Legal frameworks needed to tackle problems of biodiversity: President

Addis Ababa, December 11, 2008 (ENA) - President Girma Woledgeorgis said adjustments of legal frameworks are needed to carry out effective biodiversity works across the nation.

“Despite a number of policies, strategies and legislations that Ethiopia has so far developed, some adjustments in the legal framework are still required,” he said.

The president was speaking while opening a workshop organized on UNESCO’s Man and Biosphere (MAB) concepts in Addis Ababa.

MAB, which is an optimal tool for combining conservation with development, was introduced in Ethiopia two decades ago, the president recalled.

He said one of the major reasons for degradation and loss of ecosystem with its natural resources is the absence of tools suited to conserve the environment and safeguard the livelihoods.

Therefore, the workshop is expected to come up with draft legal framework for the establishment of biosphere reserves in Ethiopia, he added.

German Ambassador to Ethiopia, Dr. Class Knoop said the establishment of legal framework in biosphere reserve remains one of the many areas of bilateral cooperation between Germany and Ethiopia.

The ambassador stressed the need to put in place appropriate policies that address local demands, thereby helping improve living standards of communities.

The concept of biosphere reserves was derived from the first intergovernmental conference organized by UNESCO in 1968 with a view to enhanced betterment relationship between people and their environment globally.

ENA