Valli Moosa pledges 'people-centred' conservation

Leon Marshall
November 28 2004

There was an unusual outpouring of emotion at the World Conservation Congress in Bangkok this week at the announcement of Valli Moosa's election as president of the IUCN, the World Conservation Union.

Delegates cheered and clapped, and afterwards Moosa, South Africa's former environmental and tourism minister, received a variety of cheek kisses, embraces and handshakes that were in their own way reflective of the shift it signified in international conservation politics.

Based in Switzerland, there has been a tendency for the IUCN to be regarded as Eurocentric - a bit stiff and correct and rather purist in its conservation views. Conservation for conservation's sake seemed more or less its motto.

Even though Moosa's predecessor, Yolanda Kakabadse, was herself a former minister of environment in Ecuador, Moosa's election seemed to represent to many among the 5 000 voting delegates a decided shift "south" for the organisation.

'We are a powerful union and our message is the correct one'

The erstwhile political activist, who once sought refuge in an embassy from apartheid's security police, won against Parvez Hassan, a lawyer from Pakistan who has worked for years in the IUCN's legal department.

The preference for the politician probably had much to do with environmentalism itself becoming a highly charged political issue, given mounting threats like global warming and controversies like the White House's refusal to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.

But the personal qualities that made Moosa such a successful minister of environmental affairs for South Africa obviously had much to do with it. During his five-year tenure, which ended when he stood down at this year's general election, he promoted conservation as a government priority and as a public concern.

During the same time South Africa gained prominence on the global stage by hosting agenda-setting events like the United Nations-sponsored 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development and last year's World Parks Congress, and by assuming leading positions in UN environmental committees.

In an interview shortly after his election, Moosa left no doubt about his intention to live up to expectations by promoting the position of the developing world and in general strengthening the hand of the international conservation lobby.

He talked about wanting to bring the "African way" to global conservation. By this he said he meant an approach "which does not separate the welfare of people from the imperatives of conservation, but which encourages people and nature to reach out to each other".

It comes down to wanting parks and conservation efforts generally to play their part in poverty relief. It is a more people-centred approach which shifts the emphasis away from conservation for conservation's sake.

The position will make his an influential voice in world conservation affairs, more so as his election comes at a time when environmental concerns are emerging more and more as a focal point of the world's political and economic agendas.

The IUCN consists of a network of governments and non-governmental organisations, and it has the service of more than 10 000 scientists from about 180 countries.

It has observer status at the UN, which it advises on World Heritage sites and a variety of other conservation issues, including protected areas, environmental law, education and communication, economic and social policy, and ecosystem approaches.

Underscoring the authority the organisation carries, Moosa said of it: "It is well organised, is sound financially and is backed by solid science. Through its involvement of governments and its standing with the UN, it can exercise influence on the official side. Through its network of non-governmental organisations it can reach deep into the community and mobilise ordinary people behind the conservation cause."

He said one of his first actions as president would be to see to it that the IUCN got a high-powered permanent representative at the UN.

The implications of a South African heading up a body like the IUCN are obviously considerable for the country and its conservation efforts, not least that of leading the establishment of transfrontier parks in the subcontinent.

But, sitting in the open-air section of a restaurant in Bangkok's Queen Sirikit Convention Centre, from where we had an unrestricted view of an adjoining lake with the city's high-rise hotels in the distance, Moosa was more effusive about the meaning for Africa.

"The African delegation worked very hard to ensure that I, as the African candidate, got elected. Perhaps it is because the continent has for so long been the object of pity and curiosity of the rich countries. Now it can be seen as a place which can also give inspiration and leadership to the world," he said.

On his conservation programme, Moosa referred to his campaign undertakings:

»	Raising public awareness of the environment - "if our citizens are not committed, nothing will help";
»	Mobilising people into voluntary action for the environment - "everybody can do something";
»	Seeing that decisions already taken at congresses get implemented - "too often, progress reports tell you only what further meetings have been held";
»	Getting more marine areas under protection - "we have reasonable protection of our land areas but not of the oceans";
»	Demonstrating to different parts of the world that conservation done properly can contribute to poverty relief; and
»	Seeing that areas already under protection are properly managed.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the congress, Moosa said he was surprised how many people, even senior journalists, did not know what IUCN stood for. He thought that, while retaining the acronym IUCN, it would serve the organisation better rather to refer to itself as the World Conservation Union.

He said he wanted the organisation to become more assertive. He wanted it to reach out to ordinary people and engage governments, business and the private sector in general more actively.

"We are a powerful union and our message is the correct one. We need to be heard in every relevant forum. We need to strengthen our organisation by recruiting new members. We must have functioning committees in every country.

"We have urgent matters to attend to. The extinction of species is happening at an increasing rate. Governments may have undertaken at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg two years ago to reverse the trend, but we know it is still business as usual. We must make our influence felt."

• This article was originally published on page 17 of Sunday Independent on November 28, 2004
URL: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=14&click_id=143&art_id=vn20041128122052205C311539