In the lead up to the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) Biodiversity Digital Conference in October 2020, the Youth in Landscapes Initiative brought together 90 youth leaders from across the globe to engage with four topics related to climate and biodiversity. Below is a recap of the journey by Y4N Global Ambassador, Joshua.
Biocultural diversity
Biocultural diversity, the interplay between biodiversity and cultural diversity, is vital for our ways of life and life support systems. Though many Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) have long held this interdependence between nature, culture, and heritage as a central worldview, Western scientific and policy-making institutions are only just starting to explore this intersection. For quite a long while now, there has evidently been less attention given to the role of culture and indigenous knowledge in conceptualising biodiversity conservation. Mainstreaming this concept will require ongoing dialogues between leaders across disciplines and regions; not exclusive of indigenous communities.
The first session of this learning program elaborated on Biocultural Diversity as a tool for achieving and attaining sustainable use and conservation of biological diversity. The session encompassed an array of young learners, nature enthusiasts, and practitioners from across the globe in an interactive virtual digital space. Participants had the chance to reflect on their personal relationship with nature while listening to experts who share their own stories and experiences. Five speakers also held space for the flourishing participant discussions.
As a notion that aims to emphasize the interdependence between nature, culture and heritage, biocultural diversity needs further understanding beyond just definitions.
The GLF facilitators briefly showcased some of the multiple threads that constitute the yarn of biocultural diversity, focusing on academia, policy, community & practice as well as the personal connection with both nature and culture, with a diversity of knowledge equally shared among the facilitators and participants. Expert knowledge sharing was not exclusive to Anna Bucci, Eirini Sakellari and Jessica Ball from GLF, Tania Martínez from Mexico and Alisa Rai from Nepal.
Nature in particular has been interpreted in quite unique ways. Invited to reflect on what nature means, participants shared their own stories of their own families and communities highlighting the interplay between cultures and biodiversity.
Climate action in biodiverse landscapes
In September 2020, the Wageningen Centre for Development Innovation took the lead and explored how young people can take their own climate action through looking at biodiverse landscapes. Still in collaboration with the GLF and YIL, the exclusive program expounds on how governments, conservation bodies and local actors globally can take on climate action within their own landscapes.
Anna Bucci, Erini Sakellari of GLF, Tossa Harding and Ingrid Gevers from Wageningen Centre for Development Innovation, introducing the role of biodiversity in climate action. Samuel Dotse (Ghana) shared the work of a climate lobbyist. Xiaowen Zhang (China) and Maria Villasante (Peru) spoke about how youth are working towards a healthy landscape. Chandipawa Molefe (Botswana), Margaret Angula (Namibia), Dante Dalabajan (Philippines), and Daniel Morchain expounded a tool called vulnerability risk assessment in climate crisis and climate action are the leading global environmental agenda of this era.
According to the United Nations (UN), climate action denotes “the stepped-up efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate induced impacts.” In addition, climate action involves collaboration, adaptation, activism and mitigation, among other activities important to improving socio-ecological and economic systems. Governments and other conservation bodies efforts’ towards biodiversity conservation actually contribute to climate action, inclusive of local and on-the-ground action.
Landscapes present a complex interaction between both living and nonliving components; interconnected and interdependent on one another. Naturally thriving landscapes are life support systems, not only by enhancing livelihoods through ecosystem services but they also possess the natural potential to directly buffer climate impacts and, hence, bolster adaptation and mitigation capacity. Mangroves, for instance, play a crucial role as a carbon sink and as protection to coastal communities from increasing storm events.
Efforts to foster climate action have also involved the roles of young people as active architects in landscape analysis, and continue to participate in processes that support its implementation, monitoring, and review results. However, there are still important considerations before taking action, such as how the community thinks and the values that they give to the environment. After acknowledging the ultimate need for collective action from all sides, there still exists the challenge of working with multiple stakeholders in the community. This session guided participants in addressing the need to work with a bottom-up approach and in creating partnerships for increased intervention impacts.
Biodiversity and finance
The quest to conserve and protect biodiversity and natural heritage has, for a long time; been a song of nations around the globe. For quite a while now, the ever-increasing and accelerating rates of biodiversity loss are rather a concern to various multi-sectoral stakeholders; health, business, tourism, agriculture, and many more. Not only are nations using international conventions such as the UNFCCC, the CBD and UNCCD (the Rio Conventions), and international agreements such as the Paris Agreement to take part in these initiatives; but they are also considering the inputs of IPLCs, youth groups, NGOs and those in academia to sum up a common call to action to address the dynamics and interrelationships between biodiversity and finance.
