected Areas (contributing to Aichi Target 2 and PoWPA Goal 1.2). A Regional Observatory will be established in the Eastern and Southern African region to support the provision of relevant data and information to assist in improved planning and decision-making as well as exchange of knowledge and best practices. In addition, BIOPAMA will provide capacity development for stakeholder engagement to support these engagements. This will be done in the form of integrated training during stakeholder engagements around specific issues as well as working with Training Institutions in the region to develop capacity on stakeholder engagement in the longer-term.