Ethiopian President Shouts for Environment

Ethiopian president shouts for environment

ADDIS ABABA, March 19 (Xinhua) — Ethiopian President Girma Wolde Giorgis said Monday environmental issues should seriously get into the mainstream agendas of the development policies in Africa.

“The issue of environment and climate change is now getting intense than ever before. Scientific evidences show that unless serious action is taken our world would come to the point it could not support us,” Girma said at an opening ceremony of the international conference on participatory forest management (PFM), biodiversity and livelihoods in Africa.

“The challenging goal of a sustainable and stable environmental future for Africa is an immensely important quest, upon which all our futures lie. Actions and initiatives that pursue such a quest must be supported,” said the president.

The Ethiopian president, who has been a prominent figure in ecological initiatives and is known for lobbying for the matter, said to solve the huge problem, individual and solitary efforts are not enough.

“To alter this situation we are now in a time where international collective action is called loudly,” he said.

“The discussion of collective action or participation is not only at the local community level but also has come to the international community level. I think with greater challenges than at the local community level,” Girma said.

Girma said conventional forestry attitudes and systems need to be changed.

“There is no need to mention that there would not be sustainable development without sustainable management of the natural resources. So as to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

He added that ensuring a genuine grassroots decisions in resource and environmental management is “vital for the development.”

“Rural communities in Africa are intrinsically linked to their natural resource base. Positive impacts on biodiversity conservation through better habitat management and on climate change through environmental stabilization are very valuable outputs of participatory forest management,” he said.

All participants at the conference have warned that the environmental problems in Africa would bring serious security problems to the continent.

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