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Woody invasive alien species in East Africa: assessing and mitigating their negative impact on ecosystem services and rural livelihood

Applicant Schaffner Urs
Number 152085
Funding scheme r4d (Swiss Programme for Research on Global Issues for Development)
Research institution CABI
Institution of higher education Non-profit organisations (libraries, museums, foundations) and administration - NPO
Main discipline Ecology
Start/End 01.01.2015 - 31.12.2017
Approved amount 1'616'713.00
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All Disciplines (7)

Discipline
Ecology
Science of management
Environmental Research
Economics
Sociology
Psychology
Hydrology, Limnology, Glaciology

Keywords (7)

Woody invasive alien plant species; Biodiversity; Ecosystem services; Rural livelihoods; Integrated weed management; Sustainable land management; East Africa

Lay Summary (German)

Lead
Im 20. Jahrhundert wurden in vielen Regionen der Erde gebietsfremde Bäume und Sträucher angepflanzt, weil man sich von ihnen verschiedene Nutzen erhoffte (z.B. Brennholz, Erosionsschutz, Schatten). Heute gehören einige von ihnen weltweit zu den invasivsten Pflanzen und verursachen gravierende ökologische und sozio-ökonomische Probleme. Das Projekt untersucht die Auswirkungen invasiver Gehölzpflanzen in drei Regionen Ostafrikas und erarbeitet Lösungsansätze zur Bekämpfung negativer Auswirkungen.
Lay summary

Inhalt und Ziele des Forschungsprojekts

Ein zentraler Aspekt des Projektes besteht darin, den Einfluss invasiver Gehölzpflanzen  auf die Lebensgrundlagen und -bedingungen der Bevölkerung in den betroffenen Gebieten zu bestimmen. Dazu werden Feldstudien durchgeführt, um lokale Auswirkungen invasiver Bäume und Sträucher sowie die Wahrnehmung und Handlungsbereitschaft betroffener Akteure zu untersuchen. Parallel werden räumliche Verbreitungsmodelle erarbeitet, um das Ausmass und die potentiellen Kosten der Invasionsprozesse auf regionaler und nationaler Ebene zu erfassen. In einer zweiten Phase des Projektes werden Lösungsansätze erarbeitet und deren nachhaltige Umsetzung getestet.

 

Wissenschaftlicher und gesellschaftlicher Kontext des Forschungsprojekts

Das Projekt soll bei der Produktion von Systemwissen (Ausmass und Auswirkungen der Invasionsprozesse) und von Transformationswissen (Integration von Invasionsbekämpfung in lokale Ansätze zur nachhaltigen Ressourcennutzung) einen Beitrag leisten. Die Erkenntnisse werden dazu dienen, negative Auswirkungen invasiver Gehölzpflanzen auf Biodiversität und Ökosystem-Dienstleistungen zu vermindern und damit die Lebensbedingungen der ärmeren Menschen im ländlichen Raum Ostafrikas zu verbessern.

 
Direct link to Lay Summary Last update: 09.12.2014

Responsible applicant and co-applicants

Employees

Collaboration

Group / person Country
Types of collaboration
University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna Austria (Europe)
- in-depth/constructive exchanges on approaches, methods or results
- Research Infrastructure
- Exchange of personnel
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research South Africa (Africa)
- in-depth/constructive exchanges on approaches, methods or results
- Publication
Amani Nature Reserve Tanzania (Africa)
- in-depth/constructive exchanges on approaches, methods or results
- Research Infrastructure
Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research Ethiopia (Africa)
- in-depth/constructive exchanges on approaches, methods or results
- Publication
- Exchange of personnel
Amani Botanical Garden Tanzania (Africa)
- in-depth/constructive exchanges on approaches, methods or results
- Research Infrastructure
Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Ethiopia (Africa)
- in-depth/constructive exchanges on approaches, methods or results
University of Idaho, USA United States of America (North America)
- in-depth/constructive exchanges on approaches, methods or results
Tanzania Forest Conservation Group (TFCG) Tanzania (Africa)
- in-depth/constructive exchanges on approaches, methods or results
- Industry/business/other use-inspired collaboration

