GREEN DIGEST
AFRICA
The International Support for African Development (ISNAD-Africa) with support from the WorldWide Fund for Nature (WWF) has come up with an EcoKnowledge derivative policy, thereby issuing the cardinal call of youth inclusion in the post-Covid-19 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) to address the prevailing challenges. The Executive Director of ISNAD-Africa, Adedoyin Adeleke stated that for the effective implementation of the biodiversity framework, merely creating awareness is not adequate but effective youth engagement is also required. Adeleke is concerned that with the current rate of destruction, over one million plants and animal species across the world would go extinct. According to various stakeholders, Nigeria and other African countries are losing as much as $3.8 billion to erosion, pollution and other environmental, as well as health issues.
ISNAD-Africa strongly supports that for sustainable development the constructive implementation of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) and UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a necessity. The harmony of these two initiatives would result in a double effort progress towards green growth. According to Adeleke, the GBF would be a milestone in the global agreements for protecting biodiversity. For attaining the projected gains of the UN Convention for Biology Diversity, the contribution and focus on the youth in policy formulation and decision-making processes in countries like Nigeria is required. There was a loss of $4 trillion in the tourism sector in 2020-21 and over $125 billion was spent by the World Bank to combat the impact of COVID-19. These kinds of losses are undermining the increasing investments for sustainable development.
According to ISNAD-Africa, more than 40 per cent of the African youth population does not have meaningful climate education, which disables and detaches them from effectively participating and contributing to policies and decision-making processes at the international, national and sub-national levels. This affects the rights of the youth to take action to protect themselves, their children and the health of the planet.
Adeleke also highlighted that the improvement in availability, accessibility and dissemination of information with special attention on youths at all levels is the key. He stated that the rate of biodiversity loss is alarming and this also adds to climate change. Therefore, the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework should set the pace for mitigating as well as reversing biodiversity losses which is essential for realising a nature positive planet.
CONSERVATION
Lee Gault, director of the Arizona Conservation Corps (AZCC) came to the Chamber of Commerce to present the benefits of the AZCC program. He contradicted the irony of the present times with the situation that pertained in the old times. He stated that presently children are information-rich and experience-poor, exactly the opposite of how it was hundreds of years ago. Teens today are too much reliant on the internet and cringe on solving problems without its assistance. Gault explained that AZCC uses hands-on learning through natural resource stewardship to provide experience to the youth (age: 16-25), encouraging personal growth and responsibility while stimulating their connection with the community. Simultaneously, another Corps program runs for the well-being of veterans too, up to the age of 35, in order to provide them smooth transition back to civilian life. The program runs in varied time duration- ranging from minimum six months to maximum two years. The program also ushersfixed financial aid for college.
Gault, who started his career in the Conservation Corps out of high school, explained that nature is the best teacher and working in the wild transforms a person. He gave a brilliant example as to how nature teaches things naturally, for instance- when there is a storm, one will get wet if one does not read signs and build a shelter. Nature does not revolve around a kid's need and is like a wake-up call that makes him responsible.
The program intensively focuses on building leaders out of the youth by indulging them in running crew teams comprising up to 8 people and doing labour-intensive outdoor works involving the betterment of the natural resources, for example, thinning forests and building trails. The Corps teaches its members to adopt sustainable practices. The Conservation Corps help the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to conserve the nation's public land from the damage caused by weather and high visitation rates. Additionally, the Corps helped the Flagstaff community in sand-bagging and flood mitigation.
Corps field crew work on stream restoration, campsite maintenance, trail building etc. which often transitions into a job as a wildland firefighter. Other interns work in public and environmental education, GIS/GPS data management, surveying etc.
The AZCC also has“a sister program,” as Gault calls it, known as the ancestral lands for native youth.’ Under this program, various tribes from Arizona and New Mexico work together. The Corps is a way to engage a lot of people of colour. The Corps run over about 60 crews a year across Arizona and most of them are camping crews. Each crew is self-sufficient with a youth leader overseeing it. Full-time crew members work a nine-day, ten-hour per day schedule and then they have five days off in the town of home base office. Gault highlighted that Corps is also a national program and they perform hurricane and tornado response as well. The work in the Corps isn't easy and the members will be expected to work long days and adapt to various climatic conditions.
Other than the paid training, AZCC also provides a food stipend to its workers that ranges from $330 to $425 per week during camping, varying with the kind of program. They also provide a scholarship for higher education and an Employee Assistance Program. There is an ongoing opening for crew members interested in working from anywhere at any time at the Corps.
