African Conference for Linear Infrastructure & Ecology

18th September 2023 – 21st September 2023

The Third African Conference for Linear Infrastructure and Ecology (ACLIE), co-hosted by the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), Grevy’s Zebra Trust (GZT) and Ewaso Lions (EL) will be taking place on the 18 September 2023 – 22 September 2023.

ACLIE 2023 intends to foster and build on African cross-sectoral engagement and the exchange of solutions with a theme of Imagining the Future. With linear infrastructure development continuing apace on the African continent, we are heading towards a future for 1.4 billion people which assumes a net benefit for all.

There will be benefits, however, we have not fully calculated both the costs and benefits of our infrastructural plans and determined how they interact with other continental priorities such as poverty reduction, ecosystem restoration, agricultural productivity, biodiversity conservation, and climate change adaptation. We are left with a series of questions, not answers, but which prompt us to imagination, thought leadership and action as a cross-sectoral community of practice.

What do the unique scenarios for our future look like? Scenario building helps us to diverge to generate insight. Are we diverging enough in how we are thinking about the possibilities for progress? How are we employing our collective imagination to determine the future for ecosystems and linear infrastructure in Africa? What is the future of how we work together? What is the future of how we study infrastructure benefits and impacts? What is the future of how we teach at African universities about linear infrastructure and ecology? And so the questions continue…