Africa Biodiversity Network (ABN) Visit to FinlandSHALIN Suomi ry4 min 46 sec - May 4, 2006In summary when culture is mentioned in Africa, it is often to do with tourists, five star hotels and a troupe of dancers performing for a select individuals, as it were, culture in a bottle. But, when African Biodiversity Network (part of the Global Alliance on Community Ecological Governance) talks of culture, the image of culture that emerges is of people, ancestry, rights, pride and ecological integrity. ABN visited Finland in April 2006 as part of their European tour, and I had the pleasure of joining them in their presentations starting from the Siemenpuu Foundation offices, in meeting the President of Saami Parliament in Finland, to KEPA (Service Centre for Finnish Development Cooperation) through to the Finnish Foreign Ministry (FORMIN).