The Sena Oura National Park in Chad and the Kafue National Park in Zambia have joined the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) World Biosphere Network. The addition of Chad and Zambia to the Unesco biosphere network this year brings the number of African reserves in the world network to 89.
Toute l'actu sur la protection de l'environnement
The Sena Oura National Park in Chad and the Kafue National Park in Zambia have joined the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) World Biosphere Network. The addition of Chad and Zambia to the Unesco biosphere network this year brings the number of African reserves in the world network to 89.
Chad and Zambia, located in central and southern Africa respectively, are taking their first steps into the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO) World Biosphere Network. Together with Georgia in Eastern Europe, these African states are the three countries joining the UNESCO World Biosphere Network for the first time.
« I am delighted to see three new Member States joining this useful and powerful network this year. With these new designations, Unesco’s biosphere reserves now cover a protected area of more than 1.3 million km² worldwide, » says Audrey Azoulay, Director General of Unesco. At the 34th session of the Unesco Council, held from 13 to 17 June 2022 at the organisation’s headquarters in Paris, France, a total of eleven new biosphere reserves in nine countries were approved. With these new designations, the World Network of Biosphere Reserves now comprises 738 sites in 134 countries.
Sena Oura Biosphere Reserve
Located in southwestern Chad near the border with Cameroon, the Sena Oura Biosphere Reserve is the first biosphere reserve in Chad. Created as a national park on 10 June 2008, it covers an area of 735.2 km², constituting the last intact remnants of the Sudanese savannah in the country and is home to elephants, Derby elands and giraffes. Thanks to the abundance of fertile land and favourable agro-climatic conditions, traditional agriculture and livestock rearing in particular provide a livelihood for almost 90% of the local population.
Kafue Marshes Biosphere Reserve
Covering an area of approximately 22,400 km², the Kafue Marshes Biosphere Reserve passes through several districts of archaeological and historical importance, as well as a Ramsar site and an important bird area. Located in the west of Zambia, it is the oldest and largest national park in the southern African country. It is home to over 400 bird species and several mammals, including zebra, buffalo, hippo and the endemic Kafue lechwe.
Africa in the World Biosphere Network
After the integration of Lesotho and Libya in September 2021, the arrival this year of Chad and Zambia in the Unesco biosphere network brings the number of African reserves to 89 and the number of African countries in the world network to 35.
Biosphere reserves are a cornerstone of UNESCO’s mandate as the United Nations’ scientific agency. They are at the heart of Unesco’s research and advocacy work to encourage innovative practices in sustainable development and to promote the understanding, appreciation and safeguarding of the living environment by the organisation’s communities and member states.
Fanta Mabo
The first International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Congress on Protected Areas in Africa (APAC) ended on 23 July 2022 with the adoption of the « Kigali Call to Action ». In this declaration, more than 2,000 delegates present called on governments to give indigenous peoples a prominent place in nature conservation projects and policies.
More than 2,000 delegates from across the African continent and beyond gathered in Kigali, Rwanda from 18-23 July 2022 for the first African congress dedicated to the role of protected areas in the future of the planet. The meeting, held under the theme « For People and Nature », resulted in the adoption of the « Kigali Call to Action ».
In the five-page declaration, participants call for special support for Africa’s indigenous peoples to preserve the wisdom, traditions, scientific and traditional knowledge, and customary approaches that will enable effective conservation of nature, culture, livelihoods and human well-being.
« Protected and conserved areas in Africa have a complex legacy, with conservation success too often at the expense of local communities. One of the main objectives of the first ever IUCN Congress on African Protected Areas is to give a voice to these marginalised communities, highlighting their stewardship of nature and the need for inclusive and just conservation models under African leadership and with global support, » says Dr Bruno Oberle, Director General of the World Conservation Union (IUCN).
To maintain this goal, participants at the first African Protected Areas Congress (APAC) have built a diverse coalition, including governments and civil society actors such as youth, indigenous peoples and local communities, as well as protected area managers and rangers to strengthen nature protection and conservation.
Increasing funding for conservation
In addition to recognising local communities as key players in environmental policies, the APAC participants called for nature protection to be combined with social justice, and above all for more funding.
« To properly manage a protected area, you need about 1,000 dollars per square kilometre. Currently, in Africa, we have an average of 50 dollars per square kilometre. So today, the continent is mobilising to ensure that its protected areas are financed, » explains Kaddu Sebunya, president of the Africa Wildlife Fundation. To make this recommendation a reality, a pan-African fund for nature conservation was launched at the APAC meeting. Open to all governments and donors, this mechanism aims to finance nature parks with resources other than tourism revenues.
