Western
Sahara - The destruction of biodiversity by modern colonialism
Written by Axel
Goldau,
Translated by Nele Saworski
With delicate fine paintings by the
Sahrawian artist Fadel Jalifa
Kritische
Oekologie Special, May 2008
The Ninth Meeting of the Conference
of the Parties of the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD)(COP9) and
the Fourth Meeting of Parties to
the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (MOP4), will both take place in
May 2008. Delegates from all the 190 member states of the Convention
will be on the conference hosted by Germany from 19 to 30 May 2008.
The term ‘colonialism’ will not be mentioned neither on the Conference
(COP9) nor on the Meeting (MOP4.) And the problems concerning
biodiversity that result from “modern colonialism” will not be
addressed.
It may or may not be a coincidence that the United Nations Conference
on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1991 / 1992 and the founding
of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara
(MINURSO) have set in motion important processes. But so far, these
processes have not led to any solutions to the problems the
organisations set out to solve. The loss of biological diversity has
quickened its pace. International pharmaceutical and agro- corporations
threat the existence of people all around the world, and the UN
completely failed to decolonize Western Sahara. The former Spanish
colony is still one of 16 countries on the United Nations list of non-
self governing territories. Apart from St. Helena it is the last on the
African Continent.
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