The +Mujeres +Natura (+Women +Nature) Programme: Empowering women through access to nature-positive finance and participation in decision-making for biodiversity

The elaboration of Costa Rica's National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) 2016-2025 was novel in integrating a gender inclusion assessment and gender-sensitive goals.  

The gender assessment involved an in-depth analysis of the institutional gaps and barriers for women's participation in environmental governance. This assessment provided inputs for the inclusion of gender-sensitive goals in the NBSAP. Findings also underpinned new programmes to reduce gender inequalities in biodiversity, including the +Women +Nature. 

In addition, Costa Rica's National Policy for Effective Equality between Women and Men (PIEG) had not incorporated gender barriers in biodiversity. BIOFIN supported an inter-institutional cooperation framework to integrate the PIEG with the NBSAP process, with a focus on strengthening women's economic empowerment through the sustainable use of biodiversity. This cooperation was fundamental to understanding the relationship between gender institutional gaps in biodiversity and finance, providing a detailed needs assessment that served as the foundation for designing the +Women +Nature programme.  

Before the +Women +Nature programme was officially launched in 2020, BIOFIN supported Costa Rica's Ministry of Environment and Energy in developing the Executive Directive 005-2019, which aims to reduce gender gaps in biodiversity-related sectors (water, protected areas, and forests) and enhance women’s participation.  

+Women +Nature was launched as a strategy to implement this directive — recognizing the linkages between gender-related institutional barriers, biodiversity conservation, and socioeconomic development — and to promote financial solutions that do not replicate these interconnected challenges.  

Therefore, the directive provided an enabling framework for the development and implementation of the +Women +Nature programme, creating a favorable momentum by anchoring the initiative in a pre-existing legal directive. Furthermore, this approach supports the long-term sustainability of the programme beyond a specific government mandate. 

The programme includes three novel mechanisms to enhance women’s access to nature-positive finance, enabling their contribution to biodiversity conservation while strengthening their livelihoods.  

Crédito Mujeres Natura (Women Natura Credit): Loans from USD 800 to 16,000, with an interest rate of 8-15% per year and a term of up to five years. It is targeted at women working in biodiversity. The credit line was developed by Fundecooperación para el Desarollo (Foundation for Development). Guarantees include mortgage, movable assets, pledges, fiduciary guarantees, or a guarantee from the Trust Fund of the National Institute for Social Welfare (FIDEMAS) for the population in poverty.  

FONAFIFO a tu lado (at your side): Loans of up to USD 9,950 to women working in agriculture, with an interest rate of 4-7% per year and a term of up to 10 years. Funds can be used for working capital, equipment purchases, infrastructure, and innovative projects related to forest conservation and/or sustainable use. Mortgage, fiduciary, and organizational guarantees are accepted.  

PSA Mujeres de FONAFIFO (PSE Women): Launched to increase women’s participation in the national payment for environmental services programme. Women applicants receive additional points, increasing their overall score and their likelihood of receiving compensations.  

In addition to supporting women’s access to credit, +Women +Nature also seeks to increase their participation in decision-making related to biodiversity, reducing gender gaps in the design of gender-responsive programmes.  

As part of this process, a diagnosis of institutional gender gaps particularly within the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC) and the National Commission for Biodiversity Management (CONAGEBIO) was concluded with support from UNDP BIOFIN and a Gender Action Plan for REDD+ was developed by the Forestry Financing Fund (FONAFIFO). The diagnosis process included workshops, consultations, and co-design events with public servants, women associations, park rangers, women producers, women forest fire fighters, and many more contributing to capacity-building and raising awareness on gender equality in biodiversity. 

Later, an Interinstitutional Gender Equality Assessment for the Environment, Energy, Oceans, and Water Sectors was developed, including the SINAC, FONAFIFO, and CONAGEBIO. The National Institute of Women (INAMU) supported this process, with technical and financial assistance from BIOFIN. This work complemented ongoing efforts and enabled the INAMU and the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) to jointly develop a Gender Climate Action Plan, launched in 2023 with support from UNDP NDC programmes.  

The National Institute of Women of Costa Rica, with support from BIOFIN, also developed a Gender Equality Seal to recognize and encourage women's participation in decision-making related to biodiversity conservation.  

The seal is a public policy instrument to encourage the elimination of gaps between men and women in the workplace, both in public institutions and in the private sector. It recognizes transformations in management models that integrate an intersectoral gender perspective in planning and budgeting procedures.   

The seal is a local version of UNDP's internal Institutional Gender Gap Diagnosis, carried out with the Indic@Equality tool. It was adapted to follow Costa Rica's national certification standard 38G of the Institute of Technical Standards of Costa Rica. 

Five institutions from the biodiversity conservation sector are included in this certification process: the National Commission for Biodiversity Management (CONAGEBIO), the Forest Financing Fund (FONAFIFO) and three protected areas of the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC), namely: Cocos Marine Conservation Area (ACMC), Arenal Huetar Norte Conservation Area (ACAHN), and Central Pacific Conservation Area (ACOPAC).    

Finally, as an umbrella programme, +Women +Nature also features the integration of a gender-responsive approach to all biodiversity finance mechanisms implemented with BIOFIN's support in Costa Rica.  

BIOFIN Costa Rica has provided advisory and technical assistance for implementing a portfolio of six financial solutions to meet and reduce the finance gap for nature. Women, indigenous territories, and rural communities have been prioritized in this process, acknowledged as frontline champions in catalyzing a new, nature-positive economy. 

Financial solutions implemented with BIOFIN's support are marked on a scale of gender-responsiveness from 1 to 3 using UNDP's internal Institutional Gender Gap Diagnosis. The BIOFIN team monitors the amount of finance directed to gender-positive activities.