The African Network of Young Leaders for Peace and Sustainable Development (ANYL4PSD) is a platform based on the principles of voluntary service, solidarity, the common good and human dignity. The Mission is to focus on sources of inspiration and the potential of cultural, natural and human resources, including youth, to identify pathways for concrete actions to build peace, understood as the cornerstone of endogenous and sustainable development. The platform includes over 300 organizations and networks. It works across African countries.
The recent Living Planet Index for Migratory Freshwater Fish report found an average 76% global decline in monitored migratory fish populations since 1970. These declines are attributed to a combination of habitat loss, dam and hydropower construction, climate change and over-exploitation of populations.
As several communities around the world, ANYL4PSD celebrates for his first time the World Fish Migration Day this year. We raised awareness of the importance of migratory fish populations, and the threats they face during our various Leading the Change Regional webinars organized in May and September 2020 that gathered youth and civil society representatives coming from all African countries. We found out that the question of Fish migration is a new topic for young Africans, though many organizations are working in the areas of water, pollution and conservation. After the various workshops, we undertake with some member organizations a proximity community awareness campaign in some countries like Cameroun and Democratic Republic of Congo in coastal communities in Douala, in north Kivu and communities bordering the national park of Virunga targeting young people, women and elders with the aim to give public attention to this issue linking the message with water pollution that affect fishes.
The key message we highlighted is that the structure and functioning of the ecosystems results from the interactions and just reciprocal (retro action) between the organisms and the physico-chemical processes on the face of the earth. We explained them that a resource is a set of abiotic and biotic components of nature which serve as a means of existence for man. We drew their attention on the fact that as many nature resources that are important for human development, fishes are in danger (many are migrating) because of several causes as climate change and over fishery. This can affect the ecological balance and the survival of next generation. We invited them to multiply initiatives aiming at controlling the flow of fishery and conserving migratory and threatened fishes. We urged them also to fight against water pollution that has a negative impact on fishes and is one of the causes of their migration.
