A national workshop to validate the national biodiversity strategy and action plan was held on Tuesday, August 6, 2024 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The objective of this work of reflection is to align the national strategy with the global biodiversity framework.

In order to implement the Convention on Biological Diversity and contribute to the preservation of biodiversity in the Sahel, Burkina Faso has developed a national action plan. The overall objective of this Action Plan is to support actions to preserve and restore species.

This workshop is part of the global convention on biodiversity. “During this workshop, we aim to see how to align this strategy with the global framework,” said Pamoussa Ouedraogo, permanent secretary of the National Council for Sustainable Development (CNDD). He added that the validation of this strategy “will make it possible to better value and maintain biodiversity”.

Ousmane Banwar, representative of the minister in charge of the environment, stressed that this workshop marks “the culmination of a long process of fruitful collaboration between the various structures and the ministry”. It will make it possible to propose effective and sustainable solutions to the new challenges linked to the involuntary movements of populations, as well as to the various consequences leading to the degradation of ecosystems and habitats specific to biodiversity.

The action plan developed for the period 2024-2029 includes numerous goals. According to the minister's spokesperson, “this includes ensuring the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of biodiversity, in order to improve the socio-economic conditions of populations.

Three main impacts are expected from the implementation of the action plan. These are the reduction of the degradation of natural resources by increasing the forest cover rate from 22.72% in 2020 to 26.47% in 2029; the increase in the contribution of the primary sector to the national economy, which will make it possible to increase the contribution of the primary sector to the formation of nominal GDP from 20.40% in 2022 to 23.9% in 2029; and the improvement of the socio-economic conditions of populations by reducing the incidence of poverty in rural areas. from 52.7% in 2021 to less than 49% in 2029.

The strategy is accompanied by a three-year action plan whose overall implementation cost is estimated at 204,294,095,000 FCFA, of which 122,968,302,000 FCFA remain to be sought.