We live to fight another day. Recent negotiations in Geneva, intended to facilitate progress at the UN Biodiversity Summit due to take place in Kunming, China later this year, lasted for three fraught weeks. At the end of it all, delegates agreed to meet again in Nairobi in late June, to complete work on a draft Global Biodiversity Framework. This Framework is considering a wide array of government targets, such as protecting 30% of land and sea by 2030 (’30 by 30’) as well as restoring 20% of degraded ecosystems. While progress was made in Geneva, the international community is still struggling to build a consensus on the urgent action needed to tackle loss of biodiversity.
Photos left to right: South-West Ethiopia, Kenya's Amboseli National Park and Tanzania's Ngorongoro Conservation Area
The EPI Foundation has made written submissions to the process and had representatives in Geneva. We also will be attending the Nairobi talks. Our ‘Vision 2030’ addresses the challenges African nations face as a result of wildlife and people coming into increasing proximity as a result of Africa’s growing human populations and economic development. We believe that human-elephant conflict is now a major threat to elephant conservation. We will therefore continue to encourage Parties to include more ambitious and precise language on avoiding and reducing this conflict, for example by prioritising the preservation of biodiversity in long-term spatial planning.
We hope those who negotiated so hard at Geneva can now take a well earnt break, and that when they meet again in Nairobi they’re full of ambition, as well as the ability to compromise. Many scientists argue that human activity is causing the sixth mass extinction of life on Earth. The stakes are very high, and not just for Africa and it's elephants.