Scientific events

Active participation

Title Type of contribution Title of article or contribution Date Place Persons involved
Conference of the Northern Rockies Invasive Plants Council Talk given at a conference The Woody Weeds project 17.10.2016 Boise, United States of America Schaffner Urs;
Ecosystem Services Partnership Conference Poster Woody invasive alien species in East Africa: assessing and mitigating their impact on biodiversity, ecosystem services and rural livelihoods 12.11.2015 Stellenbosch, South Africa Linders Theo;


Self-organised

Title Date Place
Malaria and invasive plants workshop 02.12.2015 Naivasha, Kenya

Knowledge transfer events

Active participation

Title Type of contribution Date Place Persons involved
National Prosopis Management Strategy Launching Workshop Talk 28.01.2017 Adama, Ethiopia Alamirew Tena;
Management of Parthenium hysterophorus in Tanzania Talk 15.10.2016 Arusha, Tanzania Richard John;
Removing Barriers to Invasive Species Management in Production and Protection Forests in SE Asia Workshop 15.08.2016 Bogor, Indonesia Witt Arne;
World Bank Meeting Talk 01.05.2016 Washington, United States of America Witt Arne;


Self-organised

Title Date Place
Local stakeholder workshop 16.02.2017 Nakuru, Kenya
Local stakeholder workshop 07.06.2016 Adama, Ethiopia
Local stakeholder workshop 27.11.2015 Amani, Tanzania
International stakeholder workshop 02.06.2015 Nairobi, Kenya

Communication with the public

Communication Title Media Place Year
Media relations: radio, television meeting on invasive woody plants EBC1 (Ethiopian Broadcast Corporation Channel 1 for national coverage - Amharic version International 2016
Media relations: radio, television Short report on the stakeholder workshop in the daily news Oromia TV, Ethiopia International 2016
Media relations: print media, online media Invasive species in Amani Nature Reserve Two local newspapers (Mwananchi and Majira) in Tanzania, in Swahili language International 2015
Media relations: radio, television News Independent Television (ITV), Channel Ten, Tanzania International 2015
Media relations: radio, television The Woody Weeds project Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) TV, Tanzania International 2015
Media relations: radio, television Woody Weeds project Nation TV, Kenya International 2015

Awards

Title Year
The MSc thesis of Mr Anteneh Abebe, the MSc student of Prof. Lisanework Nigatu, was ranked first among all theses submitted in 2017 at the School of Natural Resources Management & Environmental Sciences, Haramaya University. He did not receive an endowment but was offered a permanent position at the University. 2017

Associated projects

Number Title Start Funding scheme
181710 Making multifunctionality work; integrating ecological data and stakeholder perception to map the effect of an invasive tree on landscape ecosystem multifunctionality 01.06.2019 Early Postdoc.Mobility
177588 Woody invasive alien species in East Africa: assessing and mitigating their negative impact on ecosystem services and rural livelihood 01.01.2018 r4d (Swiss Programme for Research on Global Issues for Development)

Abstract

Invasive alien species (IAS) are key drivers of human-caused global environmental change as they threaten biodiversity and ecosystem services (ES). Woody plant species were repeatedly introduced in areas outside their native range, because they can provide goods and services to the rural poor. Several of these woody species have escaped cultivation and invaded agricultural and natural ecosystems, where their negative impacts on ES and human well-being progressively exceed the benefits local actors can derive from them. The overarching goal of our project is to help mitigate the negative impacts of woody IAS on ecosystem services and human well-being in East Africa. To achieve this goal, our multi-disciplinary consortium will generate and avail knowledge on invasion processes and on context-dependent environmental and socio-economic impacts of woody IAS, elaborate innovative control measures and develop and document Sustainable Land Management strategies that mitigate the negative impacts of woody IAS in East Africa.
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