At the 14th Oppenheimer Research Conference, the FEFA team had the opportunity to share the outcomes of their ambitious 5-year research program and reflect on the path forward. 

With the tagline: “Strong African voices informing just and sustainable pathways for Africa and the world”, the team demonstrated how contributions from a diverse range of practitioners with skills in futures thinking, carbon cycle modelling, biodiversity monitoring, and policy and implementation created collective impact. We highlighted some of our key outputs, including data platforms, decision-support tools, economic frameworks, and storytelling that captures African knowledge and priorities, and we showed how these outputs emerged from collaborative interactions with a range of actors.

The discussion traced FEFA’s pathway: foundational principles and values generate research, research creates tools, tools enable implementation, implementation informs policy, and policy strengthens African voices in global conservation dialogues. It’s an approach designed for coordinated impact at multiple scales.