The 2004 Biodiversity Program Study (BPS2004) asks a simple but critical question: are substantial GEF investments translating into measurable conservation results?

The evaluation finds that the program played a central role in financing global biodiversity conservation—supporting protected areas, enabling policies, and partnerships—while steadily aligning with CBD priorities and strategic replenishment guidance.

At the same time, it underscored persistent shortcomings, including an average of five years to process a full-sized project, uneven attention to sustainability, and weaknesses in establishing baselines, selecting indicators, and measuring biodiversity outcomes and impacts. Although some achievements were notable—such as supporting over half of eligible World Heritage sites and contributing to the expansion of protected areas globally—only 14 percent of reviewed projects reported measurable impacts, often limited and localized.

The report concludes that biodiversity would have been worse off without GEF support, but achievements could have been more profound had resources been guided more strategically, managed more efficiently, and linked to clearer long-term outcomes.

This report was presented during: GEF Council Meeting 24