Across arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid regions of Africa, the Observatoire du Sahara et du Sahel (OSS), or Sahara and Sahel Observatory, accelerates biodiversity action by combining scientific expertise, regional cooperation, data-driven tools, and access to climate and biodiversity finance to help countries implement effective action in some of the world’s most climate-vulnerable contexts. At its core, OSS’s approach is about making Nature’s protection actionable: Turning data into decisions, partnerships into projects, and national priorities into funded, on-the-ground interventions.

Abir Ben Romdhane, OSS Head of Biological Diversity Division, explains:

Founded in 1992, OSS supports 28 African countries in the sustainable management of natural resources. Its work spans water management, land degradation, biodiversity, and climate change, reflecting the interconnected nature of environmental challenges and the need for integrated solutions. Many of these countries face severe climate and environmental pressures ranging from droughts and land degradation to coastal erosion and biodiversity loss, increasing the urgency of integrated and scalable implementation approaches. 

In 2020, OSS adopted an updated strategy focusing on developing and supporting technical and scientific tools for assessing biodiversity and ecosystem services, as well as supporting communication and capacity building on the value of biodiversity. It has played a major role in helping countries synergize indicators, data, and reporting on the three Rio Conventions for land, climate, and biodiversity. 

In an interview with the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership conducted while at OSS, former Biodiversity Director Fatou Mar emphasized the value of the organization’s work:

OSS accelerates biodiversity action by combining regional cooperation and coordination with strategic finance and scientific tools to help countries align methodologies, strengthen data systems, and translate global commitments under the Rio Conventions into measurable, on-the-ground implementation. Rather than treating biodiversity conservation as a standalone issue, OSS’s approach integrates restoration, climate adaptation, livelihoods, governance, and finance into a connected implementation framework designed to support long-term resilience and sustainable development.

A central focus of OSS’s acceleration effort is equipping countries with the technical systems needed to plan, implement, monitor, and report on biodiversity and climate action more effectively. This includes remote sensing-based land degradation monitoring systems aligned with SDG 15.3.1, which track changes in vegetation, soil conditions, and ecosystem health to support restoration and drought response. OSS also supports climate and agricultural early warning systems that combine satellite data and climate modelling to anticipate droughts, rainfall variability, and agricultural stress, helping countries act earlier to protect ecosystems and livelihoods.

In addition, OSS develops regional geoportals and GIS-based mapping platforms, increasingly enhanced with AI tools, to visualise biodiversity, land-use change, water systems, and ecosystem pressures for decision-making. A core pillar is its ecosystem and natural capital accounting platform, which brings together more than 400 indicators to measure ecosystem condition and ecosystem services, helping countries better reflect the value of nature in national planning.

These systems integrate earth observation data, biodiversity indicators, and socio-economic information, enabling countries to track ecosystem change, prioritise restoration, and improve conservation decisions. They also support more efficient reporting by aligning indicators with the Global Biodiversity Framework and other Rio Conventions, reducing duplication and improving coherence. 

Fatou Mar emphasized the purpose of this work for African nations:

OSS serves as a platform for South–South cooperation, fostering collaboration among countries facing similar environmental challenges, including regional governance platforms, thematic working groups, and coordination mechanisms that align implementation across countries. It also serves as a connector for North-South cooperation, supporting partnerships that lead to scaling action. Through knowledge-sharing, technical exchange, and dialogue, OSS helps build solutions and collective capacity across Africa. Its cooperative model is particularly important in dryland ecosystems, which are often overlooked but critical for biodiversity and livelihoods. Shared approaches to land, water, and biodiversity management in these ecosystems can deliver greater impact at a lower cost, helping countries that face resource limitations and major environmental challenges.

