I recently had the opportunity to attend the Conference of European National Committees and Experts in Armenia. The event, hosted by Ruben Khachatryan, Director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets (FPWC), and Hakob Simidyan, Armenian Minister of the Environment, highlighted the crucial importance of biodiversity conservation in preventing conflicts over natural resources.
Biodiversity and Conflict: An Inseparable Link
Over the last 60 years, more than 40% of intra-state conflicts have been linked to the exploitation of natural resources, which doubles the risk of renewed hostilities in the first five years following a conflict. Since 1990, at least 18 violent conflicts have been fuelled by the over-exploitation of precious resources such as timber, diamonds, gold, minerals and oil, as well as scarce resources such as fertile land and water.Faced with the accelerating loss of biodiversity, this situation reminds us of the urgent need to implement the global strategy adopted in Montreal for the conservation of biodiversity. Indeed, it has become imperative to rethink our approach to the planet, by integrating the three key objectives of this strategy: the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of species and natural environments, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the use of genetic resources.
The commitment of the IUCN French Committee
At this conference, I had the opportunity to reiterate the commitment of the French Committee of the IUCN to this global strategy. Together with my colleague Cécile Erny, we represented the French Committee, stressing the need for concerted action to meet these global challenges. The exchanges that took place in Yerevan strengthened cooperation between the various European players and laid the foundations for concrete initiatives to preserve biodiversity and, consequently, prevent conflicts over natural resources.
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