The APAC was held a few months before the 15th United Nations Conference on Biodiversity (COP15) in December 2022 in Montreal, which is to adopt a global framework to better protect nature ravaged by human activities by 2050, with a stage in 2030. The COP15 Biodiversity meeting will have to decide on the UN’s call to protect at least 30% of the world’s land and oceans by 2030.
Fanta Mabo
AFRICA: Apac puts indigenous peoples at the heart of nature protection
The first International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Congress on Protected Areas in Africa (APAC) ended on 23 July 2022 with the adoption of the « Kigali Call to Action ». In this declaration, more than 2,000 delegates present called on governments to give indigenous peoples a prominent place in nature conservation projects and policies.
South African researchers have just completed one of the few studies of climate risk to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO) coastal World Heritage sites across Africa. The study shows that at least 56 of the assessed sites are already threatened by extreme events such as flooding and erosion, a number that will triple to almost 200 by the year 2100 if climate change continues unabated.
The island of Gorée, located 3.5 km off the coast of Dakar in Senegal, is gradually retreating due to erosion and rising sea levels. The small 28-hectare island, a historical relic for having been one of the largest slave trading centres on the African coast between the 15th and 19th centuries, was the subject of a recent study by South African researchers. The scientists assessed the vulnerability of 284 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Heritage coastal sites along Africa’s 300 000 kilometres of coastline.
This study is one of the few to assess climate risk to heritage sites across Africa. It shows that at least 56 of the assessed sites are already threatened by extreme coastal events such as flooding and erosion, a number that will triple to nearly 200 by the year 2100 if climate change continues unabated.
Protecting the ‘memory’ against climate change
In the case of Senegal’s Gorée Island, awareness of its disappearance due to extreme coastal events is not new. The Senegalese government was already aware of this in 2014. The Senegalese Directorate of Cultural Heritage initiated a project to protect Gorée Island against coastal erosion. And since 2018, the Senegalese Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development has been implementing the integrated coastal management project.
In addition to Gorée Island, the range of 56 UNESCO African Heritage coastal sites threatened by climate change includes, among others, the iconic ruins of Tipasa in Algeria, the archaeological sites of North Sinai in Egypt and the atoll (tropical sea island, formed of coral reefs surrounding a central shallow water lagoon) of Aldabra in the Seychelles, one of the largest atolls in the world.
Fanta Mabo
AFRICA: Climate change threatens 56 UNESCO coastal heritage sites
South African researchers have just completed one of the few studies of climate risk to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO) coastal World Heritage sites across Africa. The study shows that at least 56 of the assessed sites are already threatened by extreme events such as flooding and erosion, a number that will triple to almost 200 by the year 2100 if climate change continues unabated.
The emergency plan for the resilience of the coral reefs of the UNESCO World Heritage (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) was presented on April 14, 2022 in Palau, an island state located in Oceania. The plan, which is limited to UNESCO World Heritage coral reefs, includes two sites in Africa.
The warming of ocean temperatures, due to global CO2 emissions, is the primary threat to coral reefs. It reduces the life expectancy of corals, through early bleaching. « This year, for the first time, massive coral bleaching has even occurred during a traditionally cooler period, known as La Niña. According to the current scenario of emissions, all the world heritage reefs may disappear by the end of the century, » explains Audrey Azoulay, the Director General of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).
A study presented on the side-lines of the 26th United Nations Conference on Climate Change explains that coral reefs live and thrive at temperatures between 25 ° C and 40 ° C, and if the temperature exceeds this limit, the reefs bleach and eventually die.
In response to the negative impact of global warming on reef ecosystems, UNESCO’s Director General took the opportunity of the seventh edition of the international summit « Our Ocean », held from 13 to 14 April 2022 in Palau (an island state located in Oceania) to launch the emergency plan for the resilience of the coral reefs of the UNESCO World Heritage. The plan, implemented in partnership with the Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR), a public-private fund led by the United Nations, will invest in climate resilience strategies. Actions will focus on reducing local drivers of degradation, sustainable management of marine protected areas and support for local communities.
There are 29 World Heritage sites with coral reefs, including 19 sites in developing countries and two sites in Africa (iSimangaliso Wetland Park in eastern South Africa, and Mukkawar Island in Sudan).
