From 17th to 20th June, the „ESP regional conference Africa 2019“ took place in Kpalimé, Togo. In representation of the ELD Initiative, Mark Schauer attended the conference to give a keynote speech on ELD and its`approach.
Moreover, five of our ELD ambassadors attended the conference to present the work in their respective national contexts during an own session: Beatrice Dossah from Ghana, Ephrem Imanirareba from Rwanda, Hussein Iman from Somalia, Tasew Tadese from Ethiopia and Lutta Alphayo from Kenya. During a poster presentation, they informed the audience about their current engagement and the scope and goals of ongoing ELD studies within the Regreening Africa Project (co-funded by the EU and BMZ).
Every other year the “Ecosystem Services Partnership” (ESP) organizes the regional conference under a different theme. In this year “Management of Ecosystem Services for Nature Conservation and Human Wellbeing in Africa” has been the focus, aiming to draw attention to ecosystems’ key role in the development of economies, societies and culture in (Sub-Saharan) Africa.
For ELD, the conference offered extensive exchange and dialogue across African work streams. We thank our ambassadors for their great work and contribution and are looking forward to the ESP World Conference in October in Germany, Hannover.