Biodiversity is in need of wise management, not simply to satisfy
international pressures and obligations, but because it is the basis of
most rural livelihoods and is the foundation of major new economic
sectors that offer the prospect of better, more sustainable lives.
As
New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) has recognized,
development cannot be achieved through dependence on outside resources,
but must rely on the best use of local resources. Biodiversity is one
of these, and represents a formidable natural asset. For example, the
international trade in flowers bred from a large number of plant
species originating in Africa is worth billions of dollars annually,
almost all of which accrues outside Africa. For the opportunities
offered by biodiversity to be realized, new strategies, which go beyond
a focus on a few species and parks, will need to be adopted. New links
need to be made between protecting biodiversity and human needs. There
is a need for more function-oriented conservation of ecosystem services
essential for human livelihood, including the peopledominated
landscapes outside parks.
The coincidence of centres of
biodiversity, human cultural heritage and intensive land use partly
defines the necessary strategy for conservation and sustainable use
policy. If viable populations are to be preserved, particularly in the
light of an uncertain future climate, biodiversity conservation cannot
be restricted to protected areas, but has to be incorporated as part of
sustainable land use even in densely settled areas. Likewise,
conservation of human culture within centres of biodiversity requires
approaches different from the concept of protected areas exclusively
dedicated to species conservation. Except under special circumstances,
for example, where nature tourism is the best economic land use,
species and park-centred strategies of biodiversity conservation are
unlikely to achieve poverty reduction goals. Although biodiversity
conservation objectives often overlap with other priorities for
sustainable use (for example, the conservation of water catchment
areas), the overall outcome of such integrated strategies will need to
go beyond solely biodiversity-centred conservation targets. This
principle is reflected in the “ecosystem approach” adopted by the CBD
in 2000 and underlies the interlinkages approach discussed in
Interlinkages: The environment and policy web in Africa. Clear and
convergent objectives, verifiable targets, collaboration and
coordination between conventions and between countries, focused and
sustained capacity-building, and harmonized reporting requirements are
needed to advance the regional development objectives.
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