28 July 2011: Participants at the West Africa regional workshop on biodiversity and finance in support of the Nagoya Outcomes shared information on their national biodiversity strategies and action plans (NBSAPs) and heard presentations on finance-related issues.

Organized by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in collaboration with the Global Environment Facility (GEF) country support programme, and with the financial support of the European Commission, the workshop was held on 22 July 2011, in Monrovia, Liberia. It followed the GEF Expanded Constituency Workshop for the region, held from 19-21 July 2011, in Monrovia. The Monrovia workshop was the eighth regional workshop on biodiversity and finance in support of the Nagoya outcomes.

The workshop was attended by CBD and GEF national focal points from Benin, Cote d’ Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Togo. Participants shared information on the progress made in preparing NBSAPs project proposals and heard four presentations from the CBD Secretariat on: the scope of biodiversity activities and finances; the strategy for resource mobilization; market-based innovative financial mechanisms; and governance-related innovative financial mechanisms.

Participants highlighted the need to include cost estimation in revised NBSAPs, and called for organizing capacity building and training for resource mobilization focal points. On market-based innovative financial mechanisms, they expressed concern with the distribution of benefits on the value chain, and suggested that markets for green products and offset mechanisms should be examined first under the CBD, while further research should be conducted on payment for ecosystem services to clarify net local and global benefits. The presentation on governance-related innovative financial mechanisms provided an update on environmental fiscal reforms, while participants noted that it is not very clear how biodiversity activities can benefit from such mechanisms. [CBD Communiqué]