Conserving Biodiversity

Conservation is an American tradition that creates and sustains economic opportunity and protects the plants, animals, and natural places that communities need to thrive. By investing in the world’s priority biodiversity areas, USAID helps the world’s most vulnerable people secure better health and well-being outcomes while managing and conserving their natural wealth.

Across Latin America & the Caribbean, USAID fosters community-led natural resource management. In the Republic of Guatemala, USAID investments support the management of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, the largest protected area in Central America. In FY 2020, USAID assistance led to 3,898 new jobs and $22.7 million in forest product sales from certified forest concessions in the Maya Biosphere Reserve, Verapaces, and Western Highlands.

Jason Houston / USAID

Guided by the Agency’s Biodiversity Policy and Environmental and Natural Resource Management Framework, USAID works in approximately 60 countries to conserve biodiversity, leverage private sector funds, fight conservation crime, and support sustainable fisheries. USAID’s work is more critical than ever: Nature is declining at unprecedented rates in human history and an estimated 1 million plant and animal species face extinction. Declines in biodiversity and ecosystem services threaten to undermine progress already achieved toward many global development goals and our ability to effectively support partner countries’ economies, global health, security, and capabilities to adapt to a changing climate.

USAID invests in biodiversity conservation because:

• Approximately 1.6 billion people worldwide rely on forests for their livelihoods, especially the rural poor.
• Biodiversity loss increases risks of disease and poor nutrition.
• Environmental sectors, like forestry and fisheries, are important entry points for women’s economic empowerment.
• Biodiversity keeps soils fertile, agricultural pests in check, and supports pollinators that sustain and improve food security through increased agricultural productivity.
• Fighting environmental crime and  corruption in rural communities improves  safety and opportunities for legal livelihoods.

Looking for tools and guidance related to USAID biodiversity programming? Visit the Agency’s global knowledge portal to advance USAID’s Biodiversity Policy, BiodiversityLinks.