The first edition of the African Congress on Protected Areas (APAC) will be held from 7 to 12 March 2022 in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. This meeting aims to improve the conditions of nature protection in Africa. This forum will be a platform for exchange between several actors including governments, the private sector, civil society, indigenous peoples and local communities.
Participants will discuss the importance of protected and conserved areas for the development of Africa, its people and nature, addressing major challenges, including climate change.
Africa, which is home to a quarter of the world’s biodiversity, has lost more than 50% of its ecosystems in the last 50 years. This loss of biodiversity is caused by climate change, unsustainable consumption patterns, land use conversion, human population growth, and environmental degradation and destruction.
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As a reminder, the continent is home to the largest assemblages of large mammals on the planet, including elephants, hippos, buffaloes, giraffes and chimpanzees, and lions. Africa’s ecosystems range from mangroves to deserts and from Mediterranean forests to rainforests, from temperate grasslands and savannahs to ice-capped mountains.
For more information on APAC, click here.
Benoit-Ivan Wansi