Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries to open Global Wildlife Programme South Africa Conference in Pretoria
The Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, Ms Barbara Creecy, will officially open the 3rd annual Global Wildlife Programme South Africa Conference in Pretoria on 29 October 2019.
The 2019 conference is taking place under the theme Investing in the Wildlife Economy for Livelihoods and Conservation and comprises technical discussions, interactive working groups and a field visit to the Kruger National Park.
The aim is to strengthen collaboration between government and partners to implement GWP projects, and to stimulate new thinking and opportunities for conservation and development.
It is hoped that the conference will increase awareness of experiences from Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean on building and growing a wildlife-based economy, enhance the understanding of the range of projects participating in the GWP and share good practices in project design and implementation, and discuss opportunities to provide input into Global Environment Fund’s project design activities.
Government focal points and project management units from the 29 GWP countries, implementing partners, NGO representatives and technical experts will attend the conference.
GWP is a Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded and World Bank Group-led $213 million program. It consists of 29 countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Since 2016, 19 projects have been implemented, using GEF-6 funding, under an integrated framework to support wildlife conservation and crime prevention for sustainable development. In June 2019, 10 additional countries joined the program (using GEF-7 funds).
GWP national projects invest in activities ranging from anti-poaching, community engagement, human-wildlife conflict (HWC) management, nature-based tourism, protected area management, integrated landscape management, anti-trafficking, and demand reduction. A GWP Global Project, implemented by the World Bank in partnership with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), facilitates knowledge exchange, coordination, and collaboration across national projects and other stakeholders.
South Africa, in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), is implementing a $4.9 million GEF-6 project to strengthening institutions, information management and monitoring to reduce the rate of illegal wildlife trade in the country. South Africa is also preparing a GEF-7 project (US $13.4 million) project, in collaboration with UNEP and the World Bank to promote the biodiversity economy and combat illegal wildlife trade (IWT).
The 2019 conference is a joint effort by the Government of South Africa, World Bank, UNEP, and other GWP partners to promote knowledge sharing and collaboration amongst national projects.
Media are invited to attend the opening ceremony on 29 October 2019.
Details are as follows:
Date: 29 October 2019
Time: 08:00 for 08:30
Venue: Protea Fire and Ice, Menlyn, Pretoria
To RSVP contact:
Dimakatso Tsutsubi
Tel: 012 399 9975
Email: dtsutsubi@environment.gov.za
Eleanor Momberg
Cell: 083 400 5741
Email: Lemomberg@environment.gov.za
Media information
Albi Modise
Cell: 083 490 2871
