Abuja, November 2025 — The weekend launch of Nigeria’s Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) unfolded not as a ceremonial policy announcement, but as a recalibration of how the country intends to protect its ecosystems in the decade ahead. In a hall filled with government officials, private-sector leaders, development partners and UNDP representatives, the message was unmistakable: Nigeria’s biodiversity crisis is now an economic challenge, and its solution requires financial architecture on a scale never previously attempted in the country.
BIOFIN, introduced as part of a global UNDP-backed initiative, aims to close a biodiversity financing gap that is eroding ecosystems and threatening livelihoods across the country. For a nation whose forests, freshwater systems and species underpin food security, water access, energy, medicines and rural economies, the stakes are profound. Nature loss is costing the world more than $500 billion annually, and Nigeria—home to some of Africa’s richest biodiversity—has been losing ground quickly.
A national wake-up call, framed as economic strategy
Nigeria’s new framework situates biodiversity not as a siloed environmental concern but as a national development priority. The initiative complements the National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plan by offering financing tools and concrete pathways for implementation.
“Forests are more than trees; they are living systems under pressure from unsustainable exploitation, land-use change, and climate variability. The urgency to act has never been greater,” said Halima Bawa-Bwari, Director of Forestry at the Federal Ministry of Environment, in remarks delivered by Deputy Director Awuyo Christopher.
Her comments captured the core argument behind BIOFIN: conservation cannot succeed without functional markets, predictable funding, and deliberate integration of biodiversity into macroeconomic planning. Nigeria has already begun that shift through increased budget allocations, new development partnerships, and efforts to mainstream nature into agriculture, energy, infrastructure and community programs.
Private capital as the missing engine
BIOFIN’s central innovation lies in its design for mobilizing private-sector participation—something Nigeria’s past biodiversity efforts rarely achieved at scale. Businesses rely heavily on natural resources, and the initiative seeks to establish market incentives that align commercial strategy with conservation.
“Raw materials are taken from nature, so businesses must have an interest in ensuring the continuity of their operations. Whatever they do should not harm nature. Conservation of biodiversity is everyone’s responsibility,” said Joseph Onoja, Director General of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, who is partnering with the global coalition Business for Nature to bring companies directly into NBSAP implementation.
This shift—from passive endorsement to active engagement—is reinforced through the creation of a Business Advisory Group that will help design a Business Action Plan for Biodiversity. Its aim is to tie corporate sustainability commitments to measurable conservation outcomes at national scale.
Building a nature-positive economy
The initiative’s wider objective is to catalyse a nature-positive economic model in Nigeria—one where biodiversity is reflected in ESG priorities, investment decisions, and risk assessments.
“Nature must be reflected in ESG priorities so governments and businesses can jointly address biodiversity loss,” said Oluwasooto Ajayi, Africa Lead at Business for Nature.
She emphasized that Africa’s ecological wealth is a global asset: the continent holds 25 percent of the world’s biodiversity, and Nigeria is central to its protection.
The BIOFIN launch initiates a multi-month engagement process to map financing opportunities, improve natural capital accounting, and align public and private incentives. Still, funding remains the principal barrier. Eugene Itua, sustainability expert at Natural Eco Capital, noted that without stronger investment mechanisms, conservation efforts remain underpowered.
“Investing in biodiversity is investing in our prosperity, resilience and future,” said Bawa-Bwari.
A structural shift in Nigeria’s environmental governance
By embedding biodiversity into national economic planning, Nigeria is positioning nature as part of its long-term growth and risk-management strategy. Stakeholders stressed that companies will increasingly be expected to measure how their operations affect and depend on ecosystems—from water and land to raw materials and supply chains.
This approach mirrors global pressure on countries to move beyond policy commitments toward durable financing solutions. As nations prepare to report on their biodiversity targets under the Global Biodiversity Framework, Nigeria’s BIOFIN launch signals both alignment with international priorities and a domestic strategy to protect irreplaceable ecosystems.
In Abuja, the tone was not celebratory but resolute: Nigeria is shifting from conservation plans to conservation financing. Whether BIOFIN can mobilize enough capital—and fast enough—will determine how far the country can move toward a future where protecting nature is understood not only as an environmental duty, but as the foundation of sustainable economic growth.
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