Africa Wildlife Foundation wins Africa Sustainable Futures Award

The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) has been selected as a winner in the Financial Times and the World Bank Group’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) inaugural awards program to promote ground-breaking, long-term solutions to development challenges in Africa.

Taking place in London on Wednesday 30th October, following the Financial Times Africa Summit, the Africa Sustainable Futures Awards recognizes regenerative projects in Africa that protect ecosystems by conserving or restoring natural capital and leverage biodiversity to create long-term growth, greener and higher quality jobs, more secure supply of food and water, and barriers to natural and man-made disasters.

AWF was selected as the winner of the Biodiversity and Ecosystems Protection category for its work in supporting Biodiversity Economies.

A barrier to scaling investments into economic activities that protect and restore nature is the absence of an enabling framework that empowers local communities and governments to unlock value and benefits from wildlife and habitat conservation. To combat this, AWF has been partnering with government ministries across Africa to develop integrated national policies incentivizing nature-positive growth, known as biodiversity economies.

Accepting the award on behalf of AWF, Edwin Tambara, Director of Global Leadership thanked the judges and AWF’s leadership team. He remarked: “At AWF, we are convinced that nature is an asset for us, that can drive our economic development. By working with governments to make sure that biodiversity can be seen as an economic pillar, we can create opportunities for Africans, particularly for African youth, who we see as a powerful driver for growth.”

AWF’s inclusive approach to facilitating biodiversity economies provides compelling evidence for investing in nature as a productive asset, shapes enabling policies, and creates frameworks to foster growth, investment, and sustainable development. These efforts are unlocking the full economic potential of biodiversity, driving conservation efforts, and enhancing livelihoods across the continent.

When announcing the winner in the Biodiversity and Ecosystems Protection category, judges remarked that AWF was selected for its innovative project that protects ecosystems and restores natural capital. Through AWF’s initiative, the judges recognized that AWF has partnered with governments to ensure wildlife and economic development work in tandem and that biodiversity is at the heart of decision-making.

“We hope to leverage this recognition to convince more African countries that we need to build their biodiversity economies as a critical component. This model can contribute to our economic growth in so many ways that we are yet to discover,”   stated Tambara.

Countries are actively gaining knowledge about biodiversity economies in each country, including key subsectors, the uses and magnitude of biodiversity for subsistence and commercial purposes, types of wildlife-based products and value chains, and key actors involved.

For example, in 2022, Zimbabwe launched the Zimbabwe Biodiversity Economy Report, revealing that nature-based tourism annually contributes $1 billion, with over $500 million from non-timber forest products, $20 million from trophy hunting, and $12 million from wild fisheries. Other key subsectors include forestry and bioprospecting. Insights from this report are already informing policy reviews and improvements, such as the Wildlife Act and Forestry Policy, the biodiversity economy investment blueprint, natural capital accounts, and a carbon credits framework.

Commenting on future aspirations for the project, Kaddu Sebunya, CEO of AWF said,” As the continent’s development agenda shapes up, we expect biodiversity economies to become a key economic pillar for African nations, driving job creation, income, and revenue generation. These economies will particularly benefit conservation landscapes, which are often marginalized in economic agendas, by providing opportunities for local communities and vulnerable groups, such as women and youth.  Through models like this, we can drive economic transportation and foster a more resilient and prosperous future where Africa’s wildlife and people thrive in a modern Africa.”

Biodiversity economies are helping reposition natural resources as an asset that governments, communities, and the private sector can invest, grow, and receive a return on investment. At the macro-level, countries such as Kenya, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana have seen on average 8 –12 % percent contribution to GDP evidence that biodiversity economies are viable and can generate revenues to sustain conservation, livelihoods, and profits.

Moving forward, AWF aims to see all 54 African countries appreciate the role of biodiversity economies in their economies and adopt actionable biodiversity economy-enabling policies and frameworks to foster investment and growth of the sector for conservation and sustainable development outcomes.