This Knowledge Sharing Journey is the first of its kind. We are excited to be part of this journey and start a new tradition, where knowledge management and strengthening our grant-making practices are at the core of our actions to deliver conservation outcomes.

Charles Oluchina, Regional Programme Coordinator/Country Representative IUCN Tanzania

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This pilot initiative sought to foster positive conservation actions and outcomes from local organisations under two grant-making initiatives: the Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management (BIOPAMA) Action Component and Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in Territories of European Overseas (BEST).

This first-ever knowledge sharing journey combined online and in person workshops, where the BIOPAMA and BEST grantees, and the IUCN management teams, reflected on their grant-making experience, analysed it, and identified good practices and lessons learned. Knowledge products, including videos, posters, podcasts and articles were shared, with further knowledge briefs soon to be released for both the Eastern and Southern Africa and Western and Central African regions.

The journey also advanced the integration of PANORAMA – Solutions for a Healthy Planet – for future scaling with these and other IUCN-managed grant programmes, as a method to support reflection and documentation of successful outcomes of projects for systematic knowledge management.

Your voices and experiences are key ingredients to designing grant-making initiatives; they are part of the solutions to achieve global goals and targets. We endeavour to bring this experience and recommendations to the next levels: including the international community and the donors.

Charles Oluchina, Regional Programme Coordinator/Country Representative IUCN Tanzania

In view of the wide diversity of geographical contexts and conservation challenges represented, each participant was encouraged to reflect on an inspiring and replicable story from their work and share this with the other grantees. In doing so, networking among local actors was fostered and communication materials were developed to showcase each grantee’s unique successes.

The BIOPAMA Programme assists African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries to address their priorities for improved management and governance of biodiversity and natural resources through a variety of tools, services and funding. The BEST Initiative is a financial mechanism for supporting biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of ecosystem services, including the ecosystem-based approach to climate change adaption and mitigation, in the European Union (EU) Overseas. Both programmes are financed by the  European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA), and together have supported over 200 grantees since their inception.