Call for Ideas on Biodiversity

Announced at the One Planet Summit in 2017, the Kiwa Initiative was formalized in March 2020. With an overall amount of 4.2 billion francs, it is funded by the European Union, France, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Nineteen Oceanian countries and territories are eligible for the proposed aid, including the three French Pacific communities. The Kiwa Initiative aims to support projects that implement biodiversity conservation activities for climate change adaptation through nature-based solutions," explains Bettina Lê, project officer for the Kiwa Initiative Secretariat, based at AFD's regional office in Noumea. There are few funds dedicated to this theme. One of the challenges is to improve access to this type of financing, particularly by offering technical support to project leaders.   

 Nature-Based Solutions

Following the success of the first call for ideas launched last year, a second call for regional projects was opened in April. National and local authorities, public institutions, regional organizations and non-governmental organizations can apply, provided that their application involves at least two countries or territories. The grants awarded range from CHF 180 to 600 million. In concrete terms, the actions financed can be operations for the reintroduction of endemic plant species, the fight against invasive species or coastal erosion, coastal fisheries management projects, etc. Two projects have been selected and will be funded following the first call for ideas launched in 2020. One of them, led by the Pacific Community (SPC), brings together Fiji, Nauru, Tonga and the Solomon Islands to set up a network of organic pilot farms," explains Ludovic Branlant, project development coordinator for the Kiwa Initiative at SPC. As partners, the Pacific Community and the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) can provide technical assistance to countries and territories that wish to submit a regional project.