Minister of Environmental Affairs encourages greater youth participation on Biodiversty Conservation at First Global Youth in Biodiversity Network in Africa Workshop
The Minister of Environmental Affairs, Dr Edna Molewa, has encouraged the youth, as champions for change, to become more involved in preventing biodiversity loss.
The Minister was speaking at the closing of the first Global Youth in Biodiversity Network in Africa workshop, held at Misty Hills, Muldersdrift, Gauteng, from 14 to 19 August 2017.
Youth from a number of African countries working in the field of conservation and protection of biodiversity attended the workshop, exchanging ideas and finding possible solutions to preventing biodiversity loss through greater cooperation and innovative initiatives.
The Global Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN) is an international network of youth organisations and individuals from all over the world, established in 2010, to work towards the common goal to prevent the loss of biodiversity.
The network, which is the official youth coordination platform in the negotiations under the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), raises awareness amongst young people on the values of biodiversity, and connects individuals and youth organisations in order to build a global coalition to halt the effects of global change on the environment.
GYBN represents 343 000 members from 107 countries worldwide.
Minister Molewa said it was apt that young people dedicated to the conservation of the natural world met in Africa, particularly since the World Economic Forum (WEF) had noted that the world’s ten youngest populations were to be found in Africa.
“Having a young population is an advantage for any country as it can play a role in economic growth. This is not even to speak of the opportunities it presents for countries to position themselves as incubators of innovation,” said the Minister.
“It is you who will be our future experts, and it is you who will be at the cutting edge of biodiversity research and development (R&D). It is you who will be finding solutions and bringing innovative ideas to bear to solve some of the most pressing environmental issues of our time such as climate change and biodiversity loss.”
Minister Molewa pointed out that the participants in the weeklong workshop had assumed the mantle of responsibility to be active players in this field, thereby ensuring that our natural environment is conserved for future generations.
“As we move towards the future there is a need to search for solutions to environmental challenges; learn more about how to utilise available resources to combat poverty without threatening the future of the species; and identifying gaps within existing conservation strategies in order to address these issues through creative solutions,” said the Minister.
“As we deal with the onslaught by unscrupulous international crime syndicates on our rich variety of plant and animal life, the role of young people, such as yourselves, in combating wildlife crime becomes more necessary.”
During the workshop, the 50 participants from, amongst others, South Africa, Morocco, Sudan, Kenya, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Madagascar, Uganda, Benin, Togo, Germany and Brazil, had learnt more about the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity process, the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, the implementation of National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAP) and the importance of mainstreaming Biodiversity into other sectors.
The participants has also learnt more about project management, effective communication, advocacy work and fundraising to enable them to develop their own small projects and campaigns that will directly contribute to the achievement of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets.
The delegates developed a Roadmap on how to grow the GYBN in Africa and South Africa in order to ensure conservation is not only addressed at heritage level, but also addresses socio-economic perspectives by ensuring natural resources play a development role in Africa and South Africa.
This will be done in support of the Youth in conservation programme that was launched as part of South Africa’s CITES COP17 legacy.
“I am confident that following this workshop, you will be sufficiently empowered to become agents of change in support of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, and the mainstreaming of biodiversity,” said Dr Molewa.
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