<\/p>\n
African Development Bank Group (AfDB) Acting Director of Climate Change and Green Growth Dr Al-Hamndou Dorsouma said Africa held about one-quarter of global biodiversity and nine of the world\u2019s 36 recognised biodiversity hotspots.<\/p>\n
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Grasslands and forests cover more than half of the continent\u2019s land and support the livelihoods of over 70% of people in sub-Saharan Africa.<\/p>\n
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Africa is also home to the Congo Basin, the world\u2019s second-largest rainforest and one of the planet\u2019s most important carbon sinks.<\/p>\n
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AfDB estimates that Africa\u2019s natural capital is worth about $7.6 trillion.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
However, Dorsouma said limited biodiversity financing, weak institutions and the continued degradation of ecosystems prevented countries from translating natural wealth into inclusive economic development.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is Africa\u2019s biodiversity paradox,\u201d Dorsouma said. \u201cNatural wealth that is underfinanced, undervalued and degrading becomes a drag on development rather than a source of prosperity.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Africa loses almost 4 million hectares of forest each year, with significant losses continuing in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Monitored vertebrate wildlife populations across Africa declined by 76% between 1970 and 2020.<\/p>\n
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Dorsouma said biodiversity should be treated as a central development priority rather than solely as a conservation concern.<\/p>\n
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The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework requires countries to conserve and manage at least 30% of global land and marine ecosystems by 2030.<\/p>\n
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African countries have begun developing national strategies to translate the Framework into action, but Dorsouma said those plans must become investment frameworks capable of influencing budgets and sectoral development.<\/p>\n
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Governments should strengthen institutions, mobilise domestic and international finance, redirect environmentally harmful subsidies and use innovative instruments to attract concessional and private capital.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
AfDB has committed $6.5 billion to the Great Green Wall Initiative and supports programmes in the Congo Basin, Lake Chad Basin, Horn of Africa and Sahel.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Bank will use the COP17 UN Biodiversity Conference in Yerevan, Armenia, from October 19 to October 30 to promote practical biodiversity financing and nature-positive growth. \u201cOnly by converting biodiversity commitments into investment at scale can Africa resolve its paradox and transform its extraordinary natural wealth into a foundation for resilient, nature-positive growth,\u201d Dorsouma said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–AfDB\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":44335,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-48272","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Africa must mobilise investment to protect biodiversity and convert natural wealth into sustainable development as ecosystems continue to deteriorate across the continent.","published_date":"","news_description":"Africa must mobilise investment to protect biodiversity and convert natural wealth into sustainable development as ecosystems continue to deteriorate across the continent.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/48272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/48272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48274,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/48272\/revisions\/48274"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=48272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}