But there is a glimmer of hope: the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has proposed to the United Nations an ambitious target of effectively protecting 30% of the planet's surface (land and sea) by 2030, known as the "30x30" target. This is to be discussed in October 2021 in Kunming, China, at the COP15 of this international convention.
The establishment of a network of protected natural areas is one of the key elements of this desire and of this global safeguarding strategy. This is fortunate!
However, this altruistic objective of sharing the planet with other living species comes up against the consumerist and conquering impulse of the human species. We can see on a daily basis how difficult it is to curb the expansionist aims of industrial, oil, mining and agro-industrial lobbies to enrich themselves and encourage us to consume more and more. Other illustrations of this paradox are the difficult debate on cohabitation between large carnivores and farmers, or even the attitude of the gardener in his vegetable garden, attacked by the tooth of the deer or the radula of the slug, showing the theoretical and philosophical notion of accepting to leave one's share to nature. And, in our territories, we often leave to nature only what we have not managed to develop... The principle is also debated within development and human rights NGOs.
Once this objective has been accepted, these new protected areas will of course have to be conserved and managed sustainably, which implies a financial commitment at the international level and technical, governance and project sustainability conditions that are rarely met, as shown by the long list of National Park conservation failures and the current state of degradation of many Protected Areas. Today, a certain number of them only exist on maps... The road is still long! But let's not deny ourselves pleasure and let's salute this ambitious and courageous objective, which Noé fully supports. Through Noé's Parks division and our international activities, our NGO contributes to this great vision of the 21st century through ambitious and concrete field programmes for the management of Protected Areas over the long term.
Arnaud Greth,
Today, as with the climate, a consensus is emerging on the ecological imperative of safeguarding and restoring biodiversity, given the growing awareness of our dependence on the major ecological processes dictated by the laws of life.
The establishment of a network of protected natural areas is one of the key elements of this desire and of this global safeguarding strategy. This is fortunate!
However, this altruistic objective of sharing the planet with other living species comes up against the consumerist and conquering impulse of the human species. We can see on a daily basis how difficult it is to curb the expansionist aims of industrial, oil, mining and agro-industrial lobbies to enrich themselves and encourage us to consume more and more. Other illustrations of this paradox are the difficult debate on cohabitation between large carnivores and farmers, or even the attitude of the gardener in his vegetable garden, attacked by the tooth of the deer or the radula of the slug, showing the theoretical and philosophical notion of accepting to leave one's share to nature. And, in our territories, we often leave to nature only what we have not managed to develop... The principle is also debated within development and human rights NGOs.
Once this objective has been accepted, these new protected areas will of course have to be conserved and managed sustainably, which implies a financial commitment at the international level and technical, governance and project sustainability conditions that are rarely met, as shown by the long list of National Park conservation failures and the current state of degradation of many Protected Areas. Today, a certain number of them only exist on maps... The road is still long! But let's not deny ourselves pleasure and let's salute this ambitious and courageous objective, which Noé fully supports. Through Noé's Parks division and our international activities, our NGO contributes to this great vision of the 21st century through ambitious and concrete field programmes for the management of Protected Areas over the long term.
Arnaud Greth,
President of Noé
