Overview

Pilot projects for Biodiversity Technical Assistance Units (BTAUs) in Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland

Biodiversity business opportunities exist across a range of sectors from specific agricultural practices, to ecotourism or sustainable forestry. Companies that make use of natural resources are mostly micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Markets can work for biodiversity and sustainable use of resources and, if properly managed by public policy, remain a good mechanism for managing scarce resources and improving livelihoods. The challenge of long-term biodiversity conservation is one that would benefit from the active involvement of the business and banking community.

The aim

The project aims to create instruments in selected countries (Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland) that apply a public-private partnership approach in exploring business opportunities for safeguarding biodiversity. These instruments - ‘Biodiversity Technical Assistance Units’ - will work to achieve two main aims:

• to facilitate the creation of a new pro-biodiversity investment market for the business and banking sector;
• to deliver a pipeline of bankable projects for future investment loans for the benefit of biodiversity.

The project will explore the specific links between SME activities, their social and economic inputs in rural areas, and the conservation of biodiversity.

For more information on the project visit the BTAU Project website:
http://www.smeforbiodiversity.eu