The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will fund consultancy work to determine the potential of nature or biodiversity credits in funding an expansion of an initiative seeking to protect and restore the massive East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF).
In a recently posted ad, the bank asked for expressions of interest from consultancies to examine the potential for earning nature credits by expanding the Regional Flyway Initiative (RFI), which ADB launched with BirdLife International and others in 2021.
“The consultants will support the [RFI] project team in undertaking a study to examine the potential of nature/biodiversity credits to fill the funding gap to support species and wetland protection for RFI priority sites,” the bank said.
Southeast Asia will be the main focus of the study, with most of the work expected to be done on the Philippines and Thailand, as well as Bangladesh, identified as areas where RFI efforts should be ramped up.
“Based on existing understanding of opportunities, the study will primarily focus on voluntary markets, although statutory markets should also be looked at such as the emerging system in the UK with Biodiversity Net Gain legislation,” said the ad.
It noted that many developers in the carbon credit market is looking to get involved in the emerging biodiversity market as well, and that there might be scope for carbon crediting for RFI as well, given the project’s focus on wetland restoration.
Current RFI sites span 22 countries from Russia in the north to New Zealand in the south, supporting more than 50 million migratory waterbirds belonging to over 210 species, of which a fifth are globally threatened, according to the bank.
“Despite this, extensive loss or degradation of coastal and inland wetlands continues, largely because of land conversion, drainage for agriculture, and as a result of climate change. Hunting of waterbirds and other wetland fauna also remains a major threat at many sites,” said the ad.
“While the EAAFP and other development partners have made successful efforts to protect migratory waterbirds and wetlands in the EAAF, these endeavors must be expanded from site-focused projects to a network-wide program across multiple countries.”
At launch in 2021, the ADB said the aim was to raise $3 billion in funding over a decade.
The project has inspired BirdLife International, the National Audubon Society, and the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean to set up a similar project across the Americas.
BirdLife International last year told Carbon Pulse they were seeking to raise $3-5 bln over 10 years to launch more than 30 projects.
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