International Day for Biological Diversity is celebrated annually in May to increase understanding and appreciation of the criticality of biodiversity. This year, the theme “From Agreement to Action: Build Back Biodiversity” echoes the need to urgently act. As we mark this important day, we must conserve biodiversity and choose sustainable options in all spheres of life and sectors. On World Biodiversity Day and everyday, let’s apply our collective effort to implement this important Framework of the decade and build back better.
Earth Hour 2023 will be held on March 25, 2023. Since 2007, Earth Hour has focused attention on climate change and environmental degradation. Earth Hour has reached over 190 countries and territories and millions of people around the globe. Earth Hour has been known for “lights out,” a symbolic event and visual representation of collective support for climate change action. Earth hour continues to advocate for action on climate change, as well as other environmental issues, 17 years later. Earth Hour is an important opportunity for Africa to emphasize the importance of nature to livelihoods, as well as food and energy security on the continent, which is threatened by climate change.
The ability of Earth Hour to inspire and support individuals to act and advocate for change has always been central to its success. Earth Hour demonstrates that collective efforts by governments, businesses, and individuals can make a difference in combating habitat loss, global biodiversity loss, and climate change if people come together to take action. Earth Hour urges immediate action now more than ever.
Dedicate 60 minutes to celebrate our planet!
People are needed now more than ever to make Earth Hour 2023 a year of change in order to meet the 2030 nature positive goal. Individuals, businesses, communities, towns and cities, and entire nations must all participate in Earth Hour to make a difference and create the World’s Greatest Earth Hour. Let us dedicate 60 minutes to global support and celebration of our planet that day.
As landmarks and homes across the planet switch off, everyone should take a break from their routine and everyday distractions and spend 60 minutes doing something positive for our planet.
Together, let’s create the Biggest Hour for Earth.
Browse events to attend virtually or in-person here.
DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality is the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day. Celebrated annually on March 8, 2023, International Women’s Day (IWD 2023) will focus on the digital gender gap and the importance of protecting women’s and girls’ rights in digital spaces, as well as addressing online and ICT-facilitated gender-based violence. In the past, women’s exclusion from the digital world has caused a $1 trillion loss to low- and middle-income countries. Reversing this trend will require addressing online violence, which 38% of women have experienced.
As we commemorate International Women’s Day, we should ensure gender equality in the implementation of policies that address women’s issues through a gender-responsive approach in which all women and girls have equal opportunity and capacity to contribute to innovation, technology, and digital space. However, the digital revolution can also perpetuate existing patterns of gender inequality, with women falling behind due to growing inequalities in digital skills and access to technologies. Therefore, inclusive and transformative technology, as well as digital education, are essential for a sustainable future for women in their various areas of expertise.
ABCG continues to collaborate with local and indigenous women to bridge the gap and amplify their voices on biodiversity conservation and related issues throughout Africa to ensure just and equitable implementation of actions that include women’s full and effective participation and role in biodiversity conservation.
On February 8, 2023, ABCG and the African Wildlife Foundation hosted a presentation by SaharaConservation on the efforts to rewild the Sahara and the Sahel. SaharaConservation is the only international nonprofit dedicated to conserve the wildlife, habitats, and other natural resources of the Sahel and the Sahara.
SaharaConservation’s John Watkin, Chief Executive Officer, and Cloé Pourchier, Program Officer shared the organization’s work, their achievements in rewilding the Sahara, next opportunities, and the threats facing biodiversity.
For the past two decades, SaharaConservation has worked to champion the unique wildlife of the world’s greatest desert landscape. They have worked to protect the last remnant populations of Critically Endangered species including the addax and the starkly patterned dama gazelle, and in more recent years pivoted to large-scale rewilding through translocations and reintroductions.
Rewilding in Chad
As a result of the organization’s rewilding efforts, today over 500 scimitar-horned oryx roam free across the grasslands of central Chad’s Réserve de Faune de Ouadi Rimé-Ouadi Achim, after being extinct in the wild for nearly 30 years. Alongside them are addax (also reintroduced in Chad), dama gazelles, North African ostrich, and many thousands of dorcas gazelles.
Securing a healthy population of scimitar-horned oryx is a long-term commitment and needs to be considered carefully as the balance could be quickly overthrown. Fire, land use, desertification, disease, over-grazing, and security, are some of the threats faced by wildlife in Chad.
Achievements in Niger
In Niger, SaharaConservation has successfully spearheaded two translocations of West African giraffes to Gadabeji Biosphere Reserve, in collaboration with the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, and captive breeding of North African ostriches (extinct in the wild in Niger). SaharaConservation and partners are currently assessing the most effective ways to conserve a sub-population of dama gazelle, as well as tackling threats to six species of endangered vultures.
The lack of data, capacity and resources are an obstacle to the protection of vultures and dama. The organization believes that it has a key role to play in accelerating progress in these extraordinary landscapes. They emphasize the need for scaled up, landscape-level approaches, that integrate wildlife conservation with the realities of human development, with a vision for a Sahara that benefits all inhabitants.
ABCG Director, Rubina James participated in a panel organized by the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) and Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC) to discuss the future of protected areas in the Congo Basin, during the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15), that was held in Montreal Canada in December 2022.
The fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 15) will be taking place in Montreal, Canada, December 7-19, 2022. This important meeting of the decade has three objectives, the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources.
World leaders and individuals across the world are gearing for the 27th Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC to be held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt from 6 – 18 November 2022. The meeting will see world leaders agree on measures to tackle climate change to mitigate the harsh consequences that we have been experiencing as result of rising temperatures.
