Stefanie Lang speaks at African Protected Areas Congress
LLF’s executive director Stefanie Lang contributed to several events at the inaugural IUCN African Protected Areas Congress (APAC), which ran from 18–23 July 2022 in Kigali.
The APAC, which is the first congress of its kind, brought together leaders and interest groups from across Africa and the globe to discuss the role of protected areas in conservation.
Stefanie made several public appearances at the five-day congress to speak on key issues about conservation financing across Africa. She was among more than 2,400 participants who attended APAC to speak on wide-ranging issues including biodiversity investment, community-led conservation, sustainable development, climate resilience, good governance, human-wildlife conflicts, and the impact of COVID-19 on protected areas.
On 19 July, Stefanie participated in a panel on unlocking the opportunities of biodiversity conservation. The next day, Stefanie spoke at a clinic on equipping protected area practitioners with the knowledge to implement conservation finance tools, an event spearheaded by David Meyers of the Conservation Finance Alliance.
Later that afternoon, Stefanie addressed audiences as part of a panel on how Africa can leverage biodiversity financing, an event hosted by the environmental ministers of Nigeria and Gabon (Hon. Mohammed Abdullahi and Hon. Lee White respectively).
On July 21, Stefanie also took part in the launch of the IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) Sustainable Finance Working Group.
The APAC culminated in the publication of the Kigali Call to Action, which outlines key priorities for African conservation. The document highlights the need for greater public and private investment in conservation and demands the centering of indigenous communities in biodiversity protection.
Many events from the APAC can now be watched on YouTube.