Celebrating 25 Years of Action for Biodiversity

More than 50 per cent of households participated in the production processes of gum Arabic, boosting their annual incomes [ ] 211 Involving communities for biodiversity An example of Sudan’s actions for biodiversity is the rehabilitation of the degraded Forest ecosystem in the Nabag Reserve Forest through a participatory approach involving the local community. This action resulted in a significant increase in afforesta- tion areas inside the forest reserves. Outcomes included the adoption of an agro-forestry system in which A. senegal (Hashab) is intercropped with other crops. The afforestation areas inside forest reserves have increased from 270,207ha in 1990 to 511,183ha in 2012, and the area planted in com- munity forests has increased from 270,276ha to 1,622,675ha during the same period. The forest rehabilitation project also led to an increase in the incomes of lo- cal communities, improvement of the environment canopy and encourage- ment of decision makers to implement a project to revitalize Sudan’s gum arabic production and marketing. Sudan’s Forest National Corpora- tion has been involved in the aware- ness and training activities for local communities participating in the gum arabic project. Local people take part in the production and marketing aspects of the project, in addition to the provision of financial services, water services, transportation, seeds and seedlings for refarming the gum gardens of the households in the target area. More than 50 per cent of households participated in the production processes of gum Arabic, boosting their annual incomes. Other actions which have contrib- uted to in-situ and ex-situ conserva- tion of biodiversity include the estab- lishment of gene banks and protected areas, as well as the collection of na- tive species. Sudan has increased its total plant genetic resource holdings with the establishment of a field gene bank in the Kassala area of eastern Sudan. This facility is dedicated to the conservation of banana genetic resources collected from different parts of the country. It also set up an in-country regional seed gene bank unit at the El Obeid Agricultural Research Station in western Sudan in 2005. This unit houses the active collection from the crop genetic re- sources collected from western Sudan (Kordofan and Darfur regions), as well as an in-country mechanism for safe duplication of germplasm under conservation. Sudan Sudan S udan ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1995, the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety in 2005 and the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) in 2014. Since then, the country has made significant progress, achieving Aichi Biodiversity Target 11, with 10 per cent of its marine territory already protected. Sudan has also strengthened the legal and institutional capacity for implementation of ABS, engaging local communities in biodiversity conservation and ABS issues. Wikimedia Commons