‘Buhari, Leaders’ Pledge to Reverse Biodiversity Loss Requires Political Will’

There is an increasing concern on the devastating rate of nature degradation and loss of biodiversity, industry stakeholders said recently.

They insisted that while President Buhari among other 83 heads of governments across the globe have pledged to reverse loss of biodiversity through the global ‘Leaders Pledge for Nature’ initiative, there is the need to put those commitment to action.

Africa’s biodiversity has been under intense pressure over depletion by persistent encroachment of human activities such as industrialisation; urbanisation; pressure due to rapid population; unsustainable agricultural practice; among other anthropogenic activities.

The International Support Network for African Development (ISNAD-Africa)’s Africa4Nature

Health Initiative being implemented in partnership with the global conservation giant, the Word Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), advocated on the need for governments in Africa to step up on their commitments towards nature conservation and addressing increasing emergence of zoonotic diseases.

Reportedly, Nigeria is unfortunately rated number 34 globally in terms of biodiversity loss, partly because its forestry cover was far below the world minimal. Instead of 25 per cent world minimum, Nigeria is at six per cent.

The commitment of the 13 African countries to reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 expressed in the Leaders pledge for Nature initiative will not yield the intended result without putting the commitments to action, Founder and Executive Director, ISNAD-Africa, Adedoyin Adeleke said in a statement.

According to him, there was urgent need for Nigeria and other African countries to avert looming climate change disaster as human health and economic catastrophe associated with negligence of nature wreck further devastation considering the impacts of the diseases such as the COVID-19 pandemic and Ebola viruses.

Adeleke emphasised the need to integrate environmental pillar in all sectors of the African economy, adding that an integrated policy and implementation approach is required to achieve sustainable development post COVID-19. This underpinned the need to link public health, pollution abatement, climate action, biodiversity conservation, ecosystems integrity, socio-economic equity, and prosperity for a green and just recovery from COVID-19 pandemic in Africa.