Bolivia
Bolivia is one of the world’s megadiverse countries, home to globally significant ecosystems ranging from the Amazon and Chiquitano dry forests to the Pantanal, Andean highlands and Chaco. This natural capital supports agriculture, forestry, water security, tourism, energy and the livelihoods of millions of people. Yet biodiversity faces growing pressures from land-use change, ecosystem degradation, climate change and unsustainable resource use, while available finance remains fragmented and insufficient to fully meet the country’s conservation and sustainable development priorities.
Bolivia already finances biodiversity through public budgets, environmental funds, international cooperation and mechanisms supporting protected areas and natural resource management. However, biodiversity-related financial flows are spread across multiple institutions and sectors, making it difficult to systematically track expenditure, assess financing gaps and direct resources toward the areas where they can have the greatest impact. Strengthening coordination between environmental, planning and financial institutions and improving the effectiveness of existing public finance are therefore important alongside mobilizing new sources of investment.
UNDP BIOFIN is supporting Bolivia to build the evidence and financial framework needed to address these challenges and develop the country’s first Biodiversity Finance Plan. Through the Policy and Institutional Review, Biodiversity Expenditure Review and Financial Needs Assessment, the programme is analysing how biodiversity is currently financed, identifying financing needs and gaps, and assessing opportunities to improve and diversify public, private and innovative finance for nature.
Building on this evidence, the Biodiversity Finance Plan will prioritize feasible finance solutions to improve the effectiveness of existing financial flows, mobilize additional investment and strengthen the integration of biodiversity into financial and development decision-making. This work will support Bolivia in financing its national biodiversity priorities and advancing implementation of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
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Finance solutions
UNDP BIOFIN is assessing a portfolio of potential finance solutions to help Bolivia diversify funding for biodiversity, improve access to finance for nature-positive businesses and strengthen the integration of biodiversity into the financial system. These concepts will be further assessed and prioritized through the Biodiversity Finance Plan process before moving toward implementation.
1. Bolivia Biodiversity Bond
Explore the development of Bolivia's first thematic bond dedicated to biodiversity. The proposed instrument could mobilize capital for ecosystem restoration, protected areas, biodiversity conservation and bioeconomy projects, potentially beginning with a pilot issuance through a public development financial institution.
2. Bioeconomy and Nature-Based Business Credit Line
Develop specialized financial products to expand access to finance for biodiversity-positive businesses and sustainable value chains. Potential areas include Brazil nuts, cocoa, coffee, açaí, agroforestry, sustainable forest management and nature-based tourism.
3. Biodiversity and Natural Capital Investment Fund
Explore the establishment of an impact investment fund that could combine public, private and international resources to finance bioeconomy enterprises, ecosystem restoration and other nature-positive businesses.
4. Blended Finance for Biodiversity
Develop a blended finance mechanism combining concessional and development finance with private capital. By reducing investment risks, the mechanism could help attract additional private investment into biodiversity and nature-positive projects that may otherwise struggle to access commercial finance.
5. Payments for Ecosystem Services
Strengthen and scale up Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) to support forest conservation, watershed protection and other ecosystem services. The approach could connect local communities and subnational governments with beneficiaries of ecosystem services, creating sustainable financial incentives for conservation.
6. Green Guarantees for Biodiversity
Explore a partial credit guarantee mechanism to reduce financial risks and improve access to finance for biodiversity-positive investments. Potential beneficiaries could include ecosystem restoration projects, bioeconomy enterprises and sustainable production systems.
7. Integrating Biodiversity into the Sustainable Finance Taxonomy
Incorporate biodiversity, nature-based solutions and natural capital criteria into Bolivia's Sustainable Finance Taxonomy. This could help financial institutions and investors identify biodiversity-positive activities and direct more capital toward investments that contribute to nature.
8. Nature-Positive Financial Products
Develop financial products that integrate biodiversity considerations into lending, investment and risk management. Potential instruments include green loans, agroforestry and ecosystem restoration finance, insurance products and other financing mechanisms supporting nature-positive businesses and sustainable production.
These potential finance solutions are at different stages of conceptual development and assessment. Their feasibility, design and prioritization will be further considered through the BIOFIN analytical process, stakeholder consultations and development of Bolivia's Biodiversity Finance Plan.
Key results
Building Bolivia’s Biodiversity Finance Evidence Base
UNDP BIOFIN is developing an evidence base to understand how biodiversity is financed across Bolivia and where opportunities exist to improve financial flows. Work under the Policy and Institutional Review and Biodiversity Expenditure Review is helping identify relevant institutions, policies, financing mechanisms and public expenditure linked to biodiversity.
Analysing More Than 209,000 Public Budget Records
Bolivia’s Biodiversity Expenditure Review analysed more than 209,000 public budget records, providing a detailed picture of biodiversity-related public expenditure. The analysis creates a foundation for improving expenditure tracking, identifying financing trends and assessing how effectively public resources contribute to national biodiversity priorities.
Strengthening Coordination between Environment and Finance Institutions
The BIOFIN process has established national governance mechanisms and strengthened collaboration between institutions responsible for biodiversity, economic planning and public finance. This creates an important institutional foundation for integrating biodiversity more systematically into planning, budgeting and investment decisions.
Advancing the Policy and Institutional Review
Bolivia has advanced its Policy and Institutional Review, examining the policy, regulatory and institutional environment for biodiversity finance. The analysis is identifying opportunities to strengthen biodiversity-related financial governance and improve the enabling environment for mobilizing and managing resources for nature.
Preparing the Foundation for Bolivia’s Biodiversity Finance Plan
The evidence generated through the BIOFIN assessments will inform the Financial Needs Assessment and the development of Bolivia’s first Biodiversity Finance Plan. The Plan will identify financing gaps and prioritize feasible finance solutions to improve existing financial flows and mobilize additional public and private investment for biodiversity.