The projects will address critical environmental challenges – such as land degradation, biodiversity loss, unsustainable fishing and climate change - that threaten the food security and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people in Asia and Africa.

They will be implemented in partnership with and co-financed by the governments of Cambodia, Cameroon, Eritrea, Lesotho, Malaysia, Senegal, Thailand, and Vietnam.

“These projects are especially welcome after the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration,” said FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu. “It is vital that we take actionnow to restore the natural systems on land and water that we rely on to achieve better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life.”

The projects approved by the GEF will assist countries and communities to adopt more sustainable and climate-resilient practices, foster regional cooperation, and enact stronger policies to conserve biodiversity and deter illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Among the FAO-led projects is a regional project in the Gulf of Thailand that will promote sustainable fisheries management in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

By adopting an ecosystem approach to fisheries and strengthening fisheries governance, the project will help conserve marine biodiversity and reduce the excessive exploitation of overfished fish stocks, while supporting the sustainability of fisherfolk livelihoods.

Since December 2018,FAO has mobilized more than 550 million USD in GEF grant funding for member countries, including the latest projects, making FAO one of the top four GEF agencies globally.