Advancing Commitments to Connectivity at the Africa Protected Areas Congress

The first-ever Africa-wide gathering to discuss the role of protected areas in conserving nature was held in Kigali, Rwanda from 18-23 July 2022. As the 1^st IUCN Africa Protected Areas Congress (APAC), 2,400+ participants from across the continent and the world convened under the theme “For People and Nature.” CCSG Members and partners were present in Kigali and highlighted throughout the Congress that connectivity conservation is already providing solutions, and can make more in the future, toward bolstering conservation actions in Africa.

The opening plenary at APAC in Kigali, Rwanda. Courtesy Nina Bhola

The overarching objective of APAC was to increase the understanding of how parks contribute to biodiversity conservation and delivering ecosystem services, while underpinning human welfare and livelihoods. To promote the role of connectivity toward achieving this objective, CCSG Members gave a number of presentations and attending a diversity of keynote speeches, panel discussions, and workshops, as well as participating in preparation and adoption of the Kigali Call to Action for People and Nature. This news post highlights CCSG activities and main outcomes at the Congress.

Co-sponsoring an event entitled Connectivity Conservation for Africa: At the Forefront of Conservation Challenges and Solutions at the WWF Pavilion with the following speakers:

Margaret Kinnaird (Practice Leader for Wildlife at WWF-International) provided opening remarks;
Megan Parker (Conservation Project Director at the Center for Large Landscape Conservation) presented on “Connectivity Conservation for Interconnected Networks of Protected and Conserved Areas”;
Nyambe Nyambe (Executive Director of the Secretariat for the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA) highlighted the area as a model for implementation and adaptive management;
Lucy Waruingi (Executive Director of the African Conservation Centre) conveyed the importance of Southern Kenya-Northern Tanzania cross-border wildlife movement and future work of the Kenya Corridors Task Force;
Kristeen Penrod (Connectivity Specialist at the Center for Large Landscape Conservation) and Dr. Fortunata Msoffe (Wildlife Division of the Tanzanian Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism) detailed the forthcoming launch of the Tanzania Wildlife Assessment, Prioritization, and Action Plan;
Anne Raimat (Director of Biodiversity at Climate Chance) presented a pilot project working to conserve chimp corridors in Guinea through innovative funding mechanisms; and
Noah Sitati (Wildlife Species Expert at WWF Tanzania) provided insights from the Kenya-Tanzania transboundary Kilimanjaro Landscape.

Participating in preparation and events focused on the innovative theme of avoiding, minimizing, and mitigating the impacts of infrastructure on the environment, including sessions on:

Infrastructure and Biodiversity: Resilient landscapes – ensuring no net-loss of biodiversity due to infrastructure;
Infrastructure and People: Sustainable infrastructure for increased benefits to local communities; and
Infrastructure and Protected and Conserved Areas: Reducing the impact of physical infrastructure on ecosystems and biodiversity in key African landscapes.

Co-organizing an event at The Nature Conservancy’s Pavilion entitled 30×30 – Connectivity Guidelines and Implementation: Tanzania Case Study that featured more detailed presentations by Fortunata Msoffe, Kristeen Penrod, and Exper Pius (Deputy Chief of Party for USAID Tuhifadhi Maliasili) about the development of the Tanzania Wildlife Corridor Assessment, Prioritization, and Action Plan.

Kigali Call to Action for People and Nature

CCSG Member Melly Reuling opening the TNC Pavilion event. Courtesy Kristeen Penrod

On the final day, APAC closed with adoption of the aforementioned Kigali Call to Action for People and Nature, which includes a call for:

“Restoring fragmented and degraded ecosystems and avoiding or mitigating the impacts of climate change, new infrastructure and environmentally destructive activities, thereby maintaining ecological connectivity through networks of protected and conserved areas, including OECMs and transboundary areas.”

As a consolidation of key messages delivered during the Congress, the Call is a commitment by governments and stakeholders to jointly and urgently address the biodiversity, climate change, and health crises through nature-positive outcomes for human development and well-being across Africa. This includes:

Communicating and implementing the recommendations widely;
Engaging more with Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, as well as youth, to collaborate;
Conveying the recommendations and commitments to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to enhance international policy integration;
Requesting the Africa Union to declare the 18^th of July each year to be “Africa Protected and Conserved Areas Day”;
Developing an African Protected and Conserved Areas Forum to guide implementation and monitoring of the commitments toward convening a 2^nd APAC in 4-5 years; and
Taking action in individual and joint work in participants’ home countries and institutions.

