The French Development Agency (AFD) and Conservation International (CI) are launching the sustainable fisheries component of the Pro-Nature Enterprises for the People of Southern Africa project. This will help communities, government institutions and tourism operators in Zambia to adopt sustainable fisheries co-management models.
This is the final phase of the French Development Agency (AFD) Pro-Nature project in Southern Africa. The sustainable fisheries component. Launched on 20 April 2022 in Lusaka, Zambia, this component will provide key lessons on how communities, government institutions and tourism operators can work together to ensure appropriate and inclusive management of shared fisheries resources in a transboundary context.
In addition, the project will assist communities to initiate nature-friendly, community-based rural enterprises that can deliver environmental and social outcomes, with the aim of preserving the oceans and their resources.
Under the agreement signed between AFD and its implementing partner, Conservation International (CI), this sustainable fisheries component will be implemented in the Lower Zambezi-Mana Basins Transboundary Conservation Area (TCA), which Zambia shares with Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe.
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This component completes a €11.6 million regional project, which started in 2019, to restore and conserve one million hectares of biodiversity-rich habitats and improve the livelihoods of 30,000 people in three critical Southern African TCAs (in Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe).
This initiative is also in line with AFD’s new commitments to biodiversity conservation. During the One Planet Summit held online on 11 January 2021, AFD pledged to invest one billion euros in biodiversity conservation by 2025. A large part of this funding will be earmarked for the African continent.
Boris Ngounou
