Summary for policymakers of the regional assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services for Africa of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.
Abstract
This document distills the key messages for policymakers of the Regional Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for Africa. The report provides a critical assessment of the full range of issues facing decision-makers, including the importance, status, trends and threats to biodiversity and nature's contributions to people, as well as policy and management response options. Establishing the underlying causes of the loss of biodiversity and nature's contributions to people provides policymakers with the information needed to develop appropriate response options, technologies, policies, financial incentives and behavioral changes. The assessment concludes that biodiversity and nature's contributions in Africa are economically, socially and culturally important, essential in providing the continent's food, water, energy, health and secure livelihood, and represent a strategic asset for sustainable development and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. However, the assessment also notes that the current loss and decline of biodiversity, which is due to human activities, is reducing nature's contributions to people, and undermining human well-being. The assessment notes that many African countries are implementing their national biodiversity strategies and action plans and are making some progress in meeting the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, but that progress in many of these actions is insufficient.