Ep 45: Cyrie Sendashonga – The politics of protecting nature

To halt and reverse the terrible trends in nature loss and climate change requires collaboration at international levels. With every country coming to the table with its own interests and agenda, it is no small task to agree joint commitments that stand a chance of changing the global outlook. Thankfully, there are good people in the room equal to the challenge.

Among them is Dr Cyriaque Nikuze Sendashonga, who has worked in the policy and politics of biodiversity conservation for over forty years. She has had influential roles with the Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Environment Program, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, and more. In this wide-ranging conversation she explains how her deep Catholic faith has been a source of hope and helped her persevere, both in work and in withstanding the traumatic personal losses she has suffered along the way.