Environment: Central African mayors at the bedside of city ecosystems
Aerial view of Libreville, the Gabonese capital.
With urban demography constantly increasing, the expansion of cities, particularly in Africa but not only, is a subject of major concern at a time when the preservation of the natural environment is crucial.
liewig christian/Corbis via Getty Images
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
Gabon is hosting a meeting of mayors from Central African countries from Tuesday to Wednesday, co-organized by the International Association of Francophone Mayors (AIMF) and the European Union.
At the heart of this meeting, the protection of forests and ecosystems of cities and their suburbs despite real estate pressure.
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With our correspondent in Libreville,
Yves Laurent Goma
Landry Lignabou, president of the NGO Plurmea, monitors the health of the mangroves in neighborhoods of Libreville and its surroundings.
His heart bleeds each time he discovers that this vegetation where fish and crabs are born is attacked by real estate developers.
“
Just yesterday, we were able to observe new buildings that are inside the mangrove.
And not only is the mangrove destroyed, but there is also a clear reduction in the crustaceans that we saw before.
»
The mangrove is not the only vegetation under pressure.
All of Libreville's protected forests are threatened with extinction.
Baudelaire Ekoumajou, a Cameroonian expert in urban forestry, maintains that this phenomenon is observed everywhere in Africa: “
Cities do not stop growing.
By 2050, almost 75% of the world's population will live in urban areas.
»
Baudelaire Ekoumajou summarizes the expectations of the mayors of Central Africa who are meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday in Libreville: “
It is a meeting that will allow African mayors to share knowledge on this issue of communalization of forests;
participate in the classification and management of forests and the conservation of forest ecosystems.
This is important for the living environment of populations and for carbon sequestration.
»
The conclusions of the Libreville meeting will be presented in November at COP27 in Egypt.
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To read also:
COP27: the question of financing at the heart of the discussions
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Environment
Africa