President Duma Boko has positioned Botswana at the forefront of global conservation efforts, at the African Keystone Protected Area Partnership launch in New York, an initiative he described as “one of the most visionary conservation endeavors of our generation.”
The new partnership aims to protect Africa’s critical ecosystems while safeguarding livelihoods. Boko told delegates that the project “not only serves to protect land, but to safeguard the very existence of our continent, its biodiversity, its ecosystems, and millions of lives that depend on it.” Botswana, he noted, has already surpassed global biodiversity benchmarks.
“We’ve thus far surpassed the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework target of conserving 30% of land, with over 40% of our territory dedicated to conservation,” Boko said, highlighting the Okavango Delta, the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, and the Kalahari Transfrontier Park as examples of “continental assets” now included in the partnership.
The President stressed that conservation must empower ordinary people. He explained that Botswana’s community-based natural resources programme allows local residents to both manage their environments and benefit from tourism revenue.
“Conservation cannot be achieved by governments alone. It must be rooted in community stewardship,” Boko said, adding: “This is not just conservation, it is transformation.”
Boko also acknowledged the role of business, noting that several private entities are already investing in sustainable ecotourism. Partnerships across sectors, he argued, “are not only possible, they are necessarily powerful.”
However, he warned that progress is threatened by climate change, land degradation, budget constraints, and population pressures. “Without sustained international involvement and funding, and the steadfast political will of leaders such as the eminent presidents and other leaders who are here, we risk losing irreplaceable landscapes and species that underpin Africa’s ecological and socio-economic fabric,” he cautioned.
Concluding his address, Boko pledged Botswana’s solidarity in global conservation efforts and extended an invitation to the world.
“We will stand with you at the forefront of the effort that we launch here today. I hope that when next we meet it will be at the biodiversity summit that will be hosted in Botswana,” he said.
The Africa Biodiversity Summit will be hosted in Botswana in from the 2nd to 5th of November.
