Countdown 2010 in Southern Africa
22 May 2007, Johannesburg, South Africa. The Southern African Conservation Forum today resolved to scale up action towards the 2010 biodiversity target.
The region’s rich biodiversity is facing threats from population growth and a high reliance on natural resources and agriculture. Creating sustainable livelihoods thus takes priority wherever poverty increases pressure on natural resources.
As Countdown 2010’s regional hub for Southern Africa, the network of IUCN members, commissions and secretariat offices will work to improve the understanding of the 2010 biodiversity target and its link to livelihoods. A preliminary assessment of the progress in Southern Africa and the impacts of global drivers of biodiversity loss, including climate change, will inform a joint implementing mechanism of governments and civil society in the region.
Tabeth Chiuta, IUCN Regional Programme Coordinator, said: “In 2010, our region will have to report on what we did to achieve the 2010 biodiversity target. With the regional Countdown 2010 hub, we will make sure that we can demonstrate our successes – and identify the areas for additional work.”
A draft background paper for the initiative was discussed at the Regional Conservation Forum. The Countdown 2010 hub for Southern Africa will be driven by the IUCN network in close collaboration with the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
