Celebrating 25 Years of Action for Biodiversity

It is estimated that biodiversity and ecosystems support 80 per cent of the population in Somalia [ ] 206 Addressing biodiversity targets on multiple fronts Two examples of the importance of biodiversity to human well-being in Somalia are crop production and livestock. The Somali economy has traditionally been dominated by pastoralism (50 per cent) and crop production. Currently, Somalia is working to develop a National Biodiversity Action Plan (NBSAP) to address threats to biodiversity in accordance with the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity. The NBSAP will include an assess- ment on the status of biodiversity and will identify priority areas that need urgent actions for conservation. Public awareness will be increased through education. National policies, laws and programmes will be devel- oped to work on priority issues and to provide a legal framework for the protection of biodiversity. So far, Somalia is working to imple- ment the proposed activities in reserve areas, including enforcement of the ban on charcoal exports, reforestation pilot programmes in different soils and climatic environments, and the production of a State of the Environ- ment report to assess the status of bio- diversity resources and to guide future conservation and sustainable manage- ment and development decisions. Conservation threats to PAs and natural ecosystems will be assessed, including climate change, uncon- trolled land clearing for agriculture, deforestation and overgrazing. In all of these areas, Somalia seeks to design and implement strategies that reconcile the importance of conserv- ing important areas of biodiversity with those of human needs and use. This could include ways to integrate protection with sustainable use. The country will also update its flora and fauna inventory, much of which is outdated. Such an update would assess the status of abundance, distribution and socioeconomic relevance of each taxonomy. The PA system will be re-assessed as to its viability, species composition and conservation status. This could form the basis for redefining Somalia’s PA network and integrating it into wider land-use and environmental plan- ning. The scale and extent of invasive species will be assessed too. Planning will take account of the need to con- serve and create biodiversity conser- vation corridors to foster improved connectivity in the landscape. S omalia is one of the most biodiverse countries in the Horn of Africa, with a high level of endemic species. Livestock, fisheries and natural products are the backbone of the national economy. Diverse habitats distributed within terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems support over 80 per cent of the population. This rich biodiversity provides fundamental ecosystems goods and services important to social, economic, cultural and human well-being of the Somali population. Although Somalia’s biological biodiversity database is very minimal, the country seeks to address the global biodiversity targets. In the coming years, Somalia will undertake various important biodiversity assessments in its Protected Areas (PAs) and other facilities. Camel train, Somalia Jakub Jacobsky on Unsplash Somalia