« Tourism is a heavy investment sector that requires full government involvement for its development. » This statement is from the organization Agency for the Promotion and Valorization of Tourism (APROVATOUR).
Toute l'actu sur la protection de l'environnement
« Tourism is a heavy investment sector that requires full government involvement for its development. » This statement is from the organization Agency for the Promotion and Valorization of Tourism (APROVATOUR).
For the Coordinator of the APROVATOUR agency, the Assistant Bernadette Atosha Byemba, the Public-Private partnership is an asset for the promotion of tourism by working together, but also granting certain facilities in taxation as well as subsidies especially in this period when .the tourism industry is in full reinvention.It also offers the encouragement of entrepreneurship in this sector by organizing national competitions but also to support women, young people (girls and boys) as in other sectors.
The boss of the Aprovatour agency believes that the DRC visa is a difficulty encountered in this sector. She indicates that the visa is a headache that blocks the accessibility of visitors to DR Congo.
« The facilitation for obtaining visas online or on arrival would be a great asset for tourists. It is inadmissible that the DRC with all the riches is not ranked on the Top 10 destinations in Africa,” she suggests.
Ms. Bernadette Atosha believes that the regulation of standards in the sector, especially at borders and at Congolese airports, would reduce the hassle suffered by visitors arriving and departing in the DR Congo.
“Finding our own brand image to sell our country, example: The perl of Africa Uganda, Hakuna Matata Kenya, and many other countries,” she says.
« Insecurity is not a problem, but the problem is how we sell the image of our country, » says Atosha.
« What are the programs organized even on national and local channels talking about tourism, in how many countries where our wealth is on the front page, the digitization of the tourism sector would help for its sustainable development, also use of influential men in the outside world.To talk about tourism in the DRC like the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Dr. Denis Mukwege, « she calls out.
Our source adds that the retraining and training of staff in the tourism sector and the commitment of young professionals leaving aside membership in political parties.
For him, domestic tourism must find its place in the DRC through awareness campaigns and by reviewing the price of visits for locals/nationals in the various tourist sites.
“Develop and service the tourist sites of the country; Organize national days of ecotourism, Congolese cultures (Congolese cuisine, music, dense forklorique, etc.) to diversify the country’s tourist offer », she concludes.
APPROVATOUR
As the host country of the 9th Conference on the Oceans in 2024, Greece is counting on the active participation of Gabon, in its capacity as « African champion of the environment ». This was the message delivered on Friday 13 January 2023 in Libreville by the head of Greek diplomacy, Nikos Dendias.
Greece recognises Gabon’s African leadership in biodiversity protection. Within the framework of the 9th Conference on the Oceans (Our Ocean Greece 2024) that the South-East European country is organising in 2024, the Gabonese expertise and model are being sought. « Gabon is a major country on the international scene in terms of the environment. This is the case for the climate, but also for biodiversity and the oceans. Gabon was the first country in the world to commit to preserving 30% of its marine areas. This is why we are counting on its involvement in the perspective of the Conference on the Oceans that we will host next year, » explains a Greek diplomat who came to Libreville on 13 January 2023 to accompany his Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias.
This is the second meeting of its kind between the Gabonese and Greek authorities. The first took place on 25 July 2022 in Athens, Greece. The former Gabonese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Michaël Moussa Adamo, took part in the preparatory meeting of the 9th international conference « Our Ocean Greece 2024 » alongside his Greek counterpart, Nikos Dendias, representatives of diplomatic missions accredited in Greece, as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for the protection of nature. The aim of this preparatory meeting was to examine ways of dealing with the consequences of climate change, overfishing and marine pollution.
Gabon, a model country
As an exemplary country in terms of nature protection, Gabon was chosen in January 2017 to coordinate the African Heads of State and Government Committee on Climate Change (CAHOSCC). The fact that Gabon has been asked to host the 9th Ocean Conference is no coincidence. By 2022, the Gabonese government has created a network of 20 marine protected areas in Gabon, including 9 marine parks and 11 aquatic reserves covering 26% of Gabon’s marine space.
The ocean conference, which was first organised in 2014, was an initiative of then US Secretary of State and current presidential climate envoy John Kerry, « The Ocean is the source of everything, » he had argued.
The ocean is a vital buffer against climate change, absorbing about 25% of all carbon dioxide emissions. More than 3.5 billion people depend on the oceans for their food security, while about 120 million people are directly employed in fishing and aquaculture activities. The majority of these workers live in developing countries, particularly small island developing states and least developed countries.
