China-backed biodiversity fund puts $4.5 mln into 9 projects worldwide

The first global biodiversity fund set up by a developing country for other developing countries has approved its latest round of projects. The Kunming Biodiversity Fund (KBF) signed off nine conservation projects worth roughly $4. 5 million, Vice Minister of Ecology and Environment Dong Baotong said Monday. Speaking at a briefing during the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Yerevan, Armenia, Dong said the projects span Armenia, Bangladesh, Benin, Cameroon, Cuba, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Somalia and Vietnam.

China has contributed 400 million yuan (about $60 million), and is calling on governments, businesses and civil society groups worldwide to contribute as well, he added. The fund backs conservation models that can be copied and scaled up, pooling cash from multiple sources to fill gaps in conservation financing. It's already approved 31 projects across 45 developing countries – with another 40 in the pipeline, focused on restoring ecosystems, emergency protection for rare and endangered species, and other conservation work. Astrid Schomaker, executive secretary of the CBD Secretariat, called it "an agile instrument" and…