The European Union (EU) yesterday marked the great importance of biodiversity conservation and sustainable management of natural resources in Mozambique, noting that biological diversity constitutes an important pillar of cooperation with the African country.
The statement was made in Maputo by Audi Guidnard, the EU’s Environment and Climate Change official in Mozambique, at the opening of a training and policy-engagement workshop on the application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in conservation mapping, the first of its kind in the country.
The official reiterated that biodiversity is a key pillar of cooperation with Mozambique and that the training aims to promote collaboration and exchange among national institutions in the field of environmental conservation.
At the same time, it seeks to ensure alignment and complementarities with biodiversity conservation initiatives funded by the European Union and supported by partners, to maximize impact and avoid duplication.
José Monteiro, executive director of the Mozambique Community Resource Management Network (Regecom), one of the organizers of the initiative, said that the training aims, above all, to empower technicians who are closest to the communities, since natural resources “are not in the air; they are rooted in the land of the community,” ensuring improved access to information.
For the official, the initiative also contributes to implementing Target 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which proposes protecting 30% of the planet’s land, ocean, coasts and waters by 2030.
“The issue of Target 3 is not merely a matter; it is a global goal. We have responsibilities as a country; the more capacity we have at the provincial level to reach the communities, to go to the places to understand where we monitor (or not), then more quickly this data can be centralized at the government level,” he explained.
Regecom announced on Sunday that the training aims to strengthen technical and institutional capacities in the use of geospatial tools for biodiversity conservation, promoting evidence-based decisions and improving governance and sharing of environmental data in Mozambique, with a focus on community engagement in identifying and managing biodiversity.
The workshop also constitutes, for the network, a strategic space to identify technical and institutional challenges, promote collaboration among institutions, and strengthen partnership networks for biodiversity conservation in Mozambique, consolidating the role of public institutions as leaders in the monitoring and management of natural resources.
