The 10-year plan combines $94 million in donor funding, from organisations including the Global Environment Facility and the Bezos Earth Fund, with $86 million of government investment. It aims to create new national parks, combat elephant poaching, and expand eco-tourism using a Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) model, an approach that ties funding to key policy reforms.
The PFP model is gaining traction globally. Brazil recently announced a similar scheme covering nearly 243,000 sq km of the Amazon rainforest, while Kenya and Namibia are also finalising comparable agreements.
Gabon plays a crucial role in the Congo Basin’s ecosystem, with almost 90% of its land covered by tropical rainforest. It is home to more than half of the world’s African forest elephants, as well as a quarter of surviving western lowland gorillas.
The plan builds on a 2023 debt for nature swap, completed just weeks before a military coup, which refinanced $500 million in loans and set aside funds for coastal preservation.
Concerns remain about Gabon’s finances, with the 2026 draft budget projecting nearly double government spending, and credit agencies warning that debt to GDP could rise to almost 90% compared to 73% last year.
Maurice Ntossui Allogo, the former minister overseeing the conservation initiative, called the Letter of Intent a “decisive milestone” for Gabon’s environmental efforts. Ryan Demmy Bidwell of The Nature Conservancy said the project could expand protected rainforest coverage from around 15% to 30%, and serve as a model for conservation across the Congo Basin and Africa.