The French Committee of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is launching a call for projects to support initiatives led by civil society. This call specifically targets the funding and implementation of field projects focusing on biodiversity conservation and/or nature-based solutions (NBS), in response to the crucial challenges of adapting to and mitigating climate change.
Toute l'actu sur la protection de l'environnement
he French Committee of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is launching a call for projects to support initiatives led by civil society. This call specifically targets the funding and implementation of field projects focusing on biodiversity conservation and/or nature-based solutions (NBS), in response to the crucial challenges of adapting to and mitigating climate change.
On 1 February 2024, the French Committee of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) launched the Programme to support biodiversity CSOs (civil society organisations) active in developing countries (ProBioDev). This 3-year programme aims to improve the state of biodiversity in developing countries by strengthening civil society action and developing the capacities and partnerships of CSOs.
Supported by a coalition of public and private partners, including the French Development Agency (AFD), the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB), the Audemars Piguet Foundation for Trees, the Fondation de France, the Manthano Foundation, the Egis Foundation and the Maisons du Monde Foundation, the programme also aims to encourage the development of equitable and mutually supportive partnerships to respond effectively to biodiversity issues in developing countries.
As part of this programme, a system for funding meso-projects has been set up, and an initial call for projects is open from 9 April to 26 May 2024. This call for projects will fund around ten field projects, with grants of between €100,000 and €250,000 over a maximum period of 24 months. Grants will represent up to 90% of the total project budget.
The projects selected must be carried out in a country eligible for official development assistance, with priority given to Africa, in accordance with the list drawn up by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). They must be led by civil society partnerships, which must include a French CSO and a local CSO registered in a developing country.
The main objective of the projects must be the preservation of biodiversity and/or the implementation of nature-based solutions focused on mitigating and adapting to climate change, in line with the objectives of the Kunming-Montreal World Conservation Framework.
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Researchers from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) have combined rhino estimates from various African countries for the year 2022. The continental assessment obtained from this work was published on 21 September 2023, on the eve of World Rhino Day. Among other findings, it shows that the white rhino population has increased in Africa for the first time since 2012. However, the threat of extinction continues to hang over these emblematic mammals of the savannah.
This is the first increase in the number of white rhinos in Africa since 2012. According to the results of a census of rhinos in various countries on the continent by researchers from the International Union for Conservation (IUCN), there are now around 16,803 white rhinos, an increase of 5.6%.
« With this good news, we can breathe a sigh of relief for the first time in a decade. However, it is imperative that we further consolidate and build on this positive development and not let our guard down, » said Dr Michael Knight, Chair of the IUCN African Rhino Specialist Group (AfRSG), which initiated the study.
Black rhinos not left behind
The count carried out in various African countries by the AfRSG has resulted in a global population of 6,487 black rhinos in Africa in 2022, an increase of 4.2% compared to 2021.
South Africa remains the continent’s leading country in terms of rhino numbers, but continues to suffer high losses due to poaching, which at the same time is driving up the cost of securing reserves. Nearly 448 rhinos were killed for their horns in 2022, compared with 451 in 2021. Neighbouring Namibia recorded 93 rhinos poached in 2022, compared with 47 the previous year. In East Africa, Kenya shows the best progress, with just one rhino poached in 2022, compared with six the previous year. To mark World Rhino Day on 22 September 2023, the AfRSG and IUCN have called for increased protection for this large land mammal. Rhinos, like Africa’s other large animals, are important drivers of biodiversity and ecology. They create habitats for other species, offering opportunities for future ecosystem restoration options on a global scale. The prosperity of Africa’s wild rhinos can also contribute to the livelihoods and well-being of local people, attracting tourists from around the world, creating employment opportunities and contributing to economic development.
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AFRICA: white rhino population is increasing, but the subspecies remains threatened
Researchers from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) have combined rhino estimates from various African countries for the year 2022. The continental assessment obtained from this work was published on 21 September 2023, on the eve of World Rhino Day. Among other findings, it shows that the white rhino population has increased in Africa for the first time since 2012. However, the threat of extinction continues to hang over these emblematic mammals of the savannah.
Nyungwe and Odzala-Kokoua national parks, in Rwanda and the Republic of Congo respectively, are now part of the world heritage of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). The decision was taken on Tuesday 19 September 2023, at a session of Unesco’s World Heritage Committee held in Riyadh, the Saudi capital.
Rwanda is no longer one of the 12 African countries without a World Heritage Site from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). Nyungwe National Park, a tropical forest covering almost 102,000 hectares in the south-west of the East African country, is now on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The decision was taken on Tuesday 19 September 2023, at a session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in Riyadh, the Saudi capital.
Nyungwe National Park is one of the most important bird conservation sites in Africa. It is home to 12 species of mammal and seven species of bird that are globally threatened, with 317 species of bird recorded. The park also contains the most important natural habitats for a number of species found nowhere else in the world, including the eastern chimpanzee (Pan troglodyte schweinfurthii), the globally threatened golden monkey (Cercopithecus mitis ssp. kandti) and the critically endangered hill horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus hillorum).
Odzala-Kokoua National Park
This is a double coup for the Congo Basin. The world’s second largest rainforest massif saw two of its sites listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites on the same day. The Odzala-Kokoua national park, which covers 13,546 km² in the north-west of the Republic of Congo, was also listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site on 19 September 2023.
« This reaffirms Odzala’s position as a biological hotspot and one of the most species-rich areas in the world. It is home to several types of ecosystems (Congolese forest, Lower Guinea forest and savannah). Odzala is one of the most important strongholds for forest elephants in Central Africa and is home to the greatest diversity of primates in the region, notably the western lowland gorilla and the chimpanzee », describes African Parks Network.
