More than 200 final-year university students and recent graduates from public and private universities and colleges across the country were trained in the process of environmental impact assessment and the implementation of biodiversity offsets in Mozambique. The event, promoted by the COMBO+ Programme, a partnership between the Ministry of Land and Environment (MTA), the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS-Mozambique) and the Foundation for the Conservation of Biodiversity (BIOFUND), took place between 10 and 11 September 2024 in person in Maputo and virtually.
The aim of this training was to build the capacity of environmental academics at national level to promote awareness of the legislation on the environmental impact assessment process (Decree no 54/2015, of 31 December) and the implementation of biodiversity offsets, in accordance with the Directive on Biodiversity Offsets (Ministerial Diploma no 55/2022, of 19 May). With this training, newly graduated university students gain a background that will contribute to their future professional careers as environmental consultants, auditors or any other related function.
This training is part of the capacity building program implemented by the COMBO+ programme since 2021, aimed at building capacity at DINAB's Biodiversity Offset Assessment and Monitoring Office (RAACB), the Technical Commission for Environmental Impact Assessment Evaluation (CTA), academia, the private sector, NGOs and all other actors involved in the implementation of Biodiversity Offsets in Mozambique. More national capacity-building trainings will be implemented, the next one being aimed at the financial sector.
The COMBO+ Programme is currently funded by the Agence Française de Developpement (AFD) and the Fonds Français pour l'Environnement Mondial (FFEM), with co-financing from other donors, including NORAD. In Mozambique, COMBO+ is also funded by the MOZBIO 2 Project (World Bank), UNDP (BIOSFAC and BIOFIN) and the biodiversity conservation program through the Swedish Embassy.