Windhoek
David Barron, the founder and chairman of the Conservation Council of Nations, the brainchild of the International Conservation Caucus Foundation (ICCF), says leaders in Africa need to serve the people and unleash the value of natural resources to accomplish their national goals, generate jobs to feed the people and create stability and good governance.
“There is a conflict on at the moment where strong, wealthy lobby groups compete against your economic interest.” He said to date 14 airlines globally have closed their doors to transporting wildlife products from Africa to Europe.
Barron made the remarks as the Speaker of the National Assembly, Professor Peter Katjavivi, on Tuesday launched the Namibian Conservation Parliamentary Caucus (NACOPAC), which aims to bring together like-minded legislators in both Houses of Parliament on matters of national concern.
Highlighting various issues in conservation for economic development, Barron said when the community speaks to members of parliament, they speak with a diversity of ideas and experience. “It provides a sustainable model, so get the budget in order to finance the programmes and projects. Parliamentarians need to meet periodically. We encourage NGO’s to seek out corporations to work together to develop a similar think-tank that can become an external apparatus that can provide good programming and support to the caucus within parliament,” he said.
The ICCF group is an umbrella organisation that works to advance conservation governance by building political support, providing on-the-ground solutions and applying a natural resource wealth management framework to sustainable development and managing the Earth’s resources.
Barron told parliamentarians that the the ICCF has identified governance as an under-prioritised aspect in conservation and as the limiting factor when it comes to creating positive and sustainable solutions with regard to natural resources.
“We facilitate a collaborative environment, where governments, businesses, and the NGO community can come together and develop market-based approaches that incorporate the value of nature and sustainable management practices into the use of natural resources.”
He further said the ICCF applies a caucus model to build political will around unifying topics of conservation and natural resource management.
“We use caucuses as a forum through which education and policy formulation on key natural resource management issues take place,” he said.
A caucus is a group of supporters or members within a parliament or congress, who share a similar position or concern about an issue.
Barron said governments, the private sector and other market influencers must work together to develop and implement policies that promote natural resource sustainability.
“Through conservation governance, we promote market-based approaches to help decision-makers in government and the private sector understand the economics associated with managing natural resource usage. By factoring the value of nature into their policies and programmes they can make conservation investments that provide maximum benefits to people and planet,” he told the gathering.
Parliamentarians from Zambia, Botswana and Mexico attended the occasion. Botswana will soon launch its own parliamentary caucus.
Barron said the ICCF would continue to partner with major funders and institutions, such as the World Bank, and UN Environmental Programme to implement initiatives in African countries to strengthen governance of wildlife through engagement with parliaments and the executive, and by improving the capacity of judicial and law enforcement institutions to prosecute wildlife crimes.