The Africa-EU Dialogue: Supporting communities in wildlife conservation.
The conference “Keep calm and let Africa take the lead: Supporting communities in wildlife conservation through African-EU dialogue” is taking place today at the European Parliament, 
hosted by MEP Karl-Heinz Florenz, President of the European Parliament’s Intergroup on “Biodiversity, Hunting, Countryside”, and organised in coordination with the Federation of Association for Hunting and Conservation of the EU (FACE), the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation (CIC), the European Landowners’ Organization (ELO) and Safari Club International (SCI).
hosted by MEP Karl-Heinz Florenz, President of the European Parliament’s Intergroup on “Biodiversity, Hunting, Countryside”, and organised in coordination with the Federation of Association for Hunting and Conservation of the EU (FACE), the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation (CIC), the European Landowners’ Organization (ELO) and Safari Club International (SCI).The goal of the meeting is to bring together European and African decision-makers, together with stakeholders from across the spectrum, to understand the leadership of African range countries in the management and conservation of their wildlife and the role that local communities play in these management and conservation activities.
The event will discuss key African nature conservation issues, where local communities are at the forefront of:
- Fighting and preventing poaching;
- Undermining wildlife trafficking schemes;
- Protecting and improving habitat;
- Preventing agricultural encroachment; and
- Enhancing community and incentive-based conservation.
The purpose of the conference is to help attendees and their agencies and organizations understand:
- The ways in which African communities lead and must be allowed to lead;
- How the EU and the rest of the world can assist African governments and local communities in that leadership;
- Strategies to avoid that could interfere and harm African countries’ efforts;
- The lessons that we can learn from Africa.