By David Musyoka
Nairobi
— A group of respected Chinese and African business and policy leaders
on Tuesday called on organizers of the upcoming Forum on China-Africa
Cooperation (FOCAC) in December to include wildlife and environmental
issues on the diplomatic agenda.
The civil society
leaders and celebrities from Africa and China said in a joint statement
that topics of wildlife and wild lands protection within the 6th Forum
on FOCAC was very crucial as they provide economic benefits.
"Both African
governments and the Chinese government want better lives for their
people and believe strong trade, not aid, is the way to achieve this,"
Philip Idro, former Ugandan Ambassador to China, said in a statement
received by Xinhua in Nairobi.
"At the same time,
we must remember that economic growth relies on healthy, resilient
ecosystems and wildlife. For many African countries, wildlife and
wildlands conservation can help to alleviate poverty and provide
economic benefits," Idro added.
Chinese President
Xi Jinping and dozens of his counterparts from African countries will
attend the 6th Ministerial Conference of FOCAC to be held in South
Africa in early December.
The landmark summit
will discuss ways to strengthen Sino-Africa cooperation in diverse
fields like energy, infrastructure development, trade and habitat
protection.
The wildlife
conservation organization noted that Sino-Africa cooperation to
strengthen protection of iconic mammals in the continent has blossomed.
Idro said the Chinese have made great strides in panda conservation and in protecting their forests.
"I am sure we can come together to find acceptable ways of solving this dilemma in Africa," he added.
The civil society
leaders and celebrities including Chinese film star Wang Baoqiang and
Tanzanian singer-songwriter Alikiba are participating in a China-Africa
Dialogue Series facilitated by the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) and
the Aspen Institute.
The effort aims to
move leaders in government, civil society and private industry toward
actively promoting investments and operations in Africa that are
sustainable and include protection of Africa's wildlife and wild lands.
African Wildlife
Foundation CEO Dr. Patrick Bergin said the Dialogue participants have
worked hard to ensure Africa's wildlife and wild lands are not left
behind as the continent acts on its development agenda.
The Dialogue Series
first brought together African thought leaders in Nairobi and Kigali in
2014 to address Africa's natural resource crisis in the wake of rapid
economic development.
A parallel group of
Chinese private and public sector leaders was convened in Beijing and
Tianjin in 2014, followed by an official dialogue in Beijing in 2015, to
help establish a set of recommendations for African-Chinese cooperation
around challenges of wildlife and wild lands protection.
A formal
recommendation - supported by former Presidents Festus Mogae of Botswana
and Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania - promoting the protection of Africa's
wildlife and wild lands as a priority in the continent's development
agenda was integrated into the African Union's final Vision 2063
document.
A formal proposal
to include topics of wildlife and wild lands protection within the 6th
FOCAC was submitted to the African Ambassadors Group in Beijing, along
with supporting technical information to serve as a resource for
submitting these issues into the formal FOCAC process.
The format of the
Dialogue Series followed the Aspen method of moderating dialogue in a
small group setting where participants from various backgrounds and
perspectives learn from each other through an interactive discussion of
specific readings.
Xinhua
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