Educational Background: Student in Development Communication
Where I live and how I view my environment: I live in Natitingou, a town located approximately fifty kilometres of the Pendjari National Park. The town is situated in between the mountains of Atakora. View from above it is very nice with its green hills in the rainy season and some little rivers crossing the town. Natitingou constitutes the most important town in the area because of its developed infrastructures compared to the rest of the northern Benin region. For these reasons, the population increases exponentially which leads to the occupation of green and open spaces and a lot of environmental problems such as a bad management of rubbish and cleaning up etc.
Biodiversity means to me personally: I understand biodiversity as the variety of all existing species of plants and animals. Ecologically, it forms a complex system of mutual interdependencies: Trees supply shelter and food for birds, insects, mushrooms etc.; insects, bats, birds are useful for the pollination; parasites and predators assure the natural limitation of the population growth; numerous species, such as earthworms and bacteria, are responsible for the recycling of the organic waste and for the preservation of the fertility of the ground; plants absorb a part of the carbon dioxide (CO2) of the atmosphere and transfer it into oxygen etc. Economically, the biodiversity participates directly or indirectly in the satisfaction of the human needs and the economic wealth of nations thanks to the exploitation of natural resources. Furthermore, a lot of medicinal products have been developed out of natural resources, for example the penicillin as a product of the mould of a mushroom or the quinine from the bark of the tropical tree cinchona. The African medicine bases moreover essentially on the use of vegetable essences. Summarizing, the biological diversity constitutes an essential condition for the life on earth, which needs to be protected.
My Symbol of biodiversity: My Symbol of biodiversity is the botanical garden of the University of Abomey Calavi which is a work of the faculty of agronomy and has been created with the aim of preserving several animal species and vegetables in a healthy environmental space. What strikes the attention on this garden is the greenery and beauty which characterises it. The air there is – especially compared to the rest of the city of Cotonou – pure and thus offers a wonderful space for meeting friends, relaxing and reminds every visitor on the richness of the African vegetation. That is why this place constitutes for me a symbol biodiversity.
My motivation for participating: As student of development communication, I am engaged to overcome development problems in several fields, such as health, environment and education. My masters’ thesis at the end of the principal cycle will base on the participation of the communities bordering the Pendjari National Park in the protection and the management of its natural resources. It aims to analyse the existing preservation strategies of the communities and to recommend possible improvements. The summit allows me to acquire new knowledge about different preservation strategies and instruments. The idea of exchanging experiences from different regions of the world acquired under different political, economic and social situations will help us to understand better which aspects have to be more considered to get optimal results in the preservation of biodiversity.
How did I show I am ready to "Go 4 BioDiv": Since I started university, I became more and more interested in searching on problems of development in Benin. Several problems we face here every day are linked to environment and its destruction and have consequences in other fields like health. Up to now I learned a lot about climate warming, air pollution and desertification and its consequences. When we try to find solutions for these problems we’ll always meet again the subject of biodiversity and its protection. I’m ready for to go4biodiv because I want to engage in this field and the more I know the more I’m able to change.
My message to other participants: First of all I want to congratulate you for your motivation to attend to the summit. I am very happy to take part to this meeting because it offers me the unique opportunity to get to know and exchange with you. I wish our meeting at the summit will allow us to create an effective youth network in order to reflect together about the problems of environment and development.
