In South Africa, the BIOFIN project is implemented at a national level by the UNDP in partnership with the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF). The implementation of the project is done according to a stratey and agreed up Annual Work Plan. The national BIOFIN Project Steering Committee, co-chaired by DEFF and UNDP Country Office, provides guidance to the project, and the global UNDP BIOFIN team provides technical and other guidance.
The BIOFIN South Africa core team will be made up of three members: The National Project Manager, based in the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries; The Project Management Specialist, based in UNDP Country Office; and the Project Administrator, based in UNDP Country Office.
South Africa is the implementation phase of BIOFIN. There are currently eight finance solutions that are being implemented by BIOFIN SA, as set out in the AWP. These are: 1) growing protected area own-revenue; 2) property rates tax reform; 3) building a grant mechanism for biodiversity stewardship programmes; 4) institutional support for biodiversity tax incentives; 5) improving the biodiversity offsets implementation modality; 6) developing a voluntary market-based certification in the wildlife sector; 7) developing an online biodiversity-economy investment portal; 8) improving the effectiveness of permits. The specific workplans for each of these finance solutions will need to be updated in line with current needs and situation in the country.
There are some finance solution working groups already in place to drive the implementation of the finance solutions. These finance solutions complement the National Biodiversity Economy Strategy (NBES), which is led by DEFF with oversight from the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME).
Under the overall guidance of the Programme Manager and direct supervision of BIOFIN Project Manager and the Project Management Specialist, the Project Administrator provides project management support services ensuring high quality, accuracy and consistency of work.
The role of the Project Administrator is to ensure effective delivery of the Project by performing all administrative duties and further support the Project Manager and the Project Management Specialist on a day-to-day operation in line with the UNDP rules and regulations. The Project Administrator will report directly to the BIOFIN Project Manager and the Project Management Specialist. The Project Administrator will promote a client-focused, quality and result orientated approach in the UNDP Country Office. The Project Administrator will also work closely with all other relevant units and other project teams within the UNDP Country Office. The role of the Project Administrator works in close collaboration with the operations, programme and project staff in the CO and UNDP HQ as required to exchange information and support programme delivery.
The Project Administrator will be based at the UNDP Country Offices in Pretoria and may from time-to-time be required to have undertaken work-related aspects such as project related meetings at DEFF and in project landscapes.