WEST AFRICA: towards a regional action plan for biodiversity

The biodiversity crisis was at the heart of a meeting of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on February 18, 2024 in Abuja, Nigeria. Participants were invited to make proposals for a regional action plan to extend the 30×30 target for biodiversity in West Africa.
Leaders in charge of environmental protection in West Africa are paving the way for the conservation of their biodiversity. This was the subject of a coordination meeting organized by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on February 18 in Abuja. Nigeria, which holds the rotating presidency of ecowas, is leading the sub-region’s efforts to draw up a regional action plan to extend the 30×30 target for biodiversity in West Africa.
This collective effort is further supported by the Ecowas Commission, led by Commissioner Massandje Touré-Litse, who stressed the global importance of the region’s actions to achieve the 2030 biodiversity conservation target. The stakeholders present at this coordination meeting have an important mandate. They must produce a regional implementation plan for the 30×30 target, which aims to ensure the effective protection of at least 30% of Ecowas biodiversity by 2030, in order to preserve vital ecosystems and halt the extinction of wildlife species caused by man.
« I want to be convinced that thanks to your work over the next few days, Ecowas will once again take the lead in biodiversity ambitions. We will work through the difficult technical aspects and devise new ways forward, knowing that the eyes of the world are upon us. Our hard work to expand and strengthen our protected areas will serve not only as a sign of our commitment, but also as a wake-up call to the rest of the world, » says Iziaq Salako, Nigeria’s Minister of State for the Environment.
According to the « 30×30 » target as set out in the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted in December 2022 at the 15th Conference of the Parties in Canada, Parties must ensure and enable that, by 2030, at least 30% of terrestrial, inland water, coastal and marine areas, particularly areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, are effectively conserved and managed through ecologically representative, well-connected and equitably managed systems of protected areas.
The achievement of this objective must recognize and respect the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, including their traditional territories.
Fanta Mabo