The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has stepped towards drafting a regional plan to implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), as the organisation seeks to lead the way on nature conservation.

The bloc gathered in Abuja, Nigeria this week to lay the groundwork for a regional initiative to address ecosystem and species loss in West Africa.

Participants were urged to submit proposals on a transboundary plan aimed at ensuring the protection of at least 30% of land and sea in the ECOWAS territory by 2030.

Stretching from Nigeria to Senegal, the region harbours some of the world’s most critically endangered biodiversity hotspots.

“ECOWAS countries played a significant role in securing the adoption of global commitment to protect 30% of the planet by 2030,” Nigeria’s minister of environment, Iziaq Salako, said during the meeting.

“The ECOWAS region is the only part of the world that is looking at its contribution to halting biodiversity loss through a regional lens … We will work through the difficult technical aspects and devise new ways forward, knowing that the eyes of the world are upon us.”

Under the Nigerian presidency, the organisation – which has faced increasing criticism since political tensions sparked in the region in 2021 – has strived to play an increasingly pivotal role in developing environmental policies at a regional level.

Notably, ECOWAS targeted an increase in funding towards conservation, the development of effective biodiversity monitoring mechanisms, and the extension of protected areas through drafting a regional action plan.

EXPANDING PROTECTED AREAS

“Our hard work to expand and strengthen our protected areas will serve not only as a sign of our commitment but also as a wake-up call to the rest of the world,” Salako said.

“If we can do this work here where we lack the resources of the Global North, what will be the excuse for foot dragging by any region?”

The plan to launch a coordination process for the designation of new protected areas was first announced in September by President Tinubu at the 78th UN General Assembly in a bid to address nature protection challenges in the region.

A study published last year by the US Geological Survey agency identified a total of 1,936 nationally protected areas in West Africa, covering around 9.6% of its territory.

The study also stressed the critical role of transboundary conservation efforts.

“Since international borders rarely coincide with ecosystem boundaries, transboundary sites and landscapes are of great importance,” it said.

“These better preserve ecosystem function, show the value of managing biodiversity conservation at a subregional level in spite of institutional difficulties, engage local communities, and may lead to harmonisation of legislation.”

TRANSBOUNDARY CHALLENGES

The largest biodiversity hotspot in the region, the Guinean forests of West Africa, extends across nine countries – from Guinea and Sierra Leone to Cameroon – and are facing severe degradation.

According to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), as low as 700,000 hectares out of an original 14 million ha of the forests are left today.

The ECOWAS Agriculture Policy (ECOWAP) programme, which includes forest and biodiversity conservation as one of its intervention sectors, identifies extensive agriculture, illegal logging, and illicit trafficking of timber and wildlife as the main drivers of biodiversity loss in West Africa.

Recently, the organisation put in place a number of initiatives aimed at tackling biodiversity loss, such as the West African Biodiversity and Climate Change Project (WA-BiCC), funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

USAID allocated $49 mln to “promote biodiversity conservation and climate-resilient, low emissions development in West Africa” in 2021.

The programme, which runs until 2025, seeks to increase the protection and management of transboundary forest landscapes and enhance intraregional coordination on wildlife conservation.

By Sergio Colombo – sergio@carbon-pulse.com

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