State	Year	Policy	Description
New Hampshire	2026	SB592	Enables regional, conservation, and energy resource planning for habitat strongholds and wildlife corridors
New Hampshire	2019	SB200	Requires the New Hampshire Department of Transportation to consider fish and wildlife crossings and mitigation measures in all future road and culvert projects
New Hampshire	2016	SB376	Requires the fish and game department to identify existing and needed wildlife corridors connecting wildlife habitats in the state and to make recommendations for legislative changes

State	Year	Policy	Description
Maine	2023	LD258	Appropriates $7.5 million to Department of Transportation to improve roadways with potential adaptations for wildlife
Maine	2023	LD1881	Establishes compensation fee program relating to fish and wildlife habitats and associated corridors, including compensation paid by solar energy development
Maine	2023	LD508	Requires Department of Environmental Protection to review its permitting laws concerning climate change, habitat connectivity, ecological resilience, and coastal environments

State	Year	Policy	Description
New Jersey	2025	S3618	Directs state agencies to develop a Wildlife Corridor Action Plan
New Jersey	2024	S3916/A5486	Expands eligibility for existing wildlife fencing programs by including farmers leasing farmland
New Jersey	2007	NJAC7:13	Requires the state to incorporate wildlife crossings or a natural bank for terrestrial threatened and endangered species and/or species of concern when a new bridge or culvert project would cause habitat fragmentation

State	Year	Policy	Description
New Mexico	2023	SB72	Appropriates money to new Wildlife Corridors Fund for implementation of wildlife crossing projects under New Mexico Wildlife Corridor Action Plan
New Mexico	2022	HB 2	Allocates funding for projects to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions and allows the Department of Transportation and Department of Game to implement their Wildlife Corridors Action Plan
New Mexico	2019	SB 228	Requires the creation of a Wildlife Corridor Action Plan that includes comprehensive guidance to agencies for identifying, prioritizing and maintaining important areas for wildlife movement

State	Year	Policy	Description
Washington	2023	HB1216/SB5196	Requires Department of Ecology to prepare environmental impact statements for clean energy projects that consider impacts to habitat connectivity and wildlife migration corridors
Washington	2022	SB5689	Provides funding for US 97 Wildlife Crossing Improvements project
Washington	2019	SEO 1031.02	Recognizes the effect of roadways in creating barriers to wildlife movement, breeding, and migrations; the Washington State Department of Transportation will promote and support Practical Solutions and Planning and Environmental Linkages to integrate habitat connectivity and biodiversity plans; will make use of the highway prioritization map known as Habitat Connectivity Investment Priorities; and will corporate and coordinate with other agencies involved in wildlife habitat protection, specifically along highways

Connecting Science to Conservation

Advancing Commitments to Connectivity at the Africa Protected Areas Congress

About the Author: IUCN CCSG

State	Year	Policy	Description
Vermont	2023	Act59	Vermont's 30x30 law that commits to conserving and maintaining an ecologically functional landscape that sustains biodiversity and maintains landscape connectivity
Vermont	2016	Act 171	Primarily focuses on timber harvesting regulations, but calls for a study of necessary revisions to planning statutes that protect contiguous areas of forestland from fragmentation and promote habitat connectivity between forestlands

State	Year	Policy	Description
Colorado	2026	SB141	Creates optional collision prevention fee to fund wildlife safe passage projects
Colorado	2025	HB1093	Restricts local limits on residential density unless offset elsewhere, exempts areas near wildlife crossings, and allows municipalities to seek judicial review of land use initiatives
Colorado	2023	SB 23-092	Encourages minimal impacts to wildlife migration corridors when constructing solar panel farms
Colorado	2023	SB 214	Appropriates funding to the Colorado Wildlife Safe Passages Fund for wildlife crossing projects
Colorado	2022	SB22-151	Creates a $5 million fund for measures that reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions and reconnect habitat fragmented by roads
Colorado	2022	HB22-1072	Expands the scope of Habitat Partnership Program to fund efforts to conserve wildlife migration
Colorado	2021	SJR 21-021	Aims to protect and enhance habitat connectivity in the state through the establishment of a working group to develop state policies on corridors, as well as the commission of a report on state corridors and voluntary policies to support willing landowners in improving connectivity
Colorado	2019	EO 11	Directs Colorado agencies to identify policy, regulatory, and legislative opportunities to ensure the ongoing conservation of seasonal big game habitat and migration corridors
Colorado	2018	SB 18-143	States explicit goals for Division of Parks and Wildlife to invest in habitat conservation and wildlife crossings

State	Year	Policy	Description
Florida	2024	SB1638	Dedicates annual funding to land purchases, conservation easements, and trail maintenance within Florida Wildlife Corridor
Florida	2023	HB1379	Creates annual appropriation to acquire lands that complete certain linkages and are under high population stress within Florida Wildlife Corridor
Florida	2023	SB2500 sec.146	Provides funding to buy Ocala to Osceola (“O2O”) Wildlife Corridor
Florida	2021	SB976	Tasks state agencies with maintaining wildlife connectivity and designates Florida Wildlife Corridor as an existing physical, geographically defined area
Florida	2021	SB2500	Appropriates $300 million to acquire lands to conserve Florida Wildlife Corridor
Florida	2019	SB7068	Creates a "Multi-use Corridors of Regional Economic Significance Program" that includes protection of wildlife corridors as an intended benefit
Florida	2008	SB542	Amends Florida Forever Act statues to include goals of connecting linkage corridors
Florida	2001	SB1468	Amends Florida Forever Act to establish that land acquisitions should include complete landscape linkages and corridors
Florida	1999	S908	Creates Florida Forever Program, with increased protection of lands that protect threatened or endangered species and plans to create a statewide system of connected landscape linkages