Fadekemi Ajakaiye
Minister (State), Federal Ministry of Environment, Chief Sharon Ikeazor stated that sustainable management and use of biological diversity will boost enterprises.
She stated this at the just concluded Nigerian Businesses for Nature Forum, which is a collaboration between Nigerian Conservation Foundation and the Federal Ministry of Environment.
This first of its kind event was supported by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and BirdLife International.
Ikeazor stated that biodiversity will ensure availability of raw materials for micro, small, and medium-scale enterprises to flourish.
Despite their buff, the foreign exchange earning capacity for biological diversity, especially when linked with tourism needs no further emphasises for this informed gathering, she said.
She stated “Our renewed desire is to catch up with lost opportunities in ensuring sustainable socio-economic development for the citizenry of Nigeria.”
We must take advantage and optimally utilise our God-given resources, without compromising both our existence and the ability of our next generation to meet their own needs, she said.
Ikeazor stated that the theme for the forum, New Deal for Nature and People presupposes that we need to adopt new measures, processes and interactions to improve our current interface as a people with nature and apply our desires to re-engineer how we individually and collectively relate with nature.
She stated that there is need to find means of improving what we are currently doing to produce a result that engenders a win-win for the country.
She urged the forum to come up with insightful and realistic recommendations for businesses that could fill into Nigeria’s preparation for the 15th meeting of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention of Biological Diversity, and also, to agree on a post 2020 Global framework for biological diversity.
I thus want to charge you to come up with practical solutions that will engender a new deal for Nigeria and its people, she said.
This event and forum is important to the President, Mohammadu Buhari, and us, as it provides opportunities for linkages with the job creation pillar of the next level agenda of the current government, she said
She stated that there exist untapped opportunities for creating jobs in the Informal sector, especially as regards our Rural communities that live close to our biodiversity, this is enormous.
The President, Board of Trustees, Nigerian Conservation Foundation, Chief Philip Asiodu, stated that the aim of this premiere event is to galvanise effort from a critical stakeholder – the Private sector.
He stated that so much needs to be done in terms of changing behaviour away from the extremely exploitative attitude of our people towards biological resources.
Globally, the push for the development of Guidelines for Managing Risk to biodiversity has been quite challenging, as there are different values at stake and a wide range of approaches to responsible land use. However, despite these differences, one thing that unites everyone is the recognition of the urgency of changing the way businesses relate to nature, he said.
In recent decades, degradation of habitats, pollution and unsustainable use of biological diversity have led to the loss of species, thus jeopardizing present and future livelihoods in Nigeria, he said.
