Africa Climate Week: Conservation Groups Decry Locals’ Exclusion In Foreign Partnerships

• The latest research from Maliasili shows that these foreign partnerships continue to face a myriad of challenges
• The research released in Kigali found that African CSOs' efforts to slow the loss of nature and tackle climate change are key to planetary conservation success
• John Kamanga of the South Rift Association of Land Owners said the conservation agenda in Africa has been seen as the interest of the West and not Africa

As the clock ticks towards the much-awaited Africa Climate Summit (ACS) slated for September 4 to September 6, it is emerging that partnerships between global conservation organisations and their African-led counterparts are critical to conservation success.

But new research from Maliasili, a Tanzanian/US-based organisation that supports locally-led African conservation Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) shows that these partnerships continue to face challenges over power relations, transparency, and aligning interests.

The research released today, Thursday, August 31 in Kigali, Rwanda found that African CSOs' efforts to slow the loss of nature and tackle climate change are key to planetary conservation success.

This is because they are rooted in local contexts and are part of communities that have conserved lands across the continent for generations.

TUKO.co.ke has established that global climate and nature protection targets, including the 30x30 goal to protect 30% of the planet’s land and oceans by 2030, increasingly recognise the need to place Indigenous Peoples and local communities at the heart of decision-making and implementation.

Why partnerships must be strengthened

But to continue achieving conservation impact, relationships must be strengthened between community groups and the international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) they turn to for funding, technical support, and networking, says the new 42-page study, 'Rooting for Change: Strengthening Local-Global Partnerships in African Conservation'.

A core challenge remains shifting power and decision-making towards local authority and leadership. 

Almost all of the dozens of African conservationists who spoke to the report’s authors said relationships with international organisations were “very important” to their work and should continue, but must be reformed to make them more effective and equitable partnerships.

Where the study was released

When reached for comment, Resson Kantai Duff, Portfolio and Funding Director at Maliasili, said:

“Ultimately, the way that these partnerships are approached, structured, and maintained, needs to be collectively reimagined. There is a real opportunity here for international organisations to build trust by recognising local capacity, bringing visibility to groups doing important work with local communities, and allowing organizations closest to the problem to set the agenda,” he said.

The study was launched today at the Business of Conservation Conference in Kigali.

It features interviews and survey responses with more than 60 staff at dozens of African local and grassroots organisations working in marine, wildlife, landscape, and forest conservation and Indigenous land rights in 18 countries.

Among the key findings were:- 88% of respondents agreed that INGO partnerships are very important for their work.- 82% agreed that partnerships with INGOs provide critical resources.- 71% said partnerships with INGOs were challenging.” 

Ewi Lamma, Environmental and Climate Justice Advocate at Forest Resources and People in Cameroon told the report authors:

“Every organisation should strive for more partnerships. This is because it elevates the organisation, elevates the individuals within the organisation, and it can also build the organisation’s capacities to be able to broaden their scope and handle more sectors within their mission and vision.”

However, she added that INGOs should “clear the atmosphere of being domineering and work as partners, as teams, and not as a boss working with a subordinate.”

Jonathan Yiah from the Sustainable Development Institute in Liberia said:

“As much as possible [INGOs] should enable the local civil society groups to be in the driving seat and they can be in the background supporting us."

On his part, John Kamanga of the South Rift Association of Land Owners in Kenya told TUKO.co.ke that the conservation agenda in Africa has been seen as the interest of the west and not Africa.

Why Africans should be prioritised

Kamanga observed that if Africans want to conserve nature, then there is a need to put the local communities at the forefront.

“We know INGOs from the West come here with their plans and how to implement them. But this does not work here because we know how we do things. We are asking our donors to co-create the projects and then we implement them. We are moving away from client-implementing agency relationships,” Kamanga said.

Earlier, TUKO.co.ke reported that the Africa Climate Summit, which will start with the Opening Plenary of the Ministerial Segment of the Africa Climate Summit and Africa Climate Week, will focus on the theme, 'Driving Green Growth and Climate Finance Solutions for Africa and the World'.

According to the African Union (AU) statement, this is an opportunity to showcase Africa's green growth potential and explore financial and development solutions for a climate-resilient Africa.

The event to be held at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) will convene African leaders and one of the outcomes is drawing a commitment to take to the global summit, including the upcoming COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.