UNDP-GEF

Projects in Action

The project Sustainable Uses of Medicinal Plants works to promote the conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants in the Saint Katherine Protectorate (SKP) in Egypt. The SKP is home to over 400 plant species and over 100 species which are used for medicinal purposes, though many species are exploited and threatened with local extinction. The project has introduced best practices for sustainable collection and cultivation of these plants by the local indigenous Bedouin community and worked to protect indigenous knowledge about these plants. 95% of the wild collectors of medicinal plants in the SKP are women; the project's efforts to strengthen the value chain for medicinal plants, including by supporting the development of small businesses run by women to process medicinal plants, is contributing directly to their welfare. The project has worked to increase women's access to resources; microloans have been issued to 54 Bedouin women and 55 women have been trained through a handicrafts programme.

The Cape Floristic Region Biodiversity Hotspot in South Africa is a globally significant repository of biodiversity, though it is threatened by a number of human-induced pressures which are gradually undermining key conservation values. The Government of South Africa has initiated an ambitious long-term approach to arrest these pressures called the Cape Action for People and the Environment (CAPE). The project Agulhas Biodiversity Initiative comprises one of three complementary GEF initiatives in support of the CAPE program aimed at strengthening systemic, institutional and individual capacities and establishing the know-how for conversation management in different ecological and socio-economic conditions needed to attain conservation. The project has worked to promote and enhance sustainable livelihoods in the Agulhas Plain area and has employed nearly 400 women in project activities including sustainable harvesting, flower picking and packing, compacting roads and erosion control.

Namibia is the driest country in sub-Saharan Africa and land degradation is an increasing problem for the approximately 70% of the country's population who are directly dependent on subsistence agriculture and livestock husbandry. The project Sustainable Land Management Support and Adaptive Management is a Country Partnership with various government ministries to combat land degradation by supporting community-led sustainable land management efforts. The project has established an Innovation Grants Mechanism which provides small grants to community groups to promote sustainable land management. 40% of grant recipients are women's groups. Another project initiative, the Conservation Agriculture Support programme, has benefited 150 female farmers.