The project aims to promote tourism, reduce poverty
.jpg "Derek Keats | Flickr")
The World Bank (WB) on Wednesday granted US $40 million to support Mozambique’s development project, Mozbio.
According to WB, Mozambique’s conservation areas (CAs) are made of diverse habitats that include a coastline with some of the most spectacular coral reefs in the world. The country possesses over 5,500 plant species, 222 mammal and 600 bird species.
Despite having a rich biodiversity, poverty rates in the country are extremely high among those living around CAs and the level of revenues generated from tourism is extremely low. The Mozbio project will help communities living around CAs and improve the lives of communities by promoting tourism, creating jobs and other business opportunities.
“We want to help the country unleash the economic potential of conservation and tourism as means to foster sustainable poverty alleviation,” said Mark Lundell, World Bank Country Director for Mozambique, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Comoros.
The Mozbio project will address some of the biggest challenges to CAs management, including strengthening institutional and policy framework for conservation. The project serves as a platform to address threats to conservation of Mozambique’s natural capital, promote tourism growth and reducing high poverty levels around CAs.
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