1. What are your hopes or ambitions for the IUCN Congress?
The IUCN Congress represents a major strategic opportunity for us to pool experiences, innovations and knowledge to serve the profound transformation of our models of sustainable production, consumption and valuation of ecosystems.
Our ambition is to draw inspiration from international best practices while adapting them to our national and local contexts. These exchanges feed into our systemic transformation agenda, in particular through Axis 3 of Vision Senegal 2050 (on structural changes in favour of a green and inclusive economy) and Priority 9 (on ecological resilience).
We also hope that this Congress will:
- Consolidate South-South and North-South partnerships around concrete initiatives for biodiversity, environmental governance and climate finance.
- Promote innovative African initiatives in the conservation and restoration of ecosystems, offering them increased visibility at the international level.
- Promote the emergence of regional coalitions around priority themes such as land restoration, fighting invasive species, community conservation or circular economy.
- Strengthen national capacities, particularly in science, planning and monitoring and evaluation, through technical exchanges, training and collaborative platforms.
In short, we place great hopes in the IUCN Congress to catalyse a dynamic of shared and bold action, with measurable impacts for nature, people and the economy.
2. How important is regional and global leadership in advancing actions for nature?
Regional and global leadership is now more essential than ever to drive a real change of course in favour of nature. It is an essential lever for converging political ambitions, mobilising funding, disseminating innovations, and ensuring consistent and fair implementation of major environmental commitments.
Senegal is fully aware of this and is already taking concrete action on several fronts:
- We have fully integrated the commitments of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which we consider a fundamental lever to guide our national policies. In this regard, the ongoing adoption of our first biodiversity law marks a historic step towards providing our country with a robust legal framework, aligned with international ambitions.
- Our action is also part of the broader framework of climate justice, the Paris Agreement, the United Nations Convention on Desertification, and more recently with the signing of the BBNJ agreement on marine biodiversity at the third United Nations conference on the oceans in Nice, in June 2025.
Senegal has already demonstrated its ability to lead major international initiatives, such as the organisation of the 9th World Water Forum in 2022. This momentum will continue with the World Water Convention scheduled for 2026, which will be a strategic turning point to make water management a pillar of environmental and sustainable development policies on a global scale. Senegal has demonstrated its ability to support international events, such as the 9th World Water Forum in 2022, and we will be proud to host the 6th World Marine Protected Areas Congress in 2027, a first for an African nation.
Our ambition is clear: to exercise political, scientific and operational leadership, to make West Africa a leading force in terms of conservation, sustainable use of natural resources and inclusive environmental governance.
Finally, with the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar in 2026, we also want to mobilise the world’s youth around the environmental cause, showing that sport, nature and the future are intimately linked.
3. What key messages will you bring to the IUCN Congress?
Our messages will be based on a strong conviction: there will be no sustainable development without resilient ecosystems and autonomous and supportive communities.
This will imply to:
- Promote integrated economic strategies, green, blue, social and inclusive, that both protect ecosystems and ensure decent and sustainable livelihoods for our people, especially youth, women and local communities.
- Emphasise ecological restoration as a priority lever for action in the face of land degradation, biodiversity loss and the effects of climate change. This restoration must be based on nature-based approaches, science and traditional knowledge.
- Work to anticipate climate shocks, highlighting initiatives led by local authorities, community organisations and non-state actors, as well as the sustainable valuation of biodiversity.
- Encourage a rational and equitable management of natural resources, which respects ecological balances, human rights and the needs of future generations.
- Strengthen environmental governance, promoting transparency, citizen participation, and accountability at all levels: local, national, regional, and global.
- Mobilise innovative financing (climate funds, sustainable investments, payments for ecosystem services, public-private partnerships) to make conservation economically viable and accessible to all.
- Support the production, sharing and access to scientific data and local knowledge, to better inform decisions, monitor progress and adjust policies.
The Congress is a platform to reaffirm that the ecological transition can only succeed if it is fair, inclusive and driven by the territories.
4. What connections do you make between your action and the themes of the Congress?
Our national priorities are in strong convergence with the themes of the Congress. Namely:
- On Theme 1 (Scaling Up Resilient Conservation Action), we are actively working on a new biodiversity law, integrating climate and social dimensions into all sectoral policies.
- On Theme 3 (Delivering on Equity), we make the recognition of ICCA (Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas) a priority for shared and effective nature governance.
- We also aim for a significant increase in ecosystem protection by 2029, in line with the “30x30” goal.
- We focus on nature-based solutions, and the use of digital tools and technology to strengthen biodiversity monitoring and conservation.
- Finally, we pay particular attention to environmental education, youth engagement and the inclusion of women, which are essential pillars for building a just and sustainable ecological transition.
In short, our approach is inclusive, systemic, human-centred and resolutely action-oriented, with a strong desire to make Senegal a driving force for conservation on a regional and global scale.