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There are a thousand ways of looking at Africa, but there's one image that everyone shares: that of its exceptional nature, its untamed flora and fauna. This continent is one of the richest regions on the planet in terms of biodiversity: 4,700 species of mammals, a fifth of bird species, and a sixth of plant species. Africa is home to the planet's 2nd green lung: the Congo Basin forest, which alone accounts for 10% of the world's biodiversity and covers more than 3.6 million km2 spread over six countries: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.

However, the needs of the population continue to grow, the fragmentation of environments is accelerating, and natural areas are becoming increasingly scarce. Against this backdrop, pressure on natural resources is increasing rapidly, including on protected areas, and their capacity to conserve biodiversity over the long term is increasingly uncertain.

By 2030, young Africans are expected to represent 42% of the world's youth and 75% of those under 35 in Africa. With such a large youth population, it is more essential than ever to put in place policies and programs to support inclusive youth development. The latter will need information, knowledge, skills, and opportunities to take up leadership positions as their countries strive to achieve economic growth and reach the Sustainable Development Goals. We need to give them the chance to contribute to changing the continent, the Africa we want.  

So, in terms of regional priorities, CEESP's work in Africa focuses on the need to increase the participation of young people in CEESP activities. One of our key activities is to reach out to the various youth platforms and talk about CEESP and its role. We will use the youth engagement strategy developed by CEESP as a basis for implementation.

 

Three activities are proposed: 

  1. Increase regional membership by engaging regional leaders in regional events to promote CEESP. This could also be done through social media. 
  2. Implement the CEESP youth engagement strategy in the region, given that the African continent is young. 
  3. Increase youth participation in CEESP activities by supporting and helping to strengthen measures to recognize, elevate, and uphold the rights, responsibilities, and roles of young people in nature conservation.
     
monipher
Ms Monipher MUSASA

Regional Vice Chair, Africa
Growing up in a community that lived outside a protected area, Monipher has from a young age, learnt to appreciate the rich biodiversity of her country, Malawi, which led me her to pursue a career in conservation. Monipher has considerable experience in conservation policy having worked for the Government of Malawi, in its implementation of programmes and initiatives that fulfil its obligations under the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD). She is an experienced coordinator and negotiator, having negotiated for several years on the Convention on Biological Diversity and its protocols for Malawi and has vast knowledge on linking best practices learnt from national level implementation into international policy negotiations. In addition to leading IFAW’s engagement in the CBD, Monipher's role involves advocating IFAW's positions to African governments across the range of international conventions and agreements that fall within the remit of IFAW’s international policy program and supporting IFAW’s engagement with African regional forums. She holds a Master of Philosophy in Conservation Leadership from University of Cambridge in UK with special interests on integration of conservation and development, local community property rights to land and natural resources (ownership, control, access, and use), ecosystem valuations, economic and social incentives for conservation for the poor and vulnerable sections of society.

Regional Vice Chair, Africa
Growing up in a community that lived outside a protected area, Monipher has from a young age, learnt to appreciate the rich biodiversity of her country, Malawi, which led ...

emmanuel lokpaka
Emmanuel LOKPAKA

Deputy Regional Vice Chair, Africa
Emmanuel LOKPAKA BAFALATA is Deputy Vice Chair for Africa at the IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP). A forestry planner by training and holder of a master's degree in environmental engineering, Emmanuel's passion lies in the themes related to protected areas and biodiversity in connection with humans, especially young people. He has been working for almost 5 years as a volunteer ambassador in the DRC for the IUCN Program on African Protected Areas and Conservation (PAPACO), where he promotes conservation MOOCs on protected area management. This makes him a reference person for youth and conservation NGOs. And for the past 3 years, Emmanuel has been, coordinating projects and activities within the Congolese Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN DRC), an official youth group of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). His vision is to engage many youths in conservation issues in order to positively impact their communities.

Deputy Regional Vice Chair, Africa
Emmanuel LOKPAKA BAFALATA is Deputy Vice Chair for Africa at the IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP). A forestry planner by ...