Workshop on Biodiversity Stewardship Platform Under the Ridge to Reef programme

Workshop on Biodiversity Stewardship Platform Under the Ridge to Reef programme

Honourable Minister of Agro-industry, Food Security, Blue Economy and Fisheries

Director, National Parks and Conservation Services and staff

Representatives from different ministries and departments

Representatives from NGOs and private sector engaged in conservation activities

EU experts

Ladies and gentlemen

C'est avec enn grand plaisir ki mo pe addresse zotte azordi dan cadre sa workshop lor Biodiversity Stewardship Programme ki pe lancer sous nou programme Ridge to Reef.

Sa workshop la arriv dans enn momen bien aproprier pars ki prozet Ridge to Reef pe arriv a so la fin dans quelques mois ek li extremement important pou diskit so exit stratezi. Platforme ki nou pou diskiter pendan sa 2 zours la pou constituer en aspet important de sa exit stratezi la.

Let me shift back to English now.

I am particularly pleased to see the number of participants from government, private sector, NGOs and academia here today. This confirms the importance that Biodiversity occupies in our respective agendas.

And it could not be otherwise!

Biodiversity situation globally

The situation across the world is critical. According to the World Wildlife Foundation 2022 report, wildlife populations have declined by an average 69% in the past 50 years. The populations of vertebrates living in freshwater ecosystems have declined even more, by 83% on average over the same period. It is further estimated that one million plants and animals are threatened with extinction. Between 1-2.5% of birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles and fish have already gone extinct.

In Europe as well, biodiversity continues to decline at an alarming rate, with most protected species and habitats confronting poor conservation status. The main causes are changes in land use for instance from grasslands to agricultural plots, urbanisation, modification of water bodies, invasive alien species, forestry, climate change, pollution and illegal hunting and fishing.

COP 16 - which took place in Cali last December - underscored the urgency of respecting and protecting all life on earth, regaining our connection with our planet, and making Peace with Nature. The Secretary General of the CBD was clear : 'the time for bold, transformative change is now. Because business as usual means pushing life on this planet to the brink.'

EU commitment

As a firm believer and supporter of multilateralism, the EU continuously reiterated its full engagement to the COP process and to the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework.

EU and MS remain the biggest providers of biodiversity-related ODA. EC has committed EUR 7 bn of external funding to biodiversity by 2027. In 2023, EU agreed to support partner countries implement the GBF through a package of more than 100 m EUR to develop financial solutions for biodiversity, foster civil society initiatives, strengthen regional biodiversity observatories, enhance the access, use and benefit from the sharing of genetic resources and enhance the role of indigenous people and local communities in conservation. At COP 16, some further contributions were announced, including from six European countries. UK ($ 58 m); Germany ($ 54 m); Denmark ($ 14.5 m); Norway ($ 13.7 m); New Zealand/Austria/France too.

This is on top of bilateral and regional support.

This brings me to Mauritius and this region.

Today the EU and its MS finance around 24 projects dealing with terrestrial and marine ecosystems in Mauritius and the outer islands. The Ridge to Reef project is one of them.

Ridge to reef

The specificity of the Ridge to Reef project is that it follows the Integrated Landscape Management concept - which is new and innovative. 'Integrated' means it englobes different dimensions simultaneously - in our case reforestation activities generating climate mitigation, ecosystem preservation and food security benefits.

'Integrated' also means working collaboratively with different stakeholders. And this is the focus of this two days-workshop which will be animated by EU-funded experts Kim and Khalil whom we are pleased to have with us here.

Honourable Minister,

As I mentioned earlier, we are running into the last months of the Ridge to Reef project. So it is essential to discuss the exit strategy of the programme as soon as possible. In this respect, we will appreciate the urgent organisation of the last Steering Committee to discuss key issues such as what will happen to the 200+ general workers who have been recruited under the project for clearing and conservation purposes.

During the Steering Committee we will also like to follow up on the implementation of the key studies undertaken under the project notably

• First on adoption of the most appropriate techniques to control invasive alien species,

• Secondly on how to improve national capacity to calculate, assess and report on carbon stocks from the LULUCF sector.

So let's organise the last Steering Committee urgently.

I am glad that during these two days, we will have the opportunity to discuss on biodiversity stewardship in details and in particular on the governance structure to put in place. I personally look very much forward on the discussions on the architecture of the Platform and how it will be implemented.

I stop for now and wish you all good deliberations!

Thank you for your attention.

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