Gabon Launches $200 Million Conservation and Community Development Programme
Gabon has formally launched Gabon Infini, a Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) initiative designed to mobilise up to $200 million over ten years for biodiversity conservation, protected-area management and community development. Developed in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, Enduring Earth and other conservation and financing partners, the programme proposes the creation of an additional 3.7 million hectares of protected areas while strengthening management of approximately 3.8 million hectares already under protection. The financing structure combines an estimated $94 million in donor funding - from the Global Environment Facility, the Bezos Earth Fund and other private donors - with up to $86 million in new Gabonese government contributions. The initiative supports Gabon's commitment to protect 30 percent of its terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems by 2030.
Central to the programme is the integration of community livelihoods with conservation outcomes, with funding directed towards ecotourism, sustainable forestry, community enterprises and measures to reduce human - wildlife conflict. The Fonds de Préservation de la Biodiversité au Gabon (FPBG) will serve as the primary channel for translating financial commitments into on-the-ground activities. Gabon's forests form part of the Congo Basin and are home to more than half of the world's remaining forest elephants and approximately one quarter of surviving lowland gorillas, giving the programme significant global biodiversity relevance. For the African travel and tourism industry, the expansion of protected areas and the planned ecotourism investment signal growing opportunities for nature-based tourism development across one of Central Africa's most biodiverse destinations.
Source: Africa Sustainability Matters
