Gabon’s Minister of Environment, Oceans and Forests, Prof. Lee White, is a very rare species. He’s a conservationist who was born in Britain and had never held a political post before agreeing to serve in President Ali Bongo Ondimba’s cabinet 18 months ago. Here talks to Marcus about his government’s plans to build a forestry industry that can supply up to 300,000 jobs in the next decade, bringing hope for a long term viable economy given that Gabon still heavily depends on oil - an industry which he believes revenues are likely to crash in the next 20 years.
Prof White speaks also about the international effort that is needed to address the issues surrounding wildlife consumption and deadly diseases in response to the Covid 19 Pandemic. He highlights flaws in responses to previous pandemics, such as Ebola, where the prevention of consumption of monkeys had only a short lived impact. He argues there needs to be long term solutions to the way humans interact with nature. His insights are both fascinating and revealing
