The Biodiversity Expenditure Review contains detailed data on public, private, and civil society biodiversity expenditures data. The BER engaged in assessing the expenditure status of investments pertinent to biodiversity conservation and environmental management throughout the period of 2012 – 2017.The overarching primary sectors and most pertinent agencies were identified and selected from
the Policy and Institutional Review’s prioritization “power and interest” matrix to undergo BIOFIN expenditure assessment. The BER focused its assessment on the key sectors and agencies which contribute both directly and/or indirectly to biodiversity conservation in Belize. 
 

The result of applying the BIOFIN approach in Belize is The Biodiversity Finance Plan (BFP) presented here as the fourth output of BIOFIN Phase 1. The Plan proposes a suite of biodiversity finance solutions, which are capable of raising the financial and other resources required to achieve the country’s biodiversity targets in accordance with the activities of the National Biodiversity Strategy
and Action Plan (NBSAP), the long-term development strategy Horizon 2030, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Belize acknowledges the urgency of effecting the finance plan given the reality that its economic stability strongly links to the conservation of its biological resources.
 

The Policy and Institutional Review has provided an important snapshot into the current policy, institutional, and finance landscape for biodiversity finance in Belize. The introduction and implementation of the BIOFIN in Belize, in and of itself, has raised the profile of biodiversity finance in Belize.
 

The Financial Needs Assessment (FNA) is the third output of BIOFIN, that assists in estimating the funds required to achieve the biodiversity targets of the country in accordance with the activities of the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP). It aims to assist policy makers in understanding the total cost implications for implementing each NBSAP activity and aggregates the total cost for all strategies and actions within Belize's NBSAP
 

As a means of keeping stakeholders informed of the Biodiversity Finance Initiative's (BIOFIN) progress in Belize, please find attached the first of many Environmental Briefs to be developed and circulated by the BIOFIN Team.