WHEN ADAPTATION MEETS ECOSYSTEMS: AAI HIGHLIGHTS AFRICA’S INTRICATE NEXUS

“Resilience starts where people and nature meet—in our farms, forests, coasts, and cities,” declared Ambassador Seyni Nafo, Africa Adaptation Initiative (AAI) Coordinator during a high-level climate resilience session at the on-going International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

As he took the stage to speak about scaling nature-based and ecosystem-based adaptation across Africa, Amb. Nafo’s message was simple and direct: Africa’s path to climate security runs through its ecosystems.

“You cannot build resilience in Africa without protecting and restoring the ecosystems that sustain us,” he said. “From mangroves and forests to rangelands and river basins — our natural systems are the first and best line of defense.”

Conversely, nature cannot be conserved without addressing the climate pressures that are transforming ecosystems. And this is precisely where, according to Amb. Nafo, deeper collaboration between AAI and IUCN can have transformational impact.

“AAI brings the political mandate at the highest-level, coordination power, partnership building, and policy frameworks that link adaptation to development and finance while IUCN brings world-class technical expertise, decades of experience with ecosystem-based approaches, and a strong network of Members across Africa. Together, we can connect political ambition with technical excellence - turning strategies into action on the ground.”

For years, the story of climate change in Africa has been told through the lens of vulnerability — droughts, floods, and loss. But a new narrative is emerging; one of home grown leadership, nature driven adaptation and collaboration.

“Africa doesn’t lack solutions - it needs partners who believe in African leadership,” explained Amb. Nafo, who also serves as Green Climate Fund Board Co-Chair. “The Africa Adaptation Initiative was created as a homegrown response to Africa’s unique climate realities rooted in our own priorities, leadership, and knowledge systems. The idea was simple but powerful, Africa should not only be the continent most affected by climate change, but also the one shaping its own solutions.”

Thus, the initiative is shifting gears. It’s no longer just about responding to crises — it’s about reshaping the future through breaking away from a siloed approach, which has been a hindrance to success.

“Our communities of practice must talk more to each other. Our shared task is to ensure that these nature-based adaptation solutions are not only locally grounded, responding to community realities and indigenous knowledge, but also continentally impactful, contributing to Africa’s overall resilience architecture. AAI is committed to that, and to building bridges with IUCN and other partners so that Africa leads the way in showing that adaptation and conservation are not parallel tracks, but part of one coherent agenda for a thriving, adapted and resilient continent,” concluded Amb. Nafo.