Forest, desertification, land degradation & biodiversity

Photo: The Bahamas National Trust. Credit: IUCN

Investment Boosts Protected Areas Across 79 ACP States

By Jaya Ramachandran

BRUSSELS (IDN | IUCN) – "The protection and sustainable management of biodiversity in ACP countries requires a comprehensive approach that extends beyond the establishment of protected areas," according to Patrick I. Gomes, Secretary-General of the ACP Group.

It is against this backdrop that the ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific) Group of States supports the Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management (BIOPAMA) Programme, which not only contributes to the protection of terrestrial and marine biodiversity but also seeks to provide relevant data and information to decision-makers at all levels, to enhance biodiversity conservation in ACP countries, Gomes added.

: Jaya Ramachandran; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 27 December 2017

Photo: Women planting to combat desertification. Credit: UNCCD

Launch of the Fund to Fight Desertification a Key Achievement

By Rita Joshi

BONN (IDN) – The official launch of the Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) Fund is an outstanding achievement for the United Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in 2017. It is a first-of-its-kind investment vehicle leveraging public sector funds to raise private sector capital for sustainable land management and landscape restoration activities worldwide.

It was launched during the thirteenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD (COP13) held in Ordos, China, in September 2017, which adopted 36 decisions and one resolution, including the new UNCCD 2018-2030 Strategic Framework with an initial target size of USD 100 million.

: Rita Joshi; UN INSIDER; 24 December 2017

Photo: Global Landscapes Forum. Credit: Pilar Valbuena

The Price of Forest Degradation and Biodiversity Loss for Livelihoods

By Fabíola Ortiz

BONN (IDN) – Forest degradation and biodiversity loss carry a very heavy price for climate and people’s livelihoods. Restoring forests matters when it comes to growing resilience to climate variation and securing a healthy environment for future generations. This was the main message delivered by experts and community leaders who met in Bonn (December 19-20, 2017) to discuss a more sustainable path to conservation.

“We should stop seeing indigenous peoples, natural resources and forests as a problem. We could see them as a solution,” said Robert Nasi, director general of the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) which hosted the Global Landscapes Forum, a large science-based platform on sustainable land use.

: Fabiola Ortiz; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 22 December 2017

Photo: Amazon Rainforest in Brazil. The tropical rainforests of South America contain the largest diversity of species on Earth, including some that have evolved within the past few hundred thousand years. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Scientists Urge Radical Change in 'Stewardship of the Earth'

By J C Suresh

TORONTO (IDN) – A group of eminent scientists has issued a terse warning that to prevent widespread misery and catastrophic biodiversity loss, humanity must practice a more environmentally sustainable alternative to business as usual. "Soon it will be too late to shift course away from our failing trajectory, and time is running out," they caution, backed by 15,364 scientist signatories from 184 countries.

In 'A Second Notice' to Humanity, published in the latest issue of BioScience, William J. Ripple, Christopher Wolf, Thomas M. Newsome, Mauro Galetti Mohammed Alamgir, Eileen Crist, Mahmoud I. Mahmoud, and William F. Laurance, write: "This prescription was well articulated by the world's leading scientists 25 years ago, but in most respects, we have not heeded their warning."

: J C Suresh; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 17 December 2017

Photo: Presentation of the 17.2 million Euro cheque on December 5 to fund initiatives to combat wildlife killing and trafficking in Africa. Credit: CMS.

ACP Greets EU-UN Action To Combat Wildlife Trafficking

BRUSSELS (IDN) – The 79-nation African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States has welcomed the European Union's decision to launch a coordinated action jointly with the United Nations to counter the illegal killing and trafficking of wildlife in Southern and Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean.

As part of a 30 million Euro (35.3 million U.S. dollars) intervention, the European Union (EU) has signed a 17.2 million Euro (20.35 million U.S. dollars) agreement with three United Nations (UN) agencies – CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, UNODC, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and CMS, the Convention on Migratory Species.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 12 December 2017

Photo: EU and UN officials flanked by Kenya’s Environment Cabinet Secretary Judi Wakhungu (first from the right among the seated officials) during the signing of Euro 17.2 million from the EU to fund initiatives to combat wildlife killing and trafficking in Africa. Credit: Justus Wanzala | IDN-INPS.

EU & UN Aid African Countries in Fighting Wildlife Trafficking

By Justus Wanzala

NAIROBI (IDN) – African and Asian countries face a huge challenge in protecting their wildlife from the illegal killing and trafficking that has already endangered some species.

Over the years, national and regional efforts to combat the threat have met with mixed success and wildlife and their products continue to be sold in many countries around the world.

Figures released in March 2017 by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) under its Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) programme showed that by 2016 the trend in poaching of African elephants – which had increased steadily since 2006, peaking in 2011– had been halted and stabilised. Nevertheless, the levels of illegal killing still remained unacceptably high overall.

: Justus Wanzala; UN INSIDER; 10 December 2017

Photo: Leaders from Indigenous communities speak at a press conference in COP 23. Credit: Stella Paul | IDN-INPS

COP23 Finally Provides a Platform for Indigenous People on Climate Talks

By Stella Paul

BONN (IDN) – Patricia Gualinga has been coming to the UN climate change conferences for several years. She usually receives 2-3 minutes on a panel of a side event on indigenous issues during which she tells about the struggles of her community – the Kichwas of Ecuador.

The struggles are, typically, of surviving in an environment where water is fast depleting, air is polluted, land is taken away and tribe members are evicted from their homes – all in the name of development. Sarayaku – where Gualinga comes from – is an Amazonian province in which the degradation is often caused by large oil explorers.