Protected Areas

Photo: UNDP Botswana

25 Dec 2025

Updating protected area fees in Botswana: Aligning prices with current market values through an evidence-based and participatory process

In Botswana, 40% of the territory is under some type of legal environmental protection, with 17% classified as protected areas. However, limited funding increased their exposure to habitat loss, ecosystem conversion, and other pressures. Protected area fees had not been updated since 2000 in the cou...Read more

Photo: Unsplash

10 Mar 2025

Costa Rica’s Future Flows Securitization Bill for Protected Areas provides a replicable model for unlocking public-private finance

Costa Rica has taken a significant step towards strengthening biodiversity finance. On 24 February 2025, the Environment Commission of the Legislative Assembly approved the SINAC Future Flows Securitization Bill (File 23.896). This legislation enables the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC...Read more

Photo: Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda

20 Nov 2024

Nurturing Rwanda’s Biodiversity for a Sustainable Future

In Rwanda, biodiversity plays a significant role in supporting sustainable development, contributing to thriving communities, ecosystem services, and tourism revenues. Recognizing this, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) works closely with the Government of Rwanda to ensure that biodive...Read more

Photo: Zanzibar, Tanzania

9 Sep 2024

Boosting Marine Conservation: How efficient fee collection and optimization can make a difference in Zanzibar

By Semiray Hadimoglu, Senior Programme Monitoring Associate, UNDP-BIOFIN, 9 September 2024 Zanzibar, an archipelago rich in marine and terrestrial ecosystems, is home to a variety of species, including fish, corals, dolphins and sea turtles. Biodiversity not only secures local livelihoods such as fi...Read more

Photo: UNDP Kazakhstan. East Kazakhstan region, Belukha Mountain range.

24 May 2024

Kazakhstan Triples Protected Area Budget, Advancing Biodiversity Goals

When the BIOFIN process began in Kazakhstan about ten years ago, it was realized that funding for protected areas was limited. The government wanted to change this with the support of UNDP-BIOFIN. Initially, a clause was included in the 2017 law on protected areas. This clause states that the manage...Read more