NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS FOR BIODIVERSITY PROTECTION AND CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION
The Pacific is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change. It has exceptional terrestrial and marine biodiversity that provides invaluable services to communities. Yet the Pacific countries and territories lack resources to address this challenge, whereas their traditional ways of life depend on it.
The Kiwa Initative is a multi-donor program that aims to strengthen the climate change resilience of Pacific Island ecosystems, communities and economies through Nature-Based Solutions (NBS), that is to say by protecting, sustainably managing and restoring biodiversity. It is founded on an easier access to climate change adaptation and NBS funding for local and national governments, civil society and regional organizations in Pacific Island Countries and territories, including the three French overseas territories.
SPC and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) recently joined forces with the Kiwa Initiative to launch a technical assistance program aiming at:
- Identifying and developing large projects addressing climate change adaptation through nature-based solutions
- Assisting relevant stakeholders from beneficiary PICTs in project development to be submitted to the Secretariat of the Kiwa Initiative
- Promoting joint funding opportunities from the Kiwa Initiative and other climate action donors
Three windows of opportunity are available for three different types of support:
- Calls for local project proposals : grants ranging from EUR 25,000 to EUR 400,000. This component is managed by the IUCN
- Calls for regional project proposals of over 1.5 million euros. This component is managed by the Secretariat of the Kiwa Initiative
- Technical assistance provided by SPC and SPREP to assist project leaders in the design of proposals for regional projects
The Initiative promotes strengthened cooperation between Pacific Island countries and French territories.
As of today, the Kiwa Initiative covers 19 PICTs, including 16 Pacific Island countries and 3 French territories:
- Cook Islands
- Federated States of Micronesia
- Fiji
- French Polynesia
- Kiribati
- Marshall Islands
- Nauru
- New Caledonia
- Niue
- Palau
- Papua New Guinea
- Solomon Islands
- Samoa
- Timor Leste
- Tonga
- Tokelau
- Tuvalu
- Vanuatu
- Wallis and Futuna
Applicants wishing to take part in calls for proposals must be legal entities of public or private not-for-profit organizations, natural persons are not eligible.
Applicants eligible to apply for small and medium grants are:
- Local or national authorities and public institutions
- Civil society organizations at the local level
- Organizations linked to local communities
- International NGOs
Applicants eligible to apply for regional projects are:
- Local or national authorities and public institutions
- Regional organizations (Council of Regional Organizations of the Pacific, CROP) recognized by Pacific Island States and territories such as SPC or SPREP);
- International NGOs
SPC will assist eligible Pacific Islands Countries and Territories in:
- Building capacities to access Kiwa Initiative funding through the organization of informative sessions and the provision of technical advice and assistance
- Assisting in project identification, development, implementation, monitoring and reporting
Nature-based Solutions are defined by the IUCN as “actions to protect, sustainably manage and restore natural or modified ecosystems that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively.”
Each project proposal submitted must comply with the following biodiversity protection and climate change adaptation eligibility criteria:
The biodiversity sub-criterion, which covers the type of nature-based solutions to be developed, implies project proposals to meet the following objectives:
- Preservation of functional and healthy ecosystems
- Improvement of ecosystem management through sustainable human activities
- Restoration of degraded ecosystems or the creation of ecosystems/ecological engineering
The climate change adaptation sub-criterion implies that project leaders must:
- Determine the context of the risks, vulnerabilities and impacts associated with climate change
- Indicate their intention to address the risks, vulnerabilities and impacts identified in the project proposal documentation
- Demonstrate a direct link between the identified risks, vulnerabilities and impacts and the proposed activities
Particular attention will be paid to:
- The inclusion of proposed projects in existing regional, national or local public policy frameworks
- Projects that are part of a regional cooperation process between French territories and Pacific island countries
- The diversity of project leaders, in particular the participation of new players for which this would be the first opportunity to directly access funding dedicated to climate change adaptation and the protection of biodiversity
For more information, please contact SPC Project development Coordinator for the Kiwa Initiative: Ludovic Branlant or visit the Kiwa Initiative website.
