Sudan
Sudan’s biodiversity and ecosystems are fundamental to livelihoods, food security, rural production, climate resilience and the country’s long-term recovery. Its natural landscapes range from drylands, rangelands and forests to wetlands, Nile river systems and the Red Sea’s coastal and marine ecosystems. This natural capital supports agriculture, livestock, fisheries, forestry, pastoral systems and important biodiversity-based value chains such as Gum Arabic.
Yet Sudan’s biodiversity is under increasing pressure from conflict and displacement, land-use change, overgrazing, deforestation, dependence on biomass, mining and pollution, compounded by climate change and limited capacity to enforce environmental safeguards. Financing for biodiversity remains fragmented, and biodiversity-related expenditure is not yet systematically identified and tracked across public budgets and other financial flows.
UNDP BIOFIN is working with Sudan’s Higher Council for Environment and Natural Resources and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to strengthen the country’s approach to biodiversity finance. The initiative is assessing the policies and institutions that shape biodiversity finance, tracking existing expenditure, determining future financing needs and identifying opportunities to mobilize and better align public, private and international resources for nature.
hrough this process, Sudan is building the evidence needed to develop its Biodiversity Finance Plan and prioritize practical finance solutions. The work aims to better integrate biodiversity into national planning, public finance and recovery priorities while supporting implementation of the NBSAP 2025–2030 and the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
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Finance solutions
Based on the Policy and Institutional Review and ongoing analytical work, UNDP BIOFIN Sudan is exploring a range of potential finance solutions to improve biodiversity expenditure, strengthen domestic resource mobilization and better align public and private financial flows with the NBSAP 2025–2030. These options are at different stages of assessment and will be further analysed and prioritized through the Biodiversity Finance Plan.
1. Biodiversity Budget Tagging and NBSAP-Aligned Public Finance
Develop biodiversity budget screening and expenditure tagging within existing Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning processes to improve the identification, tracking and reporting of biodiversity-related expenditure. The approach would also strengthen the alignment of public budgets and investment decisions with priorities identified in the NBSAP 2025–2030.
2. Strengthening Protected-Area Finance
Review protected-area fees, revenue collection and retention, operational costs and opportunities for reinvestment. The objective is to improve the financial sustainability of protected areas and ensure that revenues generated through their use contribute more effectively to conservation and management.
3. Forest Finance and Revenue Reinvestment
Assess opportunities to improve forest-related fees and royalties and strengthen the reinvestment of revenues in forest restoration, reserves and sustainable forest management.
4. Financing Biodiversity through the Gum Arabic Value Chain
Explore finance solutions that build on Sudan's Gum Arabic sector to connect agroforestry, landscape restoration and biodiversity conservation with producer livelihoods and sustainable value chains. Potential approaches include restoration incentives, producer finance, microfinance and market-linked conservation mechanisms.
5. Reducing Pressure on Forests through Clean Energy Finance
Explore financing approaches that expand access to clean cooking and alternative energy while reducing dependence on fuelwood and charcoal. This could help address one of the pressures on Sudan's forests and drylands while delivering benefits for livelihoods and resilience.
6. Greening Mining and Financing Ecosystem Rehabilitation
Explore mechanisms to strengthen environmental compliance and rehabilitation in artisanal and small-scale gold mining. Potential measures include financing for land reclamation and ecosystem restoration, stronger rehabilitation obligations, mercury reduction, certification and community oversight.
7. Strengthening Environmental Impact Assessment Finance
Strengthen the use of Environmental Impact Assessments to ensure that development activities adequately finance environmental mitigation, monitoring, rehabilitation and ecosystem restoration and comply with environmental safeguards.
8. Sustainable Fisheries Finance
Explore ways to align future fisheries support and investment with biodiversity safeguards, including stock assessment, selective fishing practices, ecosystem-based management and improved monitoring, particularly in Sudan's Red Sea ecosystems.
Additional analytical work is also exploring how natural-capital and biodiversity-related economic evidence can be strengthened within the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to better reflect nature-related dependencies, degradation and fiscal risks in economic and financial decision-making.
These potential solutions remain under assessment and have not yet been finalized or approved. Their feasibility, financing potential and biodiversity impact will be further evaluated through the BIOFIN process and development of Sudan's Biodiversity Finance Plan.
Key results
Establishing Sudan’s Biodiversity Finance Process
UNDP BIOFIN was officially launched in Sudan in August 2025, establishing a national platform for developing a more systematic approach to biodiversity finance. Governance arrangements have since advanced, including steps to establish the National Steering Committee and strengthen coordination between environmental, finance and sector institutions.
Building Sudan’s Policy and Institutional Evidence Base
Sudan completed a draft Policy and Institutional Review (PIR) in April 2026, mapping the policies, institutions, financing channels, incentives and subsidies that shape biodiversity finance in the country. Following technical review, the PIR is progressing through institutional consultation toward national validation.
Identifying Potential Biodiversity Finance Solutions
The PIR identified a preliminary portfolio of biodiversity finance opportunities for further assessment. These include biodiversity budget tagging, protected-area and forest revenues, Gum Arabic value-chain finance, clean energy approaches to reduce biomass pressure, mining rehabilitation finance and sustainable fisheries finance. The options will be further tested and prioritized through the BIOFIN analytical process.
Establishing a Framework to Track Biodiversity Expenditure
A Biodiversity Expenditure Review Methodology and Data Architecture Report has been developed, establishing the framework for analysing biodiversity-related expenditure over the 2015–2025 period. Data collection is underway to determine how biodiversity is currently financed across public institutions and sectors and provide a baseline for future financial planning.
Advancing Conflict-Sensitive Approaches to Biodiversity Finance
Sudan has contributed to regional knowledge exchange on applying biodiversity finance approaches in conflict-affected contexts. This experience can help strengthen the integration of biodiversity into recovery, public finance and development planning under challenging institutional and economic conditions.