Sustainable Management, Utilization of Biodiversity Crucial for Meeting Africa Goal of Agenda 2063: AU Commissioner
Sustainable management and utilization of biodiversity is a crucial step for Africa in order to realize the seventh goal of Agenda 2063, AU Commissioner Albert Muchanga said.
In his speech at the conclusion of the AU, Caribbean and Pacific High-level Conference on Biodiversity, he pointed out that the conference is vital to the agenda of the continent as it aims to protect its biodiversity and ecosystem, and defines ways and mechanisms to domesticate the global frameworks and resolutions taking into account Africa’s realities.
In this connection, conserving biodiversity for Africa should not be an option but rather a vital necessity, he added.
According to the Economic Development, Trade, Tourism, Industry and Minerals Commissioner, “the draft African Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan is our new vehicle for addressing the triple crisis of biodiversity losses, adverse impacts of climate change and disasters in ecosystem resilience.”
Ministerial Segment Chairperson and Botswana’s Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism Minister, Philda Kereng said biodiversity is vital for the cultural heritages of Africans, and it is a cornerstone of the economies.
“Losing biodiversity threatens our existence and civilization and progress and livelihoods. As a continent, this is a risk that we cannot afford. Unless we are all aware, the environment has its own harsh way of responding to abusive actions of humans and other actors.”
Africa is endowed with vast natural wealth and cultural heritage, intricately connected to its ecosystems.
Despite the rich and varied natural endowment, the continent is not immune to the threats posed by the erosion of biodiversity, the impacts of climate change and the emergence of global health crisis, according to the minister.
She further noted that “if we continue on the current trend and continue not to make enough progress with our meetings and our dialogues and our program delivers, we risk losing about 50 percent of the bird and mammal species by 2100 and about 20 to 30 percent of the productivity of our leads, and mainly due to pollution, habitat fragmentation and others.”
As leaders, we have a duty to ensure that we preserve the benefits for future generations. This will involve a multifaceted and multi-stakeholder approach.
Kereng stated that it should also cover transboundary efforts, including at continental sub regional levels as well.
Furthermore, we need to harness the collective strength of our commitment to speak as one. “We always talk about one Africa voice; but here I wish that we can be able to put more attention on to how we can actually effectively build this voice as a process.”
Source: Ethiopian News Agency