IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature

Mafa Chipeta, Malawi

16 April 2012 | Article

EXPERIENCE TO BUILD ON: The IUCN election website shows my education and diverse career on which to build for IUCN work - forestry, agriculture and food security globally and in Africa, Asia and Europe. Documented outputs appear on many websites including: FAO, UNFF, CIFOR, IIASA, ILRI, UN ECA, African Union and even IUCN.

I have been a technician, manager, consultant, and UN diplomat (FAO representative to the African Union, to Uganda, Ethiopia).

I am at ease in diverse cultures – have had extended residence in Britain, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Italy, Malawi, Uganda and travel/missions in 50+ countries.

CONTRIBUTIONS IF ELECTED:

• Contextualise conservation: My candidature is driven by a desire to promote conservation within fuller sustainable development, especially in Africa which cannot sustain conservation if it does not also develop economically for security of jobs, incomes, food and energy;

• Culture: For conservation to synchronise with culture, culture must not be treated as fossilised and conservation should adapt to its evolution as societies pursue developmental aspirations;

• Knowledge and enlightenment: seek commitment to conservation by persuasion more than bullying; education rather than sloganeering; example alongside preaching; selling its benefits more than the dangers of failure;

• Pragmatism: with dispassionate analysis, consensus building, and sensitivity to the interests of the world’s most disadvantaged and marginalised, conservation messages can minimise dogma and achieve core objectives with pragmatism.

Contact: emchipeta@gmail.com  Tel: (+265) 991 317 321