Fanta Mabo
GABON: The country is requested for the 9th Conference on Oceans in 2024 in Greece
As the host country of the 9th Conference on the Oceans in 2024, Greece is counting on the active participation of Gabon, in its capacity as « African champion of the environment ». This was the message delivered on Friday 13 January 2023 in Libreville by the head of Greek diplomacy, Nikos Dendias.
Gorilla Ambassador has just addressed the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The non-governmental organisation (NGO) is asking Félix Tshisekedi to do everything possible to get the M23 out of the Virunga National Park, located in the north-east of the DRC. The armed rebel group has set up its rear base in the area of the park occupied by the mountain gorillas, thereby threatening the survival of the primates.
In early January 2023, the East African Regional Force (a military coalition) announced that the M23 armed group had until Sunday 15 January 2023 to leave all its positions in North Kivu, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and withdraw to Sabyinyo, on the border between the DRC, Uganda and Rwanda, the armed rebel group’s historic position. But this measure, which aims to liberate the eastern DRC, scarred by violence attributed to the M23 rebels, is not met with satisfaction by environmentalists.
In an open letter sent on Sunday 15 January 2023 to DRC President Félix Tshisekedi, Gorilla Ambassador warned of the threats posed by the M23 to the animal species of Virunga Park, following its encampment at Mont-Sabinyo, in the Rutshuru territory (North Kivu). For the deputy director of this organisation, Alain Mukiranya, animal species are threatened by poaching in the Mount Sabinyo region, occupied by the M23. « This rebel encampment at Mount Sabinyo is a danger for the gorillas, which have already been threatened for a long time by war, poaching and habitat loss. The presence of these rebels (M23, editor’s note) will increase the poaching rate because they will hunt and cut down trees to produce charcoal for sale, » warns Alain Mukiranya.
The challenge of preserving biodiversity
Fearing that Virunga Park will lose all its gorillas because of the war waged in eastern DRC by the M23, the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Gorilla Ambassador has asked the President of the Republic to use his diplomacy to request that the rebels be quartered elsewhere and not in this World Heritage site.
Created in 1925, Virunga, the oldest natural park on the African continent, has become a collateral victim of the war and violence in North Kivu, even though it is a jewel of Congolese, African and world heritage. The site has been a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) World Heritage Site since 1979. It is a rich ecosystem. According to the park management, more than 50% of Africa’s terrestrial species are represented there.
Fanta Mabo
DRC: Action to dislodge M23 rebels from Virunga National Park
Gorilla Ambassador has just addressed the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The non-governmental organisation (NGO) is asking Félix Tshisekedi to do everything possible to get the M23 out of the Virunga National Park, located in the north-east of the DRC. The armed rebel group has set up its rear base in the area of the park occupied by the mountain gorillas, thereby threatening the survival of the primates.
The Organisation for Sustainable Development and Biodiversity (ODDB) has just received a grant of approximately 72,000 euros for the protection of the biodiversity of the sacred forest of Kpékonzoun in south-eastern Benin. This project is one of a group of five selected and financed in the framework of the partnership between the Beninese National Environment and Climate Fund (FNEC) and the German Federal Ministry for the Economy and Climate (BMWK).
The sacred forest of Kpékonzoun is one of the relatively unspoiled islands of vegetation in south-eastern Benin. This forest, which is periodically flooded by the Ouémé River, is home to two endangered mammal species, the Sitatunga antelope and the red-bellied monkey (cercopithecus erythrogaster). However, it is threatened by strong pressure from local populations, who are the only ones able to preserve it.
To support the local populations of the sacred forest of Kpékonzoun, the Organisation for Sustainable Development and Biodiversity (ODDB) received a grant of approximately 72,000 euros, or 47 million CFA francs, on 12 January 2023. The funds will be used, among other things, to sensitise villagers to the ecological and economic interest of conserving this sacred forest and to put in place protection measures and a management plan.
At least five projects funded by Germany
The project to support the restoration and sustainable conservation of the sacred forest of Kpékonzoun is one of five out of forty projects selected in the fields of climate change and biodiversity in Benin. These projects were selected in the framework of the call for projects of 28 February 2022 of the Beninese National Environment and Climate Fund (FNEC), relating to the partnership with the German Federal Ministry for the Economy and Climate (BMWK). The total amount of funding for the five projects is 438,338 euros (285 million CFA francs), over an eighteen-month implementation period.
As a reminder, this partnership stems from the satisfactory bilateral cooperation between the FNEC and the German International Development Cooperation Agency (GIZ). Indeed, the GIZ made the FNEC eligible for grants from the BMWK’s International Climate Initiative (IKI) in Africa. Funding for the benefit of national organisations selected in the framework of the call for projects launched by the FNEC. The objective of this call for projects is to finance five small-scale climate or biodiversity projects led by civil society organisations that are in line with the priorities of Benin’s nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and national adaptation plan (NAP).
