The Board of Directors of the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), an international conservation organization focused exclusively on Africa's wildlife and wild lands, welcomes two new members. They are former African heads of state and government, Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger and Hailemariam Desalegn of Ethiopia. Two personalities who stand out for their environmental commitment.
The Global Board of Directors of the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), an international conservation organization focused on Africa’s wildlife and wild lands, has just added two new prominent members. Mahamadou Issoufou, former president of Niger, and Hailemariam Desalegn, former prime minister of Ethiopia, have decided to put their expertise at the service of wildlife conservation in Africa. “We believe that the high status of biodiversity will influence the opportunities available to Africans now and in the future. With this in mind, we have sought the support of African leaders to champion a new discourse on conservation in Africa,” said Kaddu Sebunya, AWF’s executive director, in a statement released Thursday, December 16, 2021.
Two new members with established environmental commitment
The two new members of AWF’s global board are well known for their environmental work. Hailemariam Desalegn, Prime Minister of Ethiopia (2012-2018), has supported some of the national parks in Ethiopia’s most remote landscapes. Through his Hailemariam and Roman Foundation, he deploys in the tourism and conservation sector by creating alternative livelihoods for communities surrounding the natural parks. In his commitment to the rights of rural communities, he has developed sustainable and scalable models to integrate conservation into development interventions.
Mohamadou Issoufou, for his part, has taken numerous actions in the fight against the impact of climate change and biodiversity loss in the Sahel region, both during his presidency (April 7, 2011-April 2, 2021) and through his Issoufou Mohamadou Foundation, which was launched on June 12, 2021 in Niamey (capital of Niger). Moreover, through his foundation, the former head of state intends to create a carbon sink, a forest of about ten million trees. The objective of this initiative is to fight the advance of the desert. Two thirds of Niger’s surface area is arid and desert land.
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Founded in 1961 to focus on conservation needs in Africa, the AWF articulates a vision of an Africa that places environmental protection at the heart of its development. It bridges science and public policy, and demonstrates the benefits of conservation to the survival of the continent’s wildlife and wild lands. On the AWF board, Mohamadou Issoufou and Hailemariam Desalegn will work with other former African heads of state, including Botswana’s Festus Mogae. The late Benjamins Mkapa of Tanzania and Ketumile Masire of Botswana also served on the panel.
Boris Ngounou
