Conservation
UN calls for better
protection of
Africa’s wildlife
“Africa’s unrivalled wealth of natural resources proportionately attracts
the tentacles of many criminal networks that reach deep into the continent…”
A
t a meeting in Ethiopia at the start of this year
United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) deputy executive director, Ibrahim
Thiaw, called for better protection of Africa’s
abundant wildlife and natural capital as a way to
realize African Union’s (AU) ambitious Agenda 2063.
Speaking at the retreat of the AU Executive Council in Mekelle,
Ethiopia, Thiaw told African Ministers of Foreign Affairs that the
value of illegal trade in wildlife and timber on the continent nearly
equals the global Official Development Aid (ODA) to Africa.
“Africa’s unrivalled wealth of natural resources proportionately
attracts the tentacles of many criminal networks that reach
deep into the continent. These resources are the very future of
the African Nations. Stealing them deprives countries of the
ability to choose and determine their own future and economic
development, for their own people, as part of a global world,”
said Thiaw in his speech.
Huge economic benefit
Considering the huge economic benefit that African countries owe
to eco-tourism, ecosystem services and sustainable harvesting
of natural resources, he called for urgent actions to achieve
sustainable ecosystem management in the region. He urged
the African Ministers to assume an active role in addressing this
issue, especially by integrating wildlife conservation into African
diplomacy.
The Chairperson of African Union Commission Dr Nkosazana
Dlamini Zuma welcomed his idea and advised to consider an
inclusive and participatory approach to wildlife conservation that
includes and actively engages local communities.