Virtual Meeting
Side Event
Africa Chapter
Developing Networks for Dynamic, Effective Conservation in Africa
Tue, July 27, 2021 (12:00 hrs UTC±00:00)
Africa chapter general meeting: the journey so far and our vision for the coming year
Networking workshop: Connecting Africa and networks in Africa to other networks in the world to create an international web of support where individuals and institutions within Africa can benefit from colleagues and institutions outside Africa
Kyle
Dexter
Kyle Dexter is an evolutionary ecologist working primarily on tropical trees. In this context, he and his students are usually trying to find ways to quantify the niche of tree species, making phylogenies for those trees, mapping the niches onto phylogenies and assessing how niches have evolved and changed over time. In terms of geobiology and palaeobiology, this is important, because it gives insights into past environments and the response of lineages to past environmental changes.
Edu
Effiom
Edu works as an Assistant Director REDD+, Biodiversity & sustainable forest Project Unit, where she regionally coordinate the REDD+ Program and the UNDP-GEF assisted Sustainable fuelwood management Project. Edu is a Research Associate with the Department of Biology, Lund University and a visiting Lecturer at the Department of Forestry, University of Agriculture Umudike and A. P. Leventis Ornithological Research Institute, University of Jos, Nigeria. She served as a Lead Author for IPBES (Intergovernmental Science-Policy platform on biodiversity and ecosystem services), Africa regional assessment from 2014-2017. She is a member in SCB, African Primatological Society, Ecological Society of Nigeria. Chair, ATBC Africa Chapter,(2016-till date), member, ATBC Chapter and capacity building Committees. Her main focus is on capacity building and policy influence through applied research leveraging on her over 10 years professional and managerial experiences. Her interest is in linking research-based sustainable forest management, biodiversity conservation, climate mitigation and adaptation with local, state and national green growth development policy that result in climate-friendly livelihoods-oriented development.
Moderators
Karina
Banda
PhD on tropical ecology and conservation, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
With experience in designing actions and tools for the conservation of Biodiversity in the tropics. Engaged in promoting cooperation between different national and international actors for the creation and development of scientific networks and their articulation with government entities in order to improve conservation-related baselines and decision-making.
Adriane Esquivel-Muelbert
Adriane Esquivel Muelbert investigates how forests respond to different global change forces and what the implications of these responses are on biodiversity and global biogeochemical cycles. Her work demonstrates the importance of drought tolerance in shaping diversity and composition across Neotropical tree communities and provides evidence that Amazonian forests are changing as a result of the increase in water stress and atmospheric CO2. More recently, she has focused on tree mortality and how tree death varies across large geographical scales.He has a PhD in Ecology at UFRJ, conducted partially at the University of Queensland and at the Australian National University. He has experience in landscape restoration and ecology, systematic spatial planning and capacity building. His aim is to inform, design and support environmental decision making by providing capacity exchange programs in systematic spatial planning and developing spatial optimisation planning tools for forest and landscape restoration.
Katharine
Abernethy
I received my PhD from the University of Edinburgh in 1994 on the introduction of Sika deer to Scotland. I went to Gabon in 1993 as a postdoctoral researcher and became Director of the Station d’Etudes des Gorilles et Chimpanzés (SEGC) in Lopé National Park, in 2000, a post I held until 2007. I spent several years studying ape ecology before pioneering research into the ecology of mandrills and supervising several PhDs on large mammal ecology and conservation. I then went on to establish many of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s activities in Lopé including the CEDAMM training centre, a community outreach project, an Eco-museum and a mandrill tourism project. I have influenced environmental policy through several high-profile projects, including The National Strategy for Bushmeat Management in Gabon. I am also a successful botanical artist and my work is widely published. I am now a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Stirling, a member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission and an Associate Researcher for the National Centre for Research in Science and Technology in Gabon (CENAREST). My article, 'Extent and ecological consequences of hunting in Central African rainforests in the twenty-first century' has been selected by F1000Prime as being of special significance in its field:
Christian
Amani
Christian Amani holds a PhD degree in Tropical forest ecology (Université Libre de Bruxelles – Belgium). After his PhD program he worked as a Scientist for the Center for international forestry research. He currently teaches Plant ecology and other related courses at the Biology Department, Université Officielle de Bukavu (D.R. Congo). He has a good knowledge of forest ecosystems in his home country, thanks to many years of data collection, both in the lowland forests (Central Congo Basin) and the mountain forests (Albertine Rift). Dr Amani also took part in other data collection campaigns in Africa: Usambara Mountains (Tanzania) and Lake Victoria basin. He is a member of the East African Plant Red List Authority (IUCN). He is a founding member of the Regional Network of Conservation Educators in the Albertine Rift (RNCEAR). Apart from his academic teachings, Dr Amani devotes a great deal of his time into understanding and mastering analytical tools; hence his interest in R and its various packages for biological and ecological data analyses. He is also involved in conservation activities, with a particular emphasis on habitat protection and restoration, as well as on vulnerable/threatened species and those with declining populations.
Panelists
Program
A. Assembly (Chapter) General meeting (AGM) - 2 hours
The chapter had its last AGM in 2019 in Madagascar; thus, it is timely and important for another one to bring all members and interested potential members together. During this meeting, the board will share the achievements of the chapter relative to its objectives, instill discussion among participants on the challenges they face to fully participate in ATBC, and seek ideas towards solutions and prospects for the coming years. This meeting will, therefore, start with a brief presentation by the board, followed by break-out sessions to discuss among small groups pertinent topics relevant for the advancement of the Chapter to achieve its mission and goals. We aim for deep interesting discussion; thus, breaking into smaller groups will keep the discussion dynamic and interactive.
B. Networking workshop (NWW) - 2 hours
Africa holds 40% of the tropical land surface. The sustainable management of this land will involve, among other things, knowledge sharing experiences facilitated by viable international and regional ecological and conservation networks. African researchers are sparsely represented in major international networks. In contrast, Latin American and Asian scientists have instigated and lead multiple international networks. This workshop will provide African colleagues the opportunity to obtain essential advice on developing their own networks and the opportunity to lead or contribute to broader networks that link scientists across the global South, Europe and N. America. Connecting to existing international networks and/or forming new ones between Africa and the world is a vital link to foster development in biological science and conservation in Africa.