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African Nations Urged to Invest in Environment to Eradicate Poverty

Posted on: Friday, 19 August 2005, 09:00 CDT

African nations urged to invest in environment to eradicate poverty

NAIROBI, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has urged African countries to invest in the environment in order to eliminate poverty and deliver economic development.

Head of the UNEP Klaus Toepfer said here on Thursday that "To invest in the environment is the best investment to overcome poverty. You cannot solve the water problems without the protection of our forests."

Toepfer said that "Targeted investments in the planet's ecosystems and the services they provide will give a high rate of return in terms of fighting poverty, hunger and disease and delivering long lasting economic improvements."

He was briefing journalists on the forthcoming international conference on the conservation and management of lakes to be held in Nairobi in October this year.

The week-long meeting will bring together diverse groups of people and organizations dealing with lakes to provide a rich forum for exchange of knowledge and experiences on the management of lakes in the world.

The UNEP chief called for a more efficient management of the world's "valuable and scarce" water supplies to balance the agricultural needs with safeguarding the environment.

"We must also invest in water to defeat poverty. There is no need for pessimism but there is need for action now," he stressed.

Kenyan Minister for Water and Irrigation Martha Karua called on countries to launch national awareness-raising campaigns to stress the idea that water is a valuable and scarce good.

"Without such awareness, it would be very difficult to receive public support for a new economic approach towards valuing water and a more efficient use," Karua said.

She said the forthcoming conference will spell out a list of actions to improve the efficient use of water for food production while safeguarding ecosystems.

The Kenyan minister called for strategic and sustainable plans to achieve a balance between natural ecosystems and agricultural production functions in river basins.

"Reconciling these competing claims on our natural resource heritage and achieving a balance between natural ecosystem and agricultural production within our river basins will be critical," she said.

The conference, which is being held every two years, will attract representatives from governments, scientists, research institutions, lake management organizations stakeholders and young water professionals.

This will be the first time that the conference will take place on the African continent. Previous conferences had been held in Japan, the United States, Hungary, China, Italy, Argentina and Denmark.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

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