Africa-Press – Namibia. RURAL and local communities should be the main beneficiaries of conservation and the sustainable use of natural resources.
RURAL and local communities should be the main beneficiaries of conservation and the sustainable use of natural resources.
This was said by environmental commissioner Timoteus Mufeti at the national dialogue on investment in biodiversity as a catalyst for sustainable income generation and conservation held in Windhoek this week.
Mufeti said ecosystems services provide much-needed goods and services for rural and local communities, such as shelter, food and energy.
Therefore it is important that these communities also benefit from the way biodiversity is managed.
He said biodiversity has spiritual and cultural value for these communities.
As such, these communities have a wealth of traditional knowledge on how to conserve natural resources and ecosystems. Mufeti said the theme of the recently concluded dialogue, ‘Investing in Biodiversity as a Catalyst for Sustainable Income Generation and Conservation’ is also linked to other goals Namibia is striving to achieve, such as job creation, rural development and empowerment, and poverty reduction.
The head of development cooperation at the German embassy in Namibia, Ulrike Metzger, said biodiversity and the sustainable use of natural resources potentially have commercial benefits. However, ecosystems are declining globally due to climate change and extreme weather events.
Metzger singled out Namibia’s ratification of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing and the establishment of the office to regulate access and trade on indigenous natural resources and related traditional knowledge for their use as one of the major achievements for the country towards the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable benefit sharing arising from biological or genetic resources.
The principal project coordinator and adviser to the Office of the Environmental Commissioner in the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, Kauna Schroeder, said the dialogue came at an opportune time when Namibia has just opened its office to regulate issues of access and benefit sharing.
The dialogue was funded by the BioInnovation in Africa Project, which is being implemented by the environment ministry in partnership with the GIZ, commissioned by Germany’s ministry for economic cooperation and development.
The project is focused at fostering European-African cooperation for biodiversity based innovations and products with equitable benefit sharing for biodiversity conservation in Cameroon, Madagascar, Namibia and South Africa.
This was said by environmental commissioner Timoteus Mufeti at the national dialogue on investment in biodiversity as a catalyst for sustainable income generation and conservation held in Windhoek this week.
Mufeti said ecosystems services provide much-needed goods and services for rural and local communities, such as shelter, food and energy.
Therefore it is important that these communities also benefit from the way biodiversity is managed.
He said biodiversity has spiritual and cultural value for these communities.
As such, these communities have a wealth of traditional knowledge on how to conserve natural resources and ecosystems. Mufeti said the theme of the recently concluded dialogue, ‘Investing in Biodiversity as a Catalyst for Sustainable Income Generation and Conservation’ is also linked to other goals Namibia is striving to achieve, such as job creation, rural development and empowerment, and poverty reduction.
The head of development cooperation at the German embassy in Namibia, Ulrike Metzger, said biodiversity and the sustainable use of natural resources potentially have commercial benefits. However, ecosystems are declining globally due to climate change and extreme weather events.
Metzger singled out Namibia’s ratification of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing and the establishment of the office to regulate access and trade on indigenous natural resources and related traditional knowledge for their use as one of the major achievements for the country towards the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable benefit sharing arising from biological or genetic resources.
The principal project coordinator and adviser to the Office of the Environmental Commissioner in the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, Kauna Schroeder, said the dialogue came at an opportune time when Namibia has just opened its office to regulate issues of access and benefit sharing.
The dialogue was funded by the BioInnovation in Africa Project, which is being implemented by the environment ministry in partnership with the GIZ, commissioned by Germany’s ministry for economic cooperation and development.
The project is focused at fostering European-African cooperation for biodiversity based innovations and products with equitable benefit sharing for biodiversity conservation in Cameroon, Madagascar, Namibia and South Africa.
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