The Lion’s Share today announced new grants to communities that depend on wildlife tourism, an industry that employs millions of others and is essential for wildlife conservation around the world, but has been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The grants will fund local projects in nine countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America to build communities’ resilience in wildlife-rich spaces and coverage of endangered wildlife in their remaining strengths.
These initial grants, totaling $400,000 and issued in partnership with the GEF Small Grants Program, mark the first upcoming investments in the COVID-19 reaction of The Lion’s Share, an award-winning initiative led through The Lion’s Share Program. United Nations Development Agency (UNDP) and a coalition of UN corporations and partners, which calls on brands to make a contribution of 0. 5% of their media by taking time to present an animal symbol in their advertisements.
Following a call for proposals in April, The Lion’s Share won more than 1,600 nonprofit programs running in critical areas. Assistance calls detail job and income loss, loss of investment for conservation projects, increased poaching, and widespread food insecurity. The Lion’s Share will continue to raise up to $3 million to fund the 40 decided projects.
According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, wildlife tourism generated $ 343. 6 billion and generated more than 21. 8 million jobs in 2018. Through wildlife tourism, communities derive benefits directly from wildlife, which It enables them to expand businesses and generate much-needed jobs and income. Encouraged to protect wildlife and their habitats, they have become valuable guardians of nature on the front lines of conservation. However, restrictions to curb the pandemic have exhausted the economic channels of millions of other people and conservation activities in areas rich in wildlife. Iconic species such as rhinos, elephants, gorillas, sea turtles, tigers, sharks and pangolins face unprecedented threats.
Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator, said: “The spread of COVID-19 is as much a socio-economic, environmental and governance crisis as it is a physical fitness crisis, a clear reminder that human fitness and well-being are intrinsically connected to fitness. and well-being of our planet. We will emerge from this crisis, but we will have to seize this opportunity to rebuild a more equal, inclusive, sustainable, safe and healthy planet. By leveraging the strength of partnerships, The Lion’s Share has not only been able to increase the budget for conservation and wildlife, but has also engaged with businesses and consumers on this urgent issue. “
Today’s announcement follows the UN Secretary-General’s call to reshape the tourism sector to be more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable, warning that the effects of COVID-19 on tourism threaten to increase poverty and inequality, as well as the opposite nature. Conservation efforts. In fact, the top 40 decided proposals for investment highlight that the top threats that are not unusual facing communities are loss of jobs and sources of income (100% of proposals), intensification of poaching and overfishing (95%) and construction of habitat destruction (95%). %).
To aid your socio-economic recovery, The Lion’s Share grants will fund local projects that build network resilience through skill progression and choice of income resources, adding cheesemaking in the leopard steppe of the snows of Mongolia, sustainable fish farming in Zambia, permaculture education in Nepal and beekeeping in Uganda. Twenty of the 40 projects come with movements that directly interact and obtain cooperative advantages of women, aboriginal stewardship and youth activities, promoting the inclusion of marginalized groups, for whom tourism has been a vehicle of integration and empowerment. Revenue resources, such as creating virtual tours in Bhutan, would not only link travelers to nature, but also help the network trust tourism and conservation, expand virtual capabilities, and publicize innovation and innovation. use of generation in the tourism ecosystem.
The first nine projects also include: virtual safaris, permaculture gardens and the relief of clashes between elephants and humans in Namibia; the Black Mambas – the world’s first exclusively female anti-poaching unit – in beekeeping and permaculture to lessen the confrontation between humans and elephants in South Africa; Sustainable agriculture and herbal medicinal wisdom for the Achuar indigenous network in Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest; and the anti-arriostration rangers of sea turtles and community livelihoods
The 40 project sites host endangered species, and more than a portion of all projects are based on locations where multiple critically endangered and critically endangered species are present. Almost a quarter of the projects are located in biosphere reserves of UNESCO or World Heritage sites. around the world identified for their importance as conservation priorities. Investing in those critical wildlife spaces and supporting jobs and livelihoods in those local communities promote green growth. They tackle long-term economic threats by helping combat climate replacement and biodiversity loss; safeguard herbal ecosystem services such as drinking water, crop pollination, etc. , and reduce the threat of new zoonotic diseases that may simply be pandemics.
“We are incredibly grateful for the help provided through Lion’s Share,” dr. Michelle Henley, co-founder, ceo and principal investigator of Elephants Alive, one of the beneficiaries of the funding. “This grant will allow us to acquire the capabilities of The Black Mamba Poaching Unit to maintain bees and tame permaculture, so that those women who are critically concerned about protecting our wildlife can supplement the income they so desperately need. This evidence of concept in South Africa will then be implemented in major elephant runners, ensuring that living with elephants can be perceived as an advantage and not as a burden to the local population. Over the more than a hundred years, we have lost 97% of the African continental elephant population. At that point, it would be very lonely for our young people if there were no elephants left. When we protect elephants, we protect habitats and a multitude of other species in the process, and therefore our planet. »
Distributed through the APO Group on behalf of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
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