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Botswana youth participate at the UN conference in Mexico

When you’ve been airborne for the first time and for 14hrs and 35mins over the Atlantic Ocean from OR Tambo international airport in Johannesburg, South Africa to JF Kennedy International Airport in New York, flying for 2hrs and 59mins over the East coast of North America, the Caribbean Islands and the Gulf of Mexico Gulf feels like a bonus. By day two of our my stay I was still having a hard time getting used to the hectic schedule of the 13th meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP13) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the security checks at the entrance of the gigantic venue of the conference facilitated by the ever serious UN Police, followed by a brief meeting with all other Global Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN) youth delegates from all over the world. Then the hectic task of following negotiations in working groups and contact groups as well as being captivated by exciting and long envy-stricken conversation at the end of the day over Mexican wine and Margaritas (the name of a famous Mexican cocktail, I was told) with some of the fellow delegates who seemed to have been doing more to halt the loss of Biodiversity than me. So to fly for such a long time and for the first time was really quite something. Then, to find myself, two days later, meeting the delegation from Botswana, two fellow youth delegates from the Youth Forum for Human and Wildlife that was Johannesburg 2 months ago. And then a further day meeting the International Fund Animal Welfare staff made my first CBD COP, in my hotel roommate’s words from India, Barath the “the trip of a life” And not even mentioning the beach and the amazing Mexican delicacies… Before the CBD COP13 I had just started working on an awareness campaign in my University on the key importance of pollinators. By coincidence, pollinators at the COP had made it to the list of the hottest topics amongst the protocols on Bio-Safety and Access and Benefit Sharing. Pollinators strongly influence ecological relationships, ecosystem conservation and stability, genetic variation in the plant community, floral diversity, specialization and evolution. Many species of plants and animals would not survive if pollinators were missing. This is because the production of seeds, nuts, berries and fruits are highly dependent on insect pollination, and among the pollinating insects, bees are the major pollinators. In rain forests, especially in high mountain forests where it is too cold for most bees, other pollinators like bats and birds play a greater role in plant pollination. The Conference being hosted by the Government of the United Mexican States and organized by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, administered by the United Nations Environment Programme, in Cancun, Mexico involved such an astutely escalating programme of heated discussions and exciting developments to the protocols. I was tempted to think the secretariat had orchestrated the ever-better developments. This conference theme was “Mainstreaming Biodiversity for wellbeing” which means integrating biodiversity concerns and policies into strategies and planning process in all other sectors such as finance, mining, fisheries, etc. During the two weeks of my stay I was moving to and from two places. First it was Hotel Margaritas and then secondly the Moon Palace Spa and Resort. Hotel Margaritas is located in the heart of Cancun (I was told it means nest of snakes), a decent Bed and Breakfast with a spellbinding color theme that makes you feel welcomed. There was also a small Taco Restaurant nearby were we would go to whenever we came back from the Conference Venue, the Moon Palace, apparently the Biggest Spa and Resort in Latin America and surely the most beautiful I have ever seen, with light traffic it is approximately 40 minutes away from our hotel and the beach that was just a stone throw away. When I finally decided to go to the beach on the fourth day I fought tooth and nail and dismissed the yearning to take a swim even though the heat in Cancun was unbearable. I rather took one of the smart bikes and rode it to the very end of the resort, as I rode I couldn’t help it but notice how enormous the resort was, it stretches for about 3 kilometers along the coastline, I also felt so alive when the cool breeze from the ocean kissed my neck. I couldn’t get enough of the beautiful beach and the magnificent resort. most of my free time was spent riding the bike around the magnificent resort and along the spectacular Mangrove forest and astounding beach. After I was content with my explorations I joined other delegates, we then danced to songs from all around the world and enjoyed the spectacular sunset and the full moon shining over the ocean waves which seemingly increased as the night went by. But the second week I met two young ladies from Cancun they were delighted to help Gerrit (a delegated from Germany) and I with getting comments about Egypt hosting the next CBD COP in 2018. We then took selfies which then led to an interesting conversation about Egypt’s biodiversity. At the closing plenary meeting I had the chance to appreciate how vital it is to involve the youth in policy making not only because the youth bring in creative ideas and they are the future decision makers but also because most delegates expressed their gratitude to us for the inspiration we gave them through our efforts and interventions. At an amazing farewell dinner whilst I was waiting for my order of 5 different tacos, I had a jealous conversation with a delegate from El-Salvador who had been to Island Mujeres and was snorkeling. After a great dinner a small group of us decided to explore Cancun on our way to the hotel, we passed an amusement park teeming with locals. It was long before we all started dancing again but this time was it was to Mariachi, Mexican traditional music. We danced across a few restaurants were locals were happy to watch a group of crazy youth enjoying themselves. The next day was low-spirited since we all had to say goodbye to each and I had to make yet another 2 days of flying back to Africa. I was seduced and besotted by Mexico-the people, the language the spectacular nature, the sumptuous places I stayed at. And I am game to return.