{"id":6247,"date":"2022-06-28T07:54:25","date_gmt":"2022-06-28T07:54:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/euromenaenergy.com\/?p=6247"},"modified":"2022-06-28T07:54:25","modified_gmt":"2022-06-28T07:54:25","slug":"crunch-un-talks-face-pressure-to-land-global-nature-pact-in-2022-by-nita-bhalla-and-michael-taylor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/?p=6247","title":{"rendered":"Crunch UN talks face pressure to land global nature pact in 2022 By Nita Bhalla and Michael Taylor"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Mara Siana Conservancy, \/Kenya\/Kuala Lumpur<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

A cross the endless savannah dotted with flat-topped acacia trees, Mara Siana Conservancy in western Kenya teems with elephants, giraffes, zebra and impala, alongside the Maasai people who inhabit the area with their vast herds of livestock.
\nBut this wasn\u2019t always the case.
\nThe 25,000-acre (100sq km) landscape adjoining the famed Maasai Mara National Reserve had become devoid of wildlife until the Maasai got together in 2016 to create a community-run wildlife area to protect local biodiversity and generate tourism income.
\n\u201cWhen the conservancy started, there was only one zebra and one topi (antelope) in this valley,\u201d said Evans Sitati, manager of the Mara Siana Conservancy, standing by his open-topped jeep as a herd of buffalo lazily munched on lush grassland nearby.
\n\u201cThe Maasai\u2019s livestock had taken over the land and there was over-grazing and … no space for the wildlife. But within a month of creating the conservancy, the wildlife started coming back.\u201d
\nOn Tuesday, crunch UN talks began a few hours\u2019 drive away from Mara Siana conservancy, in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, aimed at tackling this same problem: halting and reversing the devastating loss of biodiversity across the planet.
\nImproving conservation and management of natural areas, such as parks, oceans, forests and wetlands, is seen as vital to safeguarding the ecosystems and wildlife on which people depend and limiting global warming to internationally agreed goals.
\nBut forests are still being cut down worldwide \u2014 often to produce commodities like palm oil, soybean and beef \u2014 destroying biodiversity and undermining climate action, as trees absorb about a third of planet-warming emissions produced worldwide.
\nTo tackle such losses, about 195 countries are set to finalise an accord to stem human damage to plants, animals and ecosystems \u2014 similar to the Paris climate agreement \u2014 at a UN summit, known as COP15.
\nThe UN Convention on Biological Diversity announced on Tuesday that the final part of the summit, led by host nation China, is now scheduled to take place in Canada from December 5-17.
\nThe talks have been postponed several times due to Covid-19, with China finally agreeing that the second part of the summit should be held in Montreal, as it grapples with the pandemic.
\nThe first in-person negotiations in two years held in Geneva in March left many environmentalists frustrated by slow progress, with governments realising an extra session in Kenya was needed this week to land a deal by the end of the year.
\n\u201cThe science is very clear. Biodiversity is in crisis. One million species are at risk of extinction in the next few decades,\u201d said Guido Broekhoven, head of policy at WWF International, which is supporting the Mara Siana conservancy.
\n\u201cBut it\u2019s not just about the biodiversity. The aim is to find ways such as the conservancy project that combines conservation with development objectives to benefit both people and nature.\u201d
\nFinance provided by rich countries to help developing nations do their part under the expected new nature deal is a thorny issue, observers said ahead of the Nairobi talks which run from June 21-26.
\nHow to involve and protect the rights of indigenous groups and communities living in and around natural areas \u2014 who play a vital role in conservation \u2014 is also a live topic, they said.
\n\u201cFinance remains the largest challenge in the negotiations,\u201d said Brian O\u2019Donnell, director of the US-based Campaign for Nature. \u201cWithout adequate finance, policies and programs aimed at conserving nature will not be successful.\u201d
\nSusan Lieberman, vice president of international policy at the Wildlife Conservation Society, said Nairobi could reach agreement on a widely supported pledge seen as central to the new global deal \u2014 to protect at least 30% of the planet\u2019s land and oceans by 2030.
\nA coalition of more than 80 countries has already backed the 30×30 goal, which is part of the draft treaty, although many biodiversity-rich nations in Southeast Asia are yet to sign up.
\n\u201cWe are in the midst of a global conservation crisis, with increasing species extinctions and increasing risk of ecosystem collapse,\u201d said Lieberman.
