Thematic Trust Fund - Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Network (BES-Net) phase II

Putting a halt to nature’s rapid decline requires urgent, collaborative solutions and actions. Through BES-Net, UNDP, UNEP-WCMC and UNESCO promote networking and cooperation among policymakers, scientists and practitioners to jointly design and implement solutions for effective management of biodiversity and ecosystem services and long-term sustainable development. During its second phase, the project supports policymaking and transformative on-the-ground actions in a total of 18 countries through targeted seed funds. Building on the work of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy-Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), BES-Net II also extends its capacity-building support in four further countries to undertake National Ecosystem Assessments and facilitates science-policy-practice triangular dialogues to help identify cutting-edge nature-based solutions in 40 countries. With a growing online platform BES-Net’s online channels disseminate news, events, jobs and research.

Project data

Countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Cameroon, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Grenada, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Botswana, Viet Nam, Ivory Coast, Armenia, Namibia
IKI funding: 20,000,000.00 €
Duration: 01/2020 till 12/2028
Status: open
Implementing organisation: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Political Partner: Alexander von Humboldt Institute on Research for Biological Resources - Colombia

Ethiopia Biodiversity Institute (EBI)

Federal Ministry of Environment - Nigeria

Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism - Bosnia and Herzegovina

Institute of Strategy and Policy Agriculture and Environment (ISPAE) – Viet Nam

Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (MAE) - Vietnam

Ministry of Climate Resilience, The Environment, Forestry, Fisheries & Disaster Management - Grenada

Ministry of Ecology and natural resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry (MECCF) - Kenya

Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism - Namibia

Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism - Botswana

Ministry of Environment, Nature Protection and Sustainable Development (MINEPDED) - Cameroon

Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources - Dominican Republic

Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development - Côte d’Ivoire

Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Armenia

Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Environment - Malawi

Ministry of Planning and Development - Trinidad and Tobago

Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning - ONEP - Thailand
Implementing Partner: UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC)

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Online: https://www.besnet.world/

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State of implementation/results

With the catalytic BES Solution Fund support, a total of 13 countries have come on board to lead the coordinated policy-science-practice uptake of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) assessments and/or national ecosystem assessments (NEAs).
UNEP-WCMC provides administrative and capacity-building support—including physical sessions, webinars, and written resources—to guide NEA development in Botswana, the Dominican Republic, Malawi, and Thailand. All four countries are in the expert evaluation phase, with authors leading the drafting of technical reports based on literature review and supplementary in-field data collection.
UNESCO provides advisory and technical support to enhance the mobilization and weaving of Indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) in NEAs and promotes the engagement of Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs) across BES-Net's activities. Support is delivered by producing practical guides, organizing ILK training sessions and facilitating dialogues with IPLCs on the ground, and guiding participatory ground research. Dedicated expert authors are on board in the respective NEA countries to consolidate and incorporate ILK content in the assessments.
The BES-Net web portal serves as a one-stop-shop for global biodiversity information, publishing the latest news about BES-Net and its 131 partners, disseminating global information on vacancies and upcoming events, and offering an online library that hosts over 4,500 knowledge resources (www.besnet.world).

Latest Update:
12/2025