Fanta Mabo
BENIN: Berlin finances the preservation of the sacred forest of Kpékonzoun
The Organisation for Sustainable Development and Biodiversity (ODDB) has just received a grant of approximately 72,000 euros for the protection of the biodiversity of the sacred forest of Kpékonzoun in south-eastern Benin. This project is one of a group of five selected and financed in the framework of the partnership between the Beninese National Environment and Climate Fund (FNEC) and the German Federal Ministry for the Economy and Climate (BMWK).
Pendant la semaine du Forum économique mondial (WEF) 2022, les émissions de CO2 des jets privés desservant la ville de Davos ont été quatre fois plus importantes que d’ordinaires. C’est le constat d’une étude réalisée par le cabinet néerlandais de conseil en environnement CE Delft. Commandée par l’organisation de défense de la nature Greenpeace, l’étude est publiée à la veille de la 53e édition du Forum de Davos, qui se tient du 16 au 20 janvier 2023, sous le thème « Coopération dans un monde fragmenté ».
Les Africains sont accablés par les effets du changement climatique tandis que l’utilisation des jets privés lors des Fora de Davos, renforce le réchauffement climatique. Une nouvelle analyse commandée par Greenpeace International montre que 1 040 jets privés ont fait des allers-retours entre les aéroports desservant la station de montagne suisse de Davos pendant la semaine du Forum économique mondial (WEF) 2022, entraînant des émissions de CO2 liées aux jets privés, quatre fois plus importantes qu’une semaine en moyenne.
L’étude menée par le cabinet néerlandais de conseil en environnement CE Delft, révèle que le nombre de vols en jet privé à destination et en provenance des aéroports desservant Davos a doublé pendant la réunion du Forum économique mondial 2022, provoquant des émissions de CO2 équivalentes à 350 000 voitures moyennes sur la même période. Sur l’ensemble de ces vols, 53 % étaient des vols court-courriers de moins de 750 km qui auraient pu facilement être des voyages en train ou en voiture, et 38 % des vols ultra-courts de moins de 500 km. Le vol le plus court enregistré avait parcouru juste 21 km. Selon l’analyse, les pays qui ont enregistré le plus grand nombre d’arrivées et de départs depuis les aéroports de Davos sont l’Allemagne, la France et l’Italie.
Les jets privés polluent au détriment des régions comme l’Afrique
Selon une étude de Transport & Environment, les jets privés sont 5 à 14 fois plus polluants que les avions commerciaux (par passager), et 50 fois plus polluants que les trains. En 2018, 50% de toutes les émissions de l’aviation ont été causées par seulement 1% de la population mondiale.
En 2022, la question des jets privés a attiré l’attention de l’opinion publique mondiale, après que plusieurs personnalités aient été critiquées pour avoir effectué des voyages ultra-courts à bord de ce moyen de transport. « Étant donné que 80 % de la population mondiale n’a jamais pris l’avion, mais souffre des conséquences des émissions de l’aviation nuisibles au climat, et que le Forum Économique Mondial prétend s’engager à respecter l’objectif climatique de 1,5°C fixé à Paris, cette fête annuelle des jets privés est un cours magistral d’hypocrisie de mauvais goût. Les jets privés doivent être relégués aux oubliettes si nous voulons un avenir vert, juste et sûr pour tous. Les dirigeants mondiaux doivent montrer l’exemple et interdire les jets privés et les vols court-courriers inutiles », délare Melita Steele, la directrice des programmes de Greenpeace Afrique.
L’analyse publiée par Greenpeace International intervient à la veille de la 53e édition du Forum de Davos, qui se tient du 16 au 20 janvier 2023, sous le slogan « Coopération dans un monde fragmenté », avec la participation de plus de 2 700 personnalités provenant de 130 pays, dont des chefs d’État et de gouvernement.
Boris Ngounou
FORUM DE DAVOS : quand les jets privés renforcent la crise climatique
Pendant la semaine du Forum économique mondial (WEF) 2022, les émissions de CO2 des jets privés desservant la ville de Davos ont été quatre fois plus importantes que d’ordinaires. C’est le constat d’une étude réalisée par le cabinet néerlandais de conseil en environnement CE Delft. Commandée par l’organisation de défense de la nature Greenpeace, l’étude est publiée à la veille de la 53e édition du Forum de Davos, qui se tient du 16 au 20 janvier 2023, sous le thème « Coopération dans un monde fragmenté ».