Story By: Joyce Gyekye
A three day maiden consultative workshop by the Alliance of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities for Conservation in Africa, AICA, the West Africa branch is under way in Accra.
The meeting which is being attended by 13 delegates from ECOWAS countries including Ghana, Togo, Nigeria and Senegal and other conservation CSO’s are expected to agree on how the West Africa network can support the continental organization to implement the Africa Protected Areas Congress, APAC Kigali call to action.
The Kigali Call to action for people of nature, held in July 2022 identified priority actions to strengthen Africa’s protected and conserved areas in a manner that is just, equitable and fair to deepen the involvement of indigenous people and local communities. It also calls for enhanced understanding of the power relations among stakeholders, to help limit elite capture, injustice and corruption in conserving natural resources to ensure that the marginalized, especially women and the youth, are genuinely included in decision making.
The meeting in Ghana which started on the 11th of September to the 13th of September will discuss how the West Africa network of IACA will support the parent organization to implement the Africa Protected Areas, APAC Kigali Call To Action.
Welcoming the delegates, Head of Programs at Civic Response, a CSO in environment, Albert Katako outlined the objectives of the meeting which includes developing an implementation plan for AICA’s growth trajectory in the region and a thorough review of the organization’s strategy to see if it aligns with the interests and issues of IPs and LCs in the region.
Former Chairman of Ghana Biodiversity Committee, Prof. Alfred Oteng- Yeboah recounted conventions and declarations both at the international and continental that African governments haven’t implemented.
He attributed this to misprioritization of such conventions in national plans, programmes and projects. He mentioned funding as a major problem facing conservation organizations in Africa and recommended “IPLCs in Africa to work together as a formidable group to influence global decisions, particularly on funding”.
He asked that IPLCs in each country be properly registered and the West Africa branch to be formally established by governments to be accepted by the sub continental organization, ECOWAS.
The Chairman of the Steering Committee for IACA, Malidadi Langa mentioned unity and action as very critical to address common conservation challenges saying “ Africa’s IPLCs must come together to impede effective action against the triple challenges of pervasive poverty and livelihood fragility, biodiversity loss and climate change”.
He noted that for far too long “ Africa’s IPLCs have not been at the decision making tables to project their own interests which have been systematically trampled upon” and therefore called on members to speak for themselves. This way he noted “will give Africa IPLCs the opportunity to construct and articulate their own conservation narratives, their struggles and how to address them.
The Ghana representative of International Union of Conservation of Nature, IUCN, Mrs Dorcas’s Owusuaa Adjei said the 20- year strategic vision of the Union centers on “Uniting for Nature” which recognizes the critical role that indigenous and local communities play in conservation practices. She said that notwithstanding, “ conservation efforts still face numerous challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and social inequality of indigenous communities among others”.
She expressed optimism that AICA is positioned to contribute towards addressing the challenges by “supporting community-led conservation initiatives and sustainable livelihoods as well as fostering collaboration among members and stakeholders for targeted impact.”
At the end of the three- day meeting, the West African delegates are expected to take a clear and unequivocal position on issues relating to institutional development of IACA, including proposals on legal entity status, secretariat location, rules of engagement with other organizations and resource mobilization as well as convening of AICA’s inaugural Annual General Meeting among other outcomes.
The maiden consultative meeting in Accra was sponsored by The Tenure Facility and the Indigenous Movement for Peace and Conflict Transformation, IMPACT.
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