Although the plight of biodiversity still remains at stake, actions to save biodiversity from dramatic loss are underway through a number of pathways and approaches. Notably, valuation of biodiversity has not been given the prior attention that it deserves, especially by the political leaders. Despite the interventions put in place by key stakeholders to recognize, evaluate and capture the value of biodiversity, for example through Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) schemes, there are still unanswered questions regarding these systems and their application in diverse nations and communities around the globe. What, why, where, how, when?
This third explorative and interactive learning experience on Biodiversity and Finance gave insight into the various ways being employed by highlighted stakeholders and participants can support the attempts to value biodiversity and unleash financing options to conserve and protect ecosystem services.
A series of discussions, revolving around the stated topic were put across by experts from diverse backgrounds and experiences, with insightful reflections and reactions from the participants of the session. The session included a general introduction into the relevance of biodiversity and finance by Anna Gomez from Brazil, an MSc. Tropical forestry student in Germany; the concept of PES presented through case studies of public, private, domestic and international schemes by Ludwig Liagre, GLF Sustainable Finance Advisor; financing schemes for unleashing the sustainable provision of ecosystem services by Beria Leimona, Senior Expert Landscape Governance and Investment, from World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF); and strategic conservation finance experiences from private companies and NGOs within Indonesia by Fainta Negoro.
Nature-based solutions
Having reviewed biocultural diversity, climate action and biodiversity, and finance sessions, this biodiversity digital journey was concluded with a Nature-based Solutions (NBS) session. With Youth4Nature as the lead of this session, the journey further explored the components of a holistic nature based solutions initiative. Key lessons were shared by Kaluki Paul Mutuku, Emma Thorton and Emily Bohobo N’Dombaxe Dola of Youth4Nature.
NbS are defined by IUCN as “actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural or modified ecosystems, that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits”.
The complexity of interactions to address environmental sustainability and climate action has often involved a series of approaches, discussed, tested and employed globally within the various communities and nations. These have not been limited to the use of nature based solutions (NBS). These are dependent on and use nature as a baseline for solving environmental challenges and sustainable derivation of the benefits that arise from the ecosystem goods and services, such as conservation, agroforestry, and landscape restoration.
This session also elaborated on the power of storytelling as a means for defining and fostering change around the globe. Storytelling is a way for youth to amplify their voices. Storytelling could be a telling of a cultural tradition, creative art form, communication medium, knowledge sharing, a tool for activism/change.
GLF Biodiversity Digital Conference
Tracing back to its origin in the 1960s, the One Health approach towards sustainable health attainment is still minimal, basing primarily on the limited evidence to prove its effectiveness in addressing the global health crisis in a holistic manner. The constantly increasing health risks have most notably been expounded by the impacts of anthropogenic interventions.
COVID-19 in particular has exposed the weaknesses and loopholes in the global health sector. Unpredictably, the COVID-19 has been a harrowing wakeup call to the new reality of deadly and economically devastating global pandemics and their inextricable ties to the destruction of landscapes and their sustenance potentials. For a long while now, the Environmental and Wildlife Health concept has not been put into consideration while addressing the global health concerns and challenges; alongside the human medical and veterinary knowledge. While humans continue to exploit natural resources beyond sustainable rates, there are still very high chances of occurrence of serial pandemics, most notably of wildlife origin. Zoonoses in particular has been known to thrive, stray and sway among wildlife, human and domestic animal populations; using environmental components on naturally occurring landscapes as the transmission media.
The One Health Approach elaborates on the need to embrace a holistic approach towards disease prevention; through involvement of multiple stakeholders ranging from human medical practitioners, veterinarians, environmental scientists and wildlife biologists.
The GLF Biodiversity Digital Conference on the theme One World One Health held on 28th and 29th October 2020 brought along various experts from around the globe to a central discussion revolving around the theme. Several speakers and over 5,000 participants engaged in this virtual conference, sharing knowledge and insights from both global and local perspectives regarding the various interventions being put in place to address the global health crises. Kickstarting the conference was Dennis Carroll, an infectious disease expert and grandfather of the One Health movement, who began the event by recalling the rise of the One Health approach as a response to outbreaks of Ebola, H1N1 and avian influenza over the course of the past two decades.
“Conserving and restoring ecosystems can prevent further degradation and will abate the conditions of the emergence of other infectious diseases,” said Elizabeth Mrema, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity. “The One Health approach will not only promote sustainable health and just recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, but it will also serve broader health objectives beyond the absence of diseases. It will equally strengthen the resilience of social, ecological and economic ecosystems.”
Not exclusive of the programs were participants’ discussions on various topics and issues that are greatly affecting and impacting their landscapes. Topics included food production systems, climate action, indigenous knowledge and practices towards conservation of natural resources and their management, and valuation of biodiversity that exist on the land surface. Participants also had the opportunity to engage among each other, share contacts and understand further the various interventions being employed by their peers within their various landscapes and localities.
This article was written and submitted by Aiita Joshua Apamak, Y4N Global Ambassador.