ECOWAS to implement 30 by 30 plan on biodiversity protection

The Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, said it is ready to implement a regional 30 by 30 plan to secure at least 30 per cent of the planet by 2030.

Nigeria’s Minister of State for Environment, Dr Iziaq Salako, made this revelation on Tuesday in Abuja at the ECOWAS coordination meeting.

He said that the target was to preserve life-giving ecosystems and immediately halt the human-induced extinction of wild species.

“The healthier our region’s biodiversity is, the better it will be at withstanding future climate and biodiversity shocks and the more resilient it will be to continue to deliver for the people,” he said.

According to him, the ECOWAS region was the only part of the world that was looking at its contribution to halting biodiversity loss through a regional lens—a template critical for global success and securing nature for future generations.

He said: “It is clear that there is inequity in the ways countries are impacted by biodiversity and climate crises. For us in West Africa, a lack of solutions means that our communities will become poorer, our food security jeopardised, and our rural populations forced to relocate, as it is already happening in many of our countries.”

On his part, the Head of the Environment and Climate Change Division of the ECOWAS, Bernard Koffi, said that ECOWAS member states shared diverse ecosystems of international conservation importance.

Mrs Massandje Toure-Litse, Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture of the ECOWAS Commission, whom Koffi represented, said it is expedient to ensure that the region is protected through a collective effort by member countries.

“ECOWAS countries have played a significant role in securing the adoption of a global commitment to expand protected areas to 30 per cent of the planet by 2030.

“We have a shared responsibility to act by expanding and strengthening our protected areas because degraded ecosystems threaten the physical, economic and food security of both local communities and multinational businesses,’’ she said.