I was born in the north of the Republic of Congo, in the equatorial forest. From childhood I was in contact with biodiversity and grew up taking advantage of several ecosystem services. As I grew up, I realised that biodiversity is vulnerable and that human activities reduce its capacity to provide ecosystem services. Faced with this emergency, I could not remain a spectator but wanted to be an active participant in addressing it. I chose to pursue environmental studies to better understand, love and preserve nature.
The Congo basin contains 10 per cent of the world’s biodiversity and my country a good part of this, with its national parks, biodiversity reserves, sanctuaries and hunting reserves. Understanding and sustainably managing this biodiversity requires experts. However, the Republic of Congo does not have enough. This pushes me to join this Master’s degree: to contribute to IPBES and make the voice of my country and my sub-region heard internationally regarding the ecosystem services provided by our forests and our biodiversity.
My career goals are to be an environmental consultant, expert in biodiversity and ecosystem services, and specialist in sustainable ecosystem management. By participating in this program, I will be well-equipped to actively contribute to the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable management of natural resources and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa in general and in my country in particular, as well as internationally through IPBES.
