How biodiversity sites in conflict zones can be preserved —Adepoju, DG FRIN

Professor Adeshola Adepoju was recently elected Chair/President of the International Co-ordinating Council of the Programme on Man and Biosphere Reserve (MABICC) at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. He spoke with PAUL OMOROGBE on how biodiversity sites in Africa in conflict zones can be preserved and his plans to bring African sites at par with the rest of the world.

WHAT are the implications of your appointment for the country?

This is more of a responsibility. It then means Nigeria must be an example or a rallying point in Africa in the activities of Man and Biosphere programme. The good news is that we have about three proposals we will discuss in our council meeting which when approved will increase the Man and Biosphere reserves in the country to four. It then means we are increasing the management and sustainability, management in particular, of biodiversity hubs in the country. So instead of any fear of such area being under threat, or being mismanaged, it then means people and the communities around there can live harmoniously with the biodiversity hub there without any of the parties being a threat to each other. That’s what the programme is actually all about – man living in a sustainable relationship with the biodiversity around him Also, this means there will be a lot of capacity building and awareness that could make us create even more (of such) in future. And given our activities around that more visibility to the world to attract support, collaboration, investment and all of that. Really it is the consciousness of our activities.

But the position is really for the whole of Africa, so I am not seen to be representing Nigeria, as the case maybe, but rather projecting the whole of Africa to the world programme. We have been given the responsibility now, so we should also measure up to the expectation and that means we must put the African network in good position so that it can be at par with other network in the five regions of the world. We are opening up the system for people to understand the importance of the programme, what they can benefit, get support for and also collaborate with people about it.

Many of the biodiversity centres are in locations where security is a challenge, such a Lake Chad. What are your concerns about this?

It is not only in Nigeria; most of the sites are in trouble spots or war zones like we have in Congo. The belief is those sites are trapped in the issue because one, there is no value or benefit attached to those communities around there in relation to the value of the place. They have not been receiving any attention and so the people are barely aware of the importance of the biodiversity index around them. So, if the place becomes a site, and what happened to Omo Biosphere happens to them – the Korean government supported about 200 inhabitants that reside around there to be able to embrace one enterprise or the other. And so when people are engaged in one green economy or the other, and don’t forget that those areas are difficult for outsiders to penetrate if the inhabitants are not cooperating. So if the inhabitants know the value, and they are getting benefits via support for their livelihood from there (the sites) they will not be readily available to be used as a pawn in militia arrangement. It is more or less because there has been neglect and they are also struggling livelihood wise – you wouldn’t want to blame anybody. The idle hands are the devil’s workshop so we believe by the time they understand the importance of the hub around them and they are also benefitting from it, it will be difficult for them to cooperate with external aggression to destroy whatever is around them.

By the time you are rounding up your tenure, what will be the deliverables?

One, to bring African sites to almost at par with other regions in the world that are ahead of us. Two, to see as many biodiversity gifts in Africa that we can secure become sites. Three, to give the programme more visibility. Yes, we have CBD (Convention on Biological Diversity), that is the convention on biodiversity, but it is only about biodiversity. But this programme goes beyond just biodiversity. It is to ensure the sustainability of the biodiversity by establishing the fact that there can be a relationship between man and the gift of nature without one threatening the other. So by the time this is publicised more, and we have more visibility, we believe that those who have been reluctant to surrender the natural gift around them will see the importance. That for this to be enduring for generations to come, it is better that these natural gifts go into similar arrangement. We want to see how we can build on the achievements of the past chairs and see where there were challenges and learn around the curve of these challenges and how we can actual those things they couldn’t. I have been two-time member of the bureau so that gives me some advantage to leverage on what I am coming with and move higher.

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