The African Congress of Protected Areas took place from 18 to 23 July 2022 in Kigali (Rwanda).

Jean-Luc ASSI shares the experience of Côte d'Ivoire in terms of nature conservation strategies.

Present in the Rwandan capital as part of the first IUCN Congress of African Protected Areas (APAC), the Ivorian Minister in charge of the Environment, Mr. Jean-Luc ASSI took part, on July 18, 2022, in the opening ceremony of this meeting, which is being held until July 23, 2022.

“Protected areas are essential for the survival of the planet,” said the Director General of IUCN, Bruno Oberle, at the opening of the discussions in Kigali. “And the more we manage them for the benefit of people and nature, the more we will build a future where everyone, whether a person or an animal, can thrive,” he added.

For these actors, it is a question of making proposals to shape the agenda of protected areas in Africa in order to derive benefits for people and nature. To this end, this first Congress aims to improve the conservation status of nature in Africa. According to APAC, Africa currently spends less than 10% of what it needs to protect and restore nature. Thus, the search for innovative and new sources of funding for protected areas in Africa, most of which are underfunded, remains one of the key elements of this week's discussions in Kigali.

Asked about this point, the Ivorian Minister clarified: “the conservation of biodiversity is essential in our economic development because it is a sector that employs many people directly or indirectly. In Côte d'Ivoire, the authorities have taken strong measures aimed at increasing the level of investment in biodiversity and supporting projects that support our ecosystems. Such a mechanism has been possible through public-private partnerships, the development of ecotourism solutions involving local communities and the support of PTFs.”

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature's African Protected Areas Congress is taking place in the context of the next COP15 biodiversity conference, scheduled for December in Montreal, which must adopt a global framework to better protect nature ravaged by human activities by 2050. This will be the place to strengthen the commitments of African countries. It must be said that before the APAC in Kigali, the 196 members of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) met in Nairobi in June 2022, to discuss the protection of at least 30% of land and oceans by 2030, the reduction of plastic and agricultural pollution.

This first congress brings together around 2,000 participants from governments, the private sector, civil society, indigenous populations and local communities to discuss the role of protected areas in the preservation of African wildlife, the provision of ecosystem services, the provision of ecosystem services, the promotion of sustainable development, and the conservation of African cultural heritage and traditions.

It is organized by the Government of Rwanda, the International Union for Conservation of Nature - World Commission on Protected Areas (IUCN-WCPA) and the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) in collaboration with other technical and financial partners. A UN report estimates that nearly 6,419 animal species and 3,148 plant species in Africa are threatened with extinction.