A MAJOR ADVOCACY EFFORT
The Coalition has an active advocacy strategy in favor of connectivity. It is present at major international conferences on biodiversity, but also raises this issue in other forums: COP climat, development summits, annual Climate Chance Africa summits…

A central plea: the search for innovative financing

Conservationists and development players alike are looking for new financing models that will generate sustainable income for local populations, and enhance the value of all the ecosystem services provided by wildlife. The aim is to contribute to the definition of new inter-national standards for impact analysis, based on an applicable and replicable methodology that integrates climate-biodiversity-development co-benefits. The aim of the coalition is to initiate dialogue and debate around these financing solutions, with particular attention to the impact on local populations, who should be the main beneficiaries.

ACTIONS DEPLOYED OVER A YEAR
In 2022, several events and interventions were organized ahead of COP15: a side-event in partnership with WWF International during the 1st African Congress of Protected Areas in Kigali; a specific day on biodiversity, ecological connectivity and the Great Green Wall during the Climate Chance Africa Summit in Dakar… The official launch of the biodiversity corridors in Africa coalition took place in December 2022, at COP15 Biodiversity, under the co -presidency of the French Republic, the Republic of Gabon, the Republic of Guinea and the United Republic of Tanzania, in the presence of ministers and competent personalities.

In 2023, a first strategic meeting brought together the members of the coalition, during the One Forest Summit in Libreville, Gabon, in order to establish its roadmap. The coalition then actively participated in several international events to present its work and carry out advocacy actions on ecological connectivity. During COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, it organized two side events, one dedicated to the issue of ecological connectivity and the convergence of climate-biodiversity agendas, in partnership with the Secretariat of the Species Convention Migrantes (CEM) and the Center for Large Landscape Conservation (CLLC), the other, dedicated to emerging initiatives on the subject of ecological connectivity in West Africa (including the “Biodiversity Corridors in Guinea” demonstrator project). She also organized events during the Three Basins Summit in the Republic of Congo, in partnership with Comifac, Conservation International and IFDD; during the Future Fabrics in London, in partnership with LVMH or even during the European Energy Transition Conference, in France.

2024 is a decisive year of deployment for the Coalition, linked to major “climate-biodiversity” events. In February 2024, the Coalition formalized its membership in the Global Partnership for Ecological Connectivity during COP14 of the Convention on Migratory Species (CEM), in Samarkand (Uzbekistan). This major initiative under the auspices of the United Nations, led by the CEM, aims to identify, protect, connect and effectively manage sites important for migratory species. The partnership includes a large number of international conservation organizations (Center for Large Landscape Conservation, Convention on Biological Diversity, Convention on Wetlands, International Union for Conservation of Nature, International Council for local ecological initiatives, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, the World Conservation Monitoring Center of the United Nations Environment Program, and the World Wide Fund for Nature).

Also on the agenda in 2024 are numerous advocacy events, including COP16 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Cali, Colombia.