How can we protect wild animals when the world's forest cover continues to shrink? This is just one of the many issues under discussion at the Cop16 biodiversity summit in Cali, Colombia. In West Africa, certain emblematic species such as the elephant are at risk of extinction. The head of the Côte d'Ivoire-based Roots Wild Foundation sounds the alarm.
Hallal Bilal, chair of the Roots Wild Foundation, talks to RFI about the dwindling elephant population in his native Côte d'Ivoire and efforts to ensure the country's emblematic animal does not become extinct.
RFI: What do you expect from the Cop 16 biodiversity summit?
Hallal Bilal: That concrete and, above all, binding measures will be taken to force governments to invest much more in protecting biodiversity ... and wildlife.
RFI: The previous Cop in Montreal set the goal of protecting 30 percent of the earth's surface by 2030. Is this achievable?
Hallal Bilal: It's achievable if everyone really does their bit. Governments alone can't do everything, so we also need to get people much more involved. Civil society too, because these days we tend to run into problems with populations. So we need to work on raising awareness.
RFI: For the past two years, many environmental scientists have been insisting that this 30 percent figure should be applied on a country-by-country basis. Can we ask each nation to commit to that?
Hallal Bilal: You can't just ask, you have to demand each nation protect at least 30 percent of its territory, because the figures are pretty catastrophic. It's an obligation.
RFI: In your opinion, which African countries are in the worst situation?
Hallal Bilal: My own country of Cote d'Ivoire has seen almost 80 percent of its forest and wildlife cover disappear. The government and members of civil society are pulling out all the stops and things are beginning to change. So Côte d'Ivoire, and then the whole of West Africa.
RFI: Is this due to urbanisation or the development of agriculture?
Hallal Bilal: Urbanisation obviously plays a role; unemployment plays a very important role; agriculture plays a role. Whether it's cocoa, oil palm, rubber – all crops contribute to deforestation.
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RFI: Ivorian authorities hope to increase tree cover from 3 million to 6.5 million hectares by 2030. Is this objective possible?
Hallal Bilal: I think it's possible because the government is doing a lot to promote reforestation throughout the country. The Ministry of Water and Forests has created National Tree Day and has opened up classified forest concessions to the private sector. Category 3 forests are therefore eligible for concessions, with private funding, to help the state restore its forests.
RFI: Côte d'Ivoire's emblematic animal is the elephant but it's threatened with extinction
Hallal Bilal: The number of elephant specimens in Côte d'Ivoire has fallen dramatically. I think we currently have a population of between 200 and 500 elephants maximum.
RFI: How many were there 20 years ago?
There were over a thousand. I'd say the elephant is practically on the brink of extinction in Cote d'Ivoire. That's why it's vital to take action to protect them and help them reproduce. The government has taken important measures. A few months ago, the National Assembly passed a bill to create two elephant sanctuaries – one in the north and one in the south.
Deforestation has unfortunately been a major factor in the decline of elephants. They end up roaming in villages because they're completely disoriented since there are no forests left. It's a disaster.
RFI: Are these wandering elephants killed by villagers?
Hallal Bilal: No. As soon as the Ministry of Water and Forests receives any information, we immediately dispatch a team to protect the elephant and raise public awareness. People are amazed to see elephants. So they might get close to the animal, which can be risky or the elephant may panic. But otherwise, people don't kill animals. In fact, we recently supported the Ministry of Water and Forests in moving two elephants to safety.
RFI: Is there still poaching?
Hallal Bilal: There is still poaching – for ivory, skin, meat. We still have a culture of eating bushmeat in Africa.
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RFI: Aren't you worried that, behind the official rhetoric, deforestation will continue and some species will disappear?
Hallal Bilal: We won't let that happen because we're committed and passionate people. We've dedicated our lives to protecting nature.
RFI: But if people agree with the way things are going, you won't be able to do anything about it?
Hallal Bilal: In all honesty, we're conducting a huge number of awareness campaigns, calling on the spirit of conservation that drives every Ivorian to take action. It's our heritage and people understand that. Since 2023 we’ve recovered a huge number of animals.
Every day we take animals into our refuge. It's transitional. We recover all the animals from the fight against poaching and species-trafficking. We care for them and prepare them to return to the wild, in safe areas.
And we're continuing our awareness-raising campaigns, even in schools. Just yesterday, the foundation's vice-president met with Adrienne Soundélé [head of the Soundélé Konan foundation fighting deforestation] and an official from the Ministry of Education, with a view to including this subject in the school curriculum.
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This interview is adapted from the original conducted in French by RFI's Christophe Boisbouvier. It has been lightly edited for clarity.
