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The end of the masks
. ‘With the cutting of trees and the drying out of water-
courses, we shall have no more crops. The masks, often representing ancestors
with good practices, are sounding the alarm’. Youssouf Cissé (Bamako, Mali),
denounces the threat to biodiversity.
© Youssouf Cissé
Biodiversity - 69
Associated with increased demand for
foodstuffs, this change will be the main
cause of the impoverishment of biological
diversity in the coming years.
This is especially so because the increase in
the prices of imported goods is resulting in
increased demand for local products. Water
is another subject for concern. The quality
of that of watercourses has worsened in
Africa since the 1980s while it has improved
in Europe, North America, Latin America
and the Caribbean.
The promising development of bio-
technologies must be accompanied by
appropriate resource management. If this
is not done, the disappearance of these
resources is to be feared, with new conflicts
concerning the rules for the sharing and
appropriation of these riches.
Why protect biodiversity? In addition to the
economic and cultural reasons that have
been mentioned, the future of humanity
depends on it. The Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment enabled the analysis of the
state of 24 functions served by ecosystems
that contribute directly to our well-being. It
concluded that 15 of these 24 functions are
declining, including those concerning fresh
water supplies, the production of marine
fisheries, the number and quality of sites of
spiritual and religious value, the capacity of
the atmosphere to eliminate pollutants, the
regulation of natural dangers, pollination
and the capacity of agricultural ecosystems
to fight pests.
The indicators of the IUCN (International
Union for the Conservation of Nature)
are often put to good use by managers of
protectedareas as thereare strongfinancial
and political incentives from national and
international conservation programmes
to monitor and ‘produce’ populations
of endangered species. The creation of
protected zones makes it possible to fight
the continuous regression of ecosystems
and the impoverishment of biodiversity.
Goals for men and women
The programmes and bodies involved
in Africa are represented by numerous
stakeholders
(financial,
institutional,
technical, political, etc.), including civil
society. Programmes focused on biological
diversity are set up in the light of changes
in concepts and observations and also
of trends. The IUCN and other bodies
are currently working on how to make
understood the ‘governance’ concept
applied to the management of biodiversity.
The following question must be asked
when the ‘tools’ aspect is addressed in
biodiversity:canweassemblethetheoretical
foundations, the practical effectiveness, the
innovation capacity and the political will to
go forwards and to attain the objectives set
for reducing loss of biodiversity?
Here are a few goals for the men and
women involved in the protection of
biodiversity:
•arouse the political will necessary to
halt the degradation of ecosystems. This
is to be done with a clear demonstration to
decision makers and to society in general
of the importance of the contribution of
ecosystems to national economies;
•selling services provided by ecosystems
could form considerable progress when
protection of the environment has been
undertaken. This initiative will encourage
the parties involved to allow for
measures that are justified in economic
terms and that afford better protection of
biodiversity;
•pay attention to the fair and equitable
sharing of the benefits arising from
genetic resources (this is one of the
three objectives of the Convention on
Biological Diversity). These benefits could
encourage the conservation of biological
diversity and its sustainable exploitation;
•mobilise the financial and technical
resources necessary for the better
implementation
of
the
different
recommendations of the Convention.
c
Florence Palla
RAPAC (Réseau des Aires Protégées
d’Afrique).
Libreville, Gabon
