Maelle Vandierendonck (ELP 2024) | Associate Expert, United Nations Environment Programme, Kenya

Sustainability, which encompasses sustainable development, has gained visibility, understanding, and acceptance globally to the extent that it is now part of national policies’ objectives. Sustainable development links the people to the economy and the environment. It recognizes that trade-offs or balance might be leveraged between social and economic progress and the environment. Meeting the essential needs of a continuously expanding planet’s population without undermining global ecosystems and natural resources asks us to reevaluate our modus operandi. Currently, the status quo is the following: the overexploitation of natural land resources through deforestation, agricultural expansion, and urban encroachment has increased wildlife conflict and changes in land-use, deepening the threats posed by climate change (desertification, droughts leading to water issues, habitat destruction, soil loss, land degradation, etc.). These examples are major threats resulting from a lack of investment in natural capital and its protection. Investment in and growth of the wild biodiversity economy (WBDE) is one of the key avenues, if managed correctly, for addressing these challenges. WBDE includes economic activities and their enabling frameworks that intentionally and measurably create a positive impact on wildlife and the communities living with and around wildlife. As such, the biodiversity is governed by the following five principles:

• Biodiversity includes flora and fauna within their natural habitat and, importantly, the habitat itself.
• Biodiversity is present in different types of landscapes, such as those untouched by humans, managed conservation areas, or dual-use landscapes.
• The biodiversity economy includes consumptive and non-consumptive activities where the natural resources are part of the value chain, as well as those activities that intentionally protect or enable the prevalence of those resources.
• The biodiversity economy shall have an intentional, measurable, positive impact on biodiversity, including wildlife.
• The biodiversity economy shall be inclusive and create measurable equitable benefits for communities living with and around wildlife.

As of today, there is an insufficient alignment between sustainable use of natural resources (including wildlife) and human-development agendas. Too little to none has been done globally to establish proper regulatory and financial structures related to WBDE which aims to tap into private-sector investments. There is a narrow understanding of the myriad of opportunities the WBDE presents for human societies, resulting in restrictive trade and market access. Limited innovative financing and funding instruments are known and used by WBDE stakeholders/shareholders to access investments.

International actors, particularly Industries, often support economic development activities that are incompatible with biodiversity conservation, sustainable use and equitable outcomes for the Indigenous People and Local Communities (IPLCs). Through ancestral practices, the latter, living with wildlife and nature holds the key to sustainable use of wildlife.  However, too often worldwide, IPLCs’ role is sidelined and remains restricted to the one beneficiary. Indeed, IPLCs are facing more and more limited land and resource access; their rights are diminished, as well as the sustainable benefits they used to get from wildlife for their prosperity. Their voices and roles as nature’s custodians must be heard and recognized internationally…THE FUTURE IS INDIGENOUS.

[The blog post was published on flickr. Original image by Bureau of Land Management Oregon and Washington. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution- 2.0 Generic.