OSS plays a key role in helping countries access climate and biodiversity finance, including through mechanisms such as the Adaptation Fund and the Green Climate Fund. OSS is an accredited implementing agency of the Green Climate Fund (since 2017) and the Adaptation Fund, enabling it to directly design and channel finance-ready biodiversity and climate projects. OSS works with countries to design bankable projects, including developing concept notes, logframes, and proposals that translate national priorities into funded programmes. This ability to connect planning with finance is a critical enabler of NBSAP implementation. Abir Ben Romdhane, OSS Head of Biological Diversity Division, explained:

OSS joined the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership in 2024, following initial discussions between organizational leaders at CBD meetings in Kenya earlier that year. In June 2025, the CBD also officially designated OSS as one of five African subregional Technical and Scientific Cooperation Centers (TSCCs), making it a formal regional hub for biodiversity implementation support, technology transfer, and capacity building under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

Membership in the Accelerator opened a direct channel to countries seeking support. The MatchMaking Mechanism (MMM) connects countries with technical and financial partners to accelerate NBSAP implementation under the Global Biodiversity Framework — linking country needs with organizations like OSS to enable the rapid delivery of tailored support where it is most needed. During NBSAP Day at COP16 in Cali, Somalia identified urgent, interconnected needs in the Jazeera coastal area and submitted them as a request through the MMM. OSS responded, and Somalia accepted the match.

Somalia’s request focuses on the Jazeera coastal area near Mogadishu, including the Jazeera Lagoon, a formally recognized Key Biodiversity Area that supports mangroves, salt marshes, migratory bird populations, fisheries, and endemic species adapted to Somalia’s arid coastal ecosystems. The priorities are interconnected: Establishing and demarcating protected areas, restoring degraded ecosystems, building baseline biodiversity data, and supporting internally displaced communities through nature-positive, green enterprises. The initiative also addresses the spread of Prosopis juliflora, an invasive species that threatens native vegetation, grazing systems, and water resources across Somalia.

Community stewardship sits at the center of the project design. Local organizations, women, youth, and internally displaced communities are engaged across ecosystem restoration, monitoring, ecotourism, and livelihood development. Alongside this, the project seeks to strengthen coordination between national institutions, local authorities, and customary governance systems to support more inclusive and durable environmental management.

OSS contributed its expertise in ecosystem monitoring, indicator development, and project design to help transform Somalia’s request for support into a finance-ready, integrated proposal that is being submitted to the Adaptation Fund. The proposal combines ecosystem restoration, biodiversity monitoring, and community-based economic development. As Somalia’s partner, OSS will support the systems behind implementation by developing indicators, strengthening data collection, and ensuring alignment with national NBSAP priorities and global biodiversity targets.

This work connects to Somalia’s broader ambitions: to strengthen protected area management and ecosystem restoration across terrestrial and marine ecosystems, including emerging initiatives to expand conservation areas and restore degraded landscapes. The Somalia-OSS match illustrates the added value of the MMM in bringing together aligned partners to accelerate ambition into action.

With the 2030 deadline for the Global Biodiversity Framework approaching, OSS emphasizes the urgency of moving from commitments to implementation. Through the NBSAP Accelerator Partnership and its role as a CBD Technical and Scientific Cooperation Center, OSS is helping countries translate biodiversity priorities into action by strengthening data systems, supporting ecosystem monitoring, and improving access to climate and biodiversity finance.

Working across 28 African countries, with additional partnerships across non-African countries and international organizations, OSS supports governments in using science-based tools, including Earth observation and ecosystem and natural capital accounting, to guide decision-making and align biodiversity, climate, and land actions under the Rio Conventions. It also helps countries design finance-ready projects and connect them with mechanisms such as the Adaptation Fund and Green Climate Fund. As demonstrated through its ongoing engagement in Somalia’s Jazeera coastal area, OSS’s approach combines ecosystem restoration, community stewardship, and institutional strengthening to address both biodiversity loss and livelihood pressures.

Overall, OSS offers a clear model for acceleration: country-driven, science-based, and focused on integrated implementation that turns biodiversity priorities into practical, on-the-ground results. OSS is also contributing to emerging regional thinking on post-2030 biodiversity implementation frameworks.