Community representatives from a fishing village in southern Thailand have traveled to COP16 to urge developed nations to mobilize a biodiversity fund, hoping to empower indigenous people and local communities to scale up their conservation efforts.
In the bustling crowd of international visitors at the COP16 venue, Rungrueang Rahmanyah, a fisherman from a small community called Suan Kong on the fringe of the Gulf of Thailand, held a sign that read: ‘Keep your promise: $20 billion by 2025.’
“We need the funds to restore the sea in front of our homes. The fund will help us expand our conservation work and ensure our sustainable livelihoods,” he said.
Supported by Greenpeace, he traveled halfway around the world to observe government representatives discussing the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) – adopted by 196 countries in 2022 with 23 targets to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030.
This story was produced as part of the 2024 CBD COP16 Fellowship organized by Internews’ Earth Journalism Network. It was originally published by Mekong Eye on October 29, 2024.
Banner image: Rungrueang Rahmanyah, a fisherman from Thailand, at COP16 / Credit: Paritta Wangkiat.
Paritta Wangkiat