COVID-19
In the previous months of 2021, climate-induced disasters, like wildfires in Western North America and floods in China, had become recurring. As it is due to COVID-19 the relationship between mankind and nature was being re-examined already. Resultantly, the media focus on climate and environment gradually accentuated. In the light of these circumstances, Fred Nelson, the CEO of Maliasili, which is an organization working relentlessly to scale the impact of local conservation and natural resource organizations in Africa, identifies four key trends that are “significantly reshaping the conservation field”. The four keys are discussed herewith:
1. Convergence of climate and biodiversity agendas–The emphasis on repudiating climate change and biodiversity loss has folded multitudinously in the past three decades. Recently, however, these agendas have seen a subtle convergence, which is mostly based on an impending, but worrisome reality. Globally, deforestation results in around a quarter of the global greenhouse (carbon) emissions, which implicitly means that the conservation and protection of grasslands, forests, and mangroves must be of the ultimate importance. This issue is supported by major climate policy initiatives under the heading of "Nature-Based Solutions". Investment in the measures to mitigate climate change, for example, ways that enhance carbon uptake in the forests, specifically in the vulnerable tropic regions could be a sustainable solution. Fred states that the conservation organizations can reasonably expect lump-sum investments to be made for the furtherance of the objective as the demand for regenerative agriculture grows.
2. Increased investment in climate and biodiversity solutions- The growing awareness of biodiversity loss is bothering people around the globe. It would be safe to anticipate the same from the recorded trend of increased investments from the public, commercial and charitable organizations in the environment-protection initiatives. The reason behind this change is the growing sense of urgency surrounding the climate and biodiversity crisis and the recognition that the public and private sectors need to increase investment in ecological health and "nature-based solutions" to address climate and biodiversity problems. Many private companies are collaborating with conservation organizations to invest in nature-based solutions for instance- Apple, Goldman Sachs and Conservation International launched a $200 million restoration fund. Jeff Bezos’ Earth Fund, launched in 2020, aims to spend roughly $1 billion annually over the next decade and issued its first series of major grants last year. A large amount of capital has also been invested in the long-term conservation financing mechanism. Such long-term and large-scale financing initiatives and collaborations are expected in the coming months and years. The active cooperation of international organizations, private foundations, and public institutions is remarkable and a promising trend for the conservation of climate and biodiversity.
3. Growing mainstream support for indigenous and community-based conservation solutions
Another trend is the growing support for the locally-driven conservation approaches, and especially the role of indigenous people and local communities (IPLCs). All the major reports, (including UNFAO and WWF) and new initiatives favour supporting IPLCs for conservation efforts. As covered by Vox in its report with an apt title summarising the main issue ‘Indigenous peoples are the world’s biggest conservationists, but they rarely get credit for it’. The WWF report found that more than 90% of the land of indigenous peoples and local communities is in relatively good ecological condition. COVID-19 has highlighted the importance of local capacity and community-driven solutions in responding to such crises in adaptive and effective ways.
4. Justice and Equity
Another trend changing the concept of conservation is the influence of new social movements and calls for racial justice, diversity, and equity in the United States and around the world. In Africa, this has lead to a greater focus on racial diversity, leadership, and power relations. As a result of these social movements, there is an additional effort towards conservation to support human rights, which in turn calls for social justice and equity. This has led to an increased focus on the importance of local organizations. A recent report by the Bridgespan Group and the African Philanthropy Forum documented the continuing obstacles local organizations face in obtaining funding. These issues will arise in prominence on the global conservation agenda, particularly as more funding pours into the field.
Organizational Implications
The conservation field will see far-reaching shifts and changes due to these four trends. The possible implications for any conservation organizations are:
Think bigger- Conventional small scale and short term projects will become obsolete as there is an increase in the scale of conservation challenges. The conservation organizations will be required to work on a larger scale project which will have a long-term impact.
Deepening partnerships- To work at a larger scale on long-term projects organizations will need to work in collaboration and form partnerships.
Invest locally- Growing support for indigenous and local leaders and institutions and increased support for social justice and fairness will prompt people to pay more attention to finding new and better ways to support local organizations and leaders. This will continue to extend far beyond traditional field projects or many NGO settings for conservation work to more creative social enterprises, social movements, and organizational structures.
REFERENCE:
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2021/08/stakeholders-seek-youth-inclusion-in-global-biodiversity-framework/
https://www.paysonroundup.com/news/local/conservation-corps-providing-kids-experience/article_41b2098b-0810-5abb-91d3-980bb7d12bf2.html
https://news.mongabay.com/2021/08/convergence-community-and-justice-key-emerging-conservation-trends-of-the-pandemic-era-commentary/