Development Challenge

Lao PDR is a biodiversity-rich country but faces increasing pressures from habitat loss, unsustainable resource use, and economic development, requiring substantial financial resources to sustain conservation efforts.

A key challenge is the significant biodiversity finance gap, driven by limited awareness, fragmented coordination, weak data on biodiversity expenditures, and insufficient integration of biodiversity finance into national planning and budgeting systems.

In addition, financing needs for implementing the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) are not well defined or mobilized, and existing financing mechanisms are underutilized or inefficient. This constrains the country’s ability to meet national and global biodiversity targets under the Global Biodiversity Framework.

Project Background

The BIOFIN project supports the Lao PDR in developing and implementing a comprehensive biodiversity finance approach, using a globally recognized methodology to identify financing gaps and mobilize resources.

It focuses on four core analytical and strategic components: (i) Policy and Institutional Review (PIR); (ii) Biodiversity Expenditure Review (BER); (iii) Financing Needs Assessment (FNA); and (iv) Biodiversity Finance Plan (BFP), which identifies concrete finance solutions to close the financing gap and support NBSAP implementation.

Through this, the project strengthens national capacity, improves data and evidence, and facilitates multi-stakeholder collaboration to mainstream biodiversity finance into national planning and investment decisions.