Sustainable
Use (SU)
1.
Sustainable use represents a powerful anchor and glue
that delivers on all three goals of the Convention in a reinforcing manner. A sustainable
use approach delivers benefits and conservation outcomes because it is
people-centered and nature positive. Sustainability denotes the increasing
value of nature while delivering on societal aspirations.
2.
Sustainable use needs to be a collective
responsibility of humanity because nature’s contributions to people are not
limited to indigenous people and local communities alone.
3.
ACBA acknowledges that
there are varied scales and types of benefits of sustainable use of nature.
Some are very localized, such as pollination; others extend over vast
distances, such as clean air or food provision through trade; yet others are
intangible such as cultural and educational values. All of these need to be
considered.
4.
The sustainable use concept enables a holistic
approach to managing multiple objectives at the landscape level, placing people
at the center of decision-making and managing the trade-offs between competing
interests so that we can not only create better resilience but also anticipate
and avoid pandemics like COVID-19.
Trade-offs
1.
Sustainable use requires that user-groups understand
and accept that there are local and global limits to use levels. In increasing cases
these limits are being exceeded. The more people understand and respect these limits
on how they use nature, the easier it is to hold each other to account and to
achieve sustainable use.
2.
Minimizing conflicts between users can enhance
biodiversity conservation, maintain ecosystem integrity and ensure fair and
equitable benefits from nature.
3.
The Sustainable Development Goals show the
interconnectedness between the users of nature and economic and social
benefits, and also provide a framework accessible to countries and communities
alike, for addressing tradeoffs.
Governance Rights and Power
1.
Sustainable use demands an effective and enforceable governance
framework that includes policies and practices that govern the relationship
between user groups and nature and hold users accountable to each other and
society for their actions. Good examples include community-based natural
resources management in Namibia, and of marine resources in East Africa.
2.
Understanding power relations between actors is
critical if there is to be meaningful engagement and empowerment of indigenous
people and local communities that carry a disproportionate burden of conserving nature.
3.
The role of user groups as custodians of nature and
their rights to use their land and resources should be acknowledged and accepted.
This acknowledgement empowers those assuming the responsibility to manage and
use nature. Tenure has to be
strengthened.
Local and Global Targets
1.
Sustainable use is site and context specific
determined by local natural endowments, user group dynamics and external
influences. This local context needs to be understood as it can influence user
group behavior and the resilience of ecosystems can be compromised by
indiscriminate use of biodiversity.
2.
Opportunities to use qualitative data and proxy
indicators to assess sustainability at the local level should be encouraged and
capacitated.
3. More protected and
conserved areas can make the world a better place provided the type
of protected and conserved areas are established in a consultative and
transparent way that enables rights to be devolved to local levels and local
communities are not displaced.
Ecosystem and Species Conservation
1. Significant biodiversity lies
in areas traditionally managed, owned, used and occupied by IPLCs. In
these areas “other
effective area-based conservation measures” (OECMs) like ecosystem-based
adaptation and nature-based solutions can enable more inclusive and transparent
participation of indigenous people and local communities to contribute to and
benefit from conservation efforts.
2. Restoration of degraded
(currently low-value) areas is key part of OECMs. Majority of people live where ecosystems have been
altered and degraded. It compliments PAs reverse trends in biodiversity loss.
Traditional Knowledge Systems and Culture
1.
Sustainable use practices have evolved with
communities and therefore the communities can offer valuable lessons on adaptation
and resilience in order to evolve modern sustainable use practices.
2.
Local communities are already dealing with the effects
of climate change on biodiversity and we are not learning from their responses.
We need to find a smart way to combine this local knowledge with formal science
and scale-up.
3.
Culture plays a vital role with respect to how and who
manages nature and the type of decision-making structures that govern use.
Failure to understand this can undermine sustainability efforts.
Diversified
and resilient funding sources
1.
Biodiversity
plays a significant role in providing global public goods such as regulating
climate and this international importance of Africa’s biodiversity should
attract proportionate international funding.
2. Biodiversity provides a solid
foundation for livelihoods at local scales and jurisdictions and for national economies.
This presents strong incentives to explore sustainable funding opportunities
from companies, municipalities and individuals.
3. A nature-based economic
approach based on investments in nature-compatible enterprises can help diversify
income and benefits. Supporting innovation and enabling regulations to these
enterprises complemented by economic incentives and appropriate capacity
building can see local entrepreneurs including youth move up the value chain.
4.
Africa will explore innovative mechanisms to mobilize
domestic funding from local jurisdictions, communities and private sector.
Mobilizing domestic funding is empowering and ensures ownership at the level of
the jurisdiction.
5.
Africa should be supported to mobilize significant
international funding for conservation that is proportionate to Africa’s
contribution to global biodiversity conservation.
Engaging the Youth
1.
Africa has the largest proportion of the youth
population in the world, and by 2050, the African continent
will have the largest number of young people. With such a trajectory, the youth
represent Africa’s greatest opportunity in safeguarding Africa’s biodiversity
and future, as both leaders and custodians.
2.
The Youth can drive sustainable use through
social entrepreneurship programmes which should be supported and expanded taking
advantage of the skills that youth can offer such as development of online
applications to monitor the health of ecosystems.