\n\u201cThe adoption of a strong framework of government commitments on biodiversity is critical \u2014 it cannot wait.\u201d
\nRights groups say a global pact will only succeed on the ground if it brings onboard indigenous peoples like the Maasai.
\nThey comprise less than 5% of the world\u2019s population but protect 80% of the Earth\u2019s biodiversity in forests, deserts, grasslands and marine environments, where they have lived for centuries, according to WWF.
\nYet there is very little recognition of, or support for, their efforts in ensuring a resilient and healthy planet, especially in Africa.
\nKenya\u2019s community-run protected wildlife areas, known as conservancies, have often been lauded as a gold standard in benefiting both people and nature.
\nMaasai landowners lease part of their land for safari camps and lodges, and as shareholders, local communities earn tourist dollars from camp stays, game drives, village tours and handicrafts.
\nThe funds generated are also used to improve access to water, healthcare and education for communities, and to help them set up small businesses, while maintaining their traditional herding way of life.
\nThere are 15 conservancies around the Mara, collectively benefiting more than 100,000 people through land lease payments and salaried jobs including rangers, tour guides, housekeepers and drivers.
\nBut even this model faces challenges.
\nFidelis Mpoe, a Maasai ranger at Mara Siana Conservancy whose father is one of its 1,500 shareholders, said climate change was taking a toll, with increasing dry spells forcing locals to bring their cattle into the conservancy to graze.
\n\u201cThis leads to more human-animal conflict, especially with the elephants trampling over children who are herding. Then the community wants to take revenge on the animal and we have to try and make them understand,\u201d he added.
\nIn neighbouring Tanzania, violence has erupted between Maasai pastoralists and security forces over government plans to cordon off their land for wildlife protection.
\nEarlier this month, one officer was killed and several protesters were injured during demonstrations by the Maasai, who accuse the authorities of trying to force them off their land to make way for safaris and hunting expeditions.
\nThe government has rejected these accusations, saying it wants to protect the area from human activity.
\n\u201cFortress conservation efforts that result in the forcible dispossession of people are no solution to the biodiversity crisis,\u201d said Basma Eid, campaign co-ordinator at the International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, an alliance of over 280 organisations representing indigenous groups.
\n\u201cIn Nairobi, states must commit to adopting a human rights approach overall, in cross-cutting ways across key targets,\u201d she said in a statement. \u2014 Thomson Reuters Foundation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mara Siana Conservancy, \/Kenya\/Kuala Lumpur A cross the endless savannah dotted with flat-topped acacia trees, Mara Siana Conservancy in western Kenya teems with elephants, giraffes, zebra and impala, alongside the Maasai people…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6248,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,8,9,10,11,24,27],"tags":[46,48,50,57,68,76,77,78,79,81,82,86,87,88,90,96,99,103,107,109,111,112,113,114,121,122,134,137,139,146,148,160,174,176,183,184,201,202,209,222,230,232,233,239,240,244,246,249,250,252,256,262,263,267,268,277,279,280,283,285,288],"class_list":["post-6247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blue-economy","category-clean-energy","category-climate","category-climateaction","category-climatechange","category-qatar","category-roudi-baroudi","tag-aramco","tag-athens","tag-athensenergydialogues","tag-baroudi","tag-carbon","tag-climate","tag-climate-change","tag-climateaction","tag-climatechange","tag-closure-of-nuclear-power-plants","tag-co2","tag-cyprus","tag-decarbonising","tag-decarbonization","tag-democracy","tag-doha","tag-eastmed","tag-egypt","tag-embargo","tag-emissions","tag-energy","tag-energy-market","tag-energy-peace","tag-energyindustry","tag-europe","tag-european","tag-fuels-russian-gas-oil-and-gas-natural-gas","tag-gas","tag-gazprom","tag-greece","tag-greenenergy","tag-international-maritime-disputes","tag-lebanon","tag-liquefied-natural-gas","tag-maritime-boundaries-east-mediterranean","tag-maritime-disputes","tag-offshore","tag-oil","tag-opec","tag-pollution","tag-poverty-alleviation","tag-putin","tag-qatar","tag-renewable-energy","tag-renewableenergy","tag-rosneft","tag-roudi","tag-russia","tag-russia-in-the-european-energy-sector","tag-russian-sanctions","tag-saudi","tag-solar","tag-solar-power","tag-straddling-hydrocarbons-reserves","tag-sustainability","tag-total","tag-trump","tag-turkey","tag-ukrain","tag-unclos","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emimer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}