Project Background

The proposed 36-month regional project, led by UNEP under the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF), aims to mainstream biodiversity conservation into productive sectors by addressing unsustainable sand extraction in Liberia and The Gambia. Recognizing sand mining as a major driver of coastal erosion, habitat loss, pollution, and biodiversity decline in the West African marine ecoregion, the project adopts a source-to-sea approach to strengthen policy and regulatory frameworks, enhance institutional and technical capacity, promote nature-based solutions, and foster market transformation along the sand value chain. Through baseline assessments, regional knowledge-sharing platforms, regulatory reform, private sector engagement, and support for women, youth, and Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities to transition toward biodiversity-friendly livelihoods, the project seeks to reduce ecological degradation while promoting sustainable economic resilience. With a total GEF financing envelope of approximately USD 4.9 million, the initiative aligns with national biodiversity strategies and GBF Action Areas 3 and 6 to integrate biodiversity safeguards into governance, markets, and investment decisions across the region.

The project (GEFID 12029), to be executed by the Environmental Protection Agency of Liberia, the National Environmental Agency of The Gambia, and UNEP’s Industry and Economy Division, is currently in its Project Preparation Grant (PPG) phase (December 2025–August 2026). The PPG process is supporting detailed baseline assessments, stakeholder consultations, spatial and market analyses, and the preparation of the CEO Endorsement Request package to ensure a technically robust, inclusive, and nationally aligned full proposal for submission to the GBFF.

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