CAB/LEG/24.1 Page 1 AFRICAN CONVENTION ON THE CONSERVATION OF NATURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES PREAMBLE We the Heads of State and Government of Independent African States, FULLY CONSCIOUS that soil, water, flora and faunal resources constitute a capital of vital importance to mankind; CONFIRMING, as we accepted upon declaring our adherence to the Charter of the Organization of African Unity, that we know that it is our duty “to harness the natural and human resources of our continent for the total advancement of our peoples in spheres of human endeavour”; FULLY CONSCIOUS of the ever-growing importance of natural resources from an economic, nutritional, scientific, educational, cultural and aesthetic point of view; CONSCIOUS of the dangers which threaten some of these irreplaceable assets; ACCEPTING that the utilization of the natural resources must aim at satisfying the needs of man according to the carrying capacity of the environment; DESIROUS of undertaking individual and joint action for the conservation, utilization and development of these assets by establishing and maintaining their rational utilization for the present and future welfare of mankind; CONVINCED that one of the most appropriate means of achieving this end is to bring into force a convention; HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS: Article I The contracting States hereby establish an AFRICAN CONVENTION ON THE CONSERVATION OF NATURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES.