Resource
Mobilization for Biodiversity Conservation in the Global South: Perspectives
from Africa and China
The African CSOs Biodiversity Alliance (ACBA) in
collaboration with China’s Civil Society Alliance for Biodiversity Conservation
(CSABC) hosted a webinar titled Resource Mobilization for Biodiversity
Conservation in the Global South: Perspectives from Africa and China, on
December 14, 2021. The main goal of the webinar was to exchange perspectives on
barriers to and opportunities for financing biodiversity conservation in
Africa, China and more broadly in the Global South.
The webinar was moderated by Pauline Nantongo Kalunda,
Executive Director of ECOTRUST Uganda and lead of the ACBA policy taskforce.
The webinar had a diverse panel which comprised Dr Mohammed Bakarr, Lead
Environmental Specialist at the GEF Secretariat; Mrs Malta Qwathekana, CBD
National Focal Point for South Africa and Senior Policy Adviser at the
Department of Environmental Affairs in South Africa; Dickson Kaelo, CEO of the
Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association (KWCA); Yimei Chen, Secretary General
at Vanke Foundation and Pan Xiaolin, General Manager at China Three Gorges
Corporation (Kenya).
The main outcomes from the webinar were the exchange and
sharing of best practices and innovative approaches for effective conservation
financing for biodiversity in China and in Africa and to explore the shifts
necessary at the global, continental and more micro levels to foster
sustainable financing for biodiversity conservation.
In her opening remarks, Pauline Nantongo the moderator
stated that “The African CSOs Biodiversity Alliance (ACBA) works towards making
a firm commitment to make its own contribution to an ambitious and successful
post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).”
In his keynote presentation, Dr Mohammed Bakarr
highlighted the contribution of the Global Environment Facility (GEF): “The
Global Environment Facility (GEF) has an important role to play in the delivery
of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). GEF recognizes that one
of the major challenges is ensuring recipient countries can harness the
opportunity for transforming key economic systems that drive biodiversity loss.
While GEF mainly supports governments, we view civil society organizations (CSOs)
as an important partner and hope that as the world recovers from the COVID-19
pandemic, civil society can play a key role in pushing forward the post-2020
GBF.”
Dickson Kaelo pointed out the significant efforts to
address the unprecedented biodiversity loss Kenya, like its fellow African
countries has been facing, especially through national parks and reserves. He
added that KWCA recognizes that focusing on the tradeoffs for land use for
people or for wildlife will be important to secure biodiversity. KWCA aims to
pursue both stable livelihoods and stable wildlife populations as it has become
clear that “ultimately, conservation is about people.”
From the Chinese perspective, Ms Yimei Chen discussed how
the Vanke Foundation has supported wildlife conservation of key species in
China, including snow leopards, which are one of the most successful efforts in
China. “Since 2018, Vanke Foundation has strategically prioritized investing in
sustainable communities. The foundation’s goals for environmental protection
prioritizes waste management to address the impact on biodiversity, and
measures success based on alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs). As a foundation that complements Vanke, a real estate corporation, it
is our foundation’s hope to contribute to the circular economy” she said.
In his presentation Mr Pan Xiaolin spoke of the China
Three Gorges Corporation’s investment and contracting business which reaches 47
countries across multiple continents including Europe, North America, Africa
and South-East Asia. He said that “CTGC aims to incorporate global best
practice that are sustainable and socially responsible in its operations and
also work to set the pace for sustainable energy with projects that stimulate
local economies, improve the environment and benefit surrounding residents.’’
In the webinar’s concluding remarks, Ms Malta Qwathekana,
CBD National Focal Point for South Africa and Senior Policy Adviser at the
Department of Environmental Affairs pointed out that: the financing gap for
biodiversity conservation is an important issue. One of the key challenges to
ensuring that existing and future financing for biodiversity materializes the
desired outcomes is capacity in developing countries. How these finances are
spent is just as important as closing the financial gap, and the African Group
of negotiators(AGN) hopes to see greater efforts to ensure that finances are
deployed to those implementing on the ground, and to local actors including
communities.
For more information on the webinar, please go to Box.