The nature conservation non-governmental organisation (NGO), based in Johannesburg, South Africa, is responsible for managing the two new UNESCO World Heritage sites. This is thanks to long-term conservation contracts, lasting 20 years, signed with the Rwandan and Congolese governments.
Thanks to their new status, Nyungwe and Odzala-Kokoua will attract more funding for conservation and research efforts. « The first advantage is that the site benefits from immediate international recognition, which is an asset for sites that are already protected. This stimulates tourism. It demonstrates social responsibility. The site can benefit from Unesco’s network and partners. What’s more, limited funding is associated with World Heritage status, » explains Charles Karangwa, the Regional Technical Coordinator for Forest Landscapes and Livelihoods at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) for Eastern and Southern Africa.
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CONGO BASIN: Nyungwe and Odzala-Kokoua join Unesco heritage list
Nyungwe and Odzala-Kokoua national parks, in Rwanda and the Republic of Congo respectively, are now part of the world heritage of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). The decision was taken on Tuesday 19 September 2023, at a session of Unesco’s World Heritage Committee held in Riyadh, the Saudi capital.
The Wild Africa Fund, a wildlife protection organisation based in South Africa, is experimenting with a number of repellents to protect elephants from conflict with humans. In Africa, human-wildlife conflicts are one of the causes of the disappearance of African elephants. The species now numbers around 415,000, compared with 3 to 5 million at the beginning of the 20th century.
The conservation of African elephants means keeping them in parks and nature reserves. This is one of the recommendations made to African governments on 12 August 2023 by the Wild Africa Fund, to mark World Elephant Day. The wildlife protection organisation, based in South Africa with offices in Nigeria and Rwanda, presented the various techniques it uses to limit elephant movements in protected areas.
In Zimbabwe, the Wild Africa Fund has teamed up with the Tikobane Trust (a community organisation seeking to empower and educate communities living in and around Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe’s largest) to use an elephant repellent. It’s a concoction of chilli, garlic and rotten eggs. A non-toxic product, according to these ecologists.
« In Nigeria, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) uses satellite collars to improve monitoring of elephant movements, enabling a quicker response when they venture outside the reserve, » says Festus Iyorah, Nigeria’s representative to the Wild Africa Fund. These repellents aim to reduce incidents of human-elephant conflict (HEC), including the use of elephant guards, the construction of watchtowers and the establishment of a beehive and scent fences for the elephants.
Pachyderms on the brink of extinction
African elephant species are now « Endangered » and « Critically Endangered », according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The latest assessments show a significant decline in the number of African elephants across the continent. The number of African forest elephants has fallen by more than 86% over a period of 31 years, while the population of African savannah elephants has declined by at least 60% over the last 50 years, according to the assessments.
Nigeria is one of the countries where the species is most persecuted. The Wild Africa Fund states that over the past 30 years, the elephant population in the West African country has declined considerably, from an estimated 1,200 to 1,500 individuals two decades ago to a current estimate of 300 to 400.
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AFRICA: new repellents to limit human-elephant conflicts
The Wild Africa Fund, a wildlife protection organisation based in South Africa, is experimenting with a number of repellents to protect elephants from conflict with humans. In Africa, human-wildlife conflicts are one of the causes of the disappearance of African elephants. The species now numbers around 415,000, compared with 3 to 5 million at the beginning of the 20th century.
Ras Mohammed Marine Nature Reserve, Egypt’s oldest national park, has just received the Green List certificate from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The award recognises Egypt’s efforts to protect its natural ecosystems, including coral reefs, mangroves and seagrass beds in the Red Sea, as it hosts the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) from 6 to 18 November 2022.
Ras Mohammed Marine Nature Reserve, established in 1983 as Egypt’s first national park, has just been awarded a Green List certificate by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The announcement was made by the Egyptian authorities on the sidelines of the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), which they are hosting until 18 November 2022.
Spanning 850 square kilometres at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula in eastern Egypt, Ras Mohammed is one of the world’s top 10 sites recognised for the effective management of its marine ecosystems, and the first marine protected area in Africa and the Middle East to be included in the IUCN Green List.
The reward for 10 years of conservation
To achieve this level of conservation recognition, the Egyptian Ministry of Environment, through the National Conservation Sector (NCS), has partnered with the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The three partners worked together from 2010 to 2020 on a project targeting protected area financing and management systems.
This included supporting the NCS’s efforts to minimise the impacts of tourism on coral reefs around Ras Mohammed, including near diving sites. The project also included a study to document the status and threats to the Red Sea’s marine resources, and the initiation of a monitoring programme focusing on coral cover in the South Sinai region.
Coral reefs flourish
In Ras Mohammed, coral reef monitoring has revealed up to 90% live coral cover in some areas, with an average of over 65%. This is significantly higher than areas outside the reserve, which has around 20-30% live coral cover.
Coral reefs are among the most biologically diverse and valuable ecosystems on the planet. According to the IUCN, about 25% of the ocean’s fish depend on healthy coral reefs and about one billion people worldwide benefit directly or indirectly from the ecosystem services provided by coral reefs.
Established in 2014 at the World Parks Forum, the IUCN Green List is a global campaign for successful nature conservation. At the heart of this campaign is the Green List Sustainability Standard, which is a global benchmark for how to meet the environmental challenges of the 21st century. As of September 2021, it contains only 59 sites worldwide.
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EGYPT: Ras Mohammed Reserve joins the IUCN Green List
Ras Mohammed Marine Nature Reserve, Egypt’s oldest national park, has just received the Green List certificate from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The award recognises Egypt’s efforts to protect its natural ecosystems, including coral reefs, mangroves and seagrass beds in the Red Sea, as it hosts the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) from 6 to 18 November 2022.