The impact of human activities
The degradation of reef ecosystems is not only caused by global warming. Human activities also have a negative impact on the development of coral reefs. On the African side of the Red Sea, for example, illegal and destructive fishing methods, unsustainable coastal and land-based developments that cause encroachment and pollution in coral reef areas, as well as tourism overcapacity, contribute to coral reef degradation.
Faced with this situation, that projects similar to the emergency plan for the resilience of coral reefs of the Unesco World Heritage are also launched in other African countries. During the 7th edition of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development held from 28 to 30 August 2019, Japan has committed to funding projects to protect reef ecosystems in countries benefiting from the new agreement on the Blue Growth Initiative: Kenya, Comoros, Mauritius and Seychelles.
Fanta Mabo
AFRICA: Two sites benefit from UNESCO coral reef plan
The emergency plan for the resilience of the coral reefs of the UNESCO World Heritage (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) was presented on April 14, 2022 in Palau, an island state located in Oceania. The plan, which is limited to UNESCO World Heritage coral reefs, includes two sites in Africa.
Commission océanographique intergouvernementale (COI) de l’Unesco vient de publier une liste de six propositions, pour réduire la vulnérabilité des espaces côtières en Afrique centrale. Cet apport moral intervient en prélude à la décennie des Nations Unies pour les sciences océaniques au service du développement durable (2021-2030).
Le caractère transfrontalier des menaces auxquelles font face les zones côtières en Afrique centrale et dans le reste monde, pousse les experts à la convocation d’une gestion intégrée de ces espaces naturels. C’est l’appel lancé par la Commission océanographique intergouvernementale (COI) de l’Unesco. Dans son Rapport technique sur l’état de vulnérabilité côtière des pays d’Afrique centrale, publié le 22 juin 2020,les membres de cette commission ont fait six propositions reposant sur une approche régionale centrafricaine en matière de gestion des ressources côtières.
Ainsi, pour atteindre la résilience côtière dans les sept pays de l’Afrique centrale il faut : consolider le pouvoir, renforcer les réseaux d’experts, développer les capacités, donner davantage la parole aux communautés et promouvoir le partage d’informations ; mettre en place une stratégie globale capable de concrétiser les déclarations en faveur de la résilience climatique ; adapter l’économie à la nouvelle réalité climatique ; faire avancer la mise en œuvre des programmes juridiques et politiques relatifs à la résilience climatique ; renforcer le régionalisme et l’identité biorégionale ; et enfin, aligner et développer les infrastructures scientifiques et techniques en soutien aux processus décisionnels.
La fragilisation des zones côtières est surtout d’origine anthropique
Les espaces côtiers d’Afrique centrale sont au centre de multiples enjeux, notamment d’origine humaine, qui les soumettent à d’importantes modifications. C’est le cas à Kribi, une cité balnéaire située au sud du Cameroun, où l’on note depuis 1960 l’installation des projets agroalimentaire (Société de Palmeraie de la Ferme Suisse [SPFS] en 1968, devenue Société camerounaise de Palmeraie [Socapalm], Hévéa du Cameroun [Hevecam] en 1975). La présence de ces entreprises, ajoutée aux grands projets industriels d’envergure entrepris récemment dans cette région (Port en eau profonde de Kribi, la centrale à gaz, Pipeline Tchad-Cameroun…), a engendré une croissance démographique galopante, laquelle n’est pas sans conséquence sur le littoral kribien. C’est donc pour surmonter ces défis dits émergents, dans le domaine de la gestion des espaces côtières, qu’intervient le rapport technique du COI.
Avant la publication de ce rapport, le COI avait organisé du 05 au 07 novembre 2019, un atelier technique sur la vulnérabilité côtière en Afrique Centrale. Cette initiative avait réuni l’ensemble des différents experts de la sous-région, pour identifier les défis de chaque pays et trouver une initiative conjointe afin de préserver les espaces côtières.
Ces différentes actions du COI interviennent dans le cadre de la feuille de route conjointe sur les processus de planification de l’espace marin dans le monde, et dans le contexte des préparatifs de la Décennie des Nations Unies des Sciences océaniques pour le développement durable (2021-2030).
Boris Ngounou
AFRIQUE CENTRALE : six propositions de l’Unesco pour des côtes résilientes au climat
Commission océanographique intergouvernementale (COI) de l’Unesco vient de publier une liste de six propositions, pour réduire la vulnérabilité des espaces côtières en Afrique centrale. Cet apport moral intervient en prélude à la décennie des Nations Unies pour les sciences océaniques au service du développement durable (2021-2030).