A review and SWOC analysis of natural heritage tourism in sub-Saharan Africa

 By Chiedza N. Mutanga, Oluwatoyin D. Kolawole, Reniko Gondo & Joseph E. Mbaiwa

The article examines the condition of tourism centered around natural heritage in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and evaluates its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges (SWOC) in a corresponding manner. Data was gathered from secondary sources, and an inductive qualitative approach was employed for analysis. The results of the study indicate that a significant portion of the weaknesses in SSA pertains to financial limitation. The primary challenges affecting the sustainability of natural heritage encompass political instability, climate change, wildlife crime, and changes in land use. The paper concludes that while the region has several strengths and opportunities, there also exist several weaknesses and challenges, which negatively impact the sustainability of both the natural heritage legacy and tourism. 

Read more: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1743873X.2023.2255689

Call to submit abstracts - SciDataCon 2018 is now open until 31 May 2018 (extended from 30 April)

ORI Library submitted a session proposal (Session ID 210) to SciDataCon (The Scientific Conference addressing the frontiers of data in research) which has since been accepted. SciDataCon, which is an integral part of International Data Week (IDW), that will be held on 5-9 November 2018 in Gaborone. The theme of the week-long conference is The Digital Frontiers of Global Science. 

Session topic: Preservation of Personal Biodiversity Data Collections 

Session Type: Mixed Papers (research, practice papers and posters)

Session synopsis

Biodiversity data collections become more useful when such collection is available to support further research. The data “… remain embedded within a matrix of situational and summative information (Karasti et al., 2002)”, where their scientific value can be more readily evaluated, and the data better built upon with new observations. For this reason, natural history data should be preserved with links to descriptions of the conditions under which the data was obtained. These descriptions are often found in records made up of correspondences, field notebooks, reports, photographs and other grey literature.

Materials collected by a single scholar or natural history enthusiast – as opposed to those captured by institutions and projects - are attractive candidates for capture in electronic form because they promise a resource that is much more than the sum of its parts, a resource that reflects and, to some extent, recreates the knowledge of the collector and the context in which he or she worked.

Personal biodiversity collections, while common, are at high risk because they are often created informally and stored in conditions determined by the personal resources of the collectors. Their content can remain inaccessible to other researchers throughout the life of the owner, especially if the owner wishes to produce knowledge products based on the collected data, and can be lost upon the death of the collector.

Identifying such collections, recognizing and communicating their value, and negotiating their on-going preservation and use, should be considered essential activities in the role of memory institutions as data stewards.

Digitization projects that attempt to capture this rich combination of original materials and cultural context are resource -intensive exercises that require a high level of focus, dedication and know- how as well a significant investment in technology. While it is not necessarily difficult to obtain funding for this type of project , mainly because the work can be expressed as a project with a finite lifespan, it is a challenge to embed the work in a memory institution so that existing staff gain capacity without crippling current operations. Strategies to meet this challenge are needed.

This session intends to highlight the importance of preserving local personal collections of biodiversity data, and to discuss strategies and good practice in making their content and context available to support on-going research. Presenters will share experiences and case studies of rescued collections and those that are candidates for rescue, and successes and challenges in processing these collections.

Proposals are invited for the submission of abstracts by the deadline of Monday 30^th April 2018 at http//www.scidatacon.org/IDW2018/submit/.  

Abstracts are invited on the proposed subtopics below;

1.      Rescue of research data at risk

2.      Long term digital preservation of biodiversity collections

3.      Challenges associated with digitizing and preserving biodiversity data in developing countries

4.      Processing  biodiversity metadata for use by researchers

5.      Encouraging entities and individuals to share their biodiversity collections

For further information on the conference, refer to: 

https://www.scidatacon.org/conference/IDW2018/call_for_papers/https://www.scidatacon.org/conference/IDW2018/call_for_papers/

For more Clarification email: bthupe@ub.ac.bw; mboiditswe@ub.ac.bw; osuwe@ub.ac.bw

True bugs (Hemiptera-Heteroptera) of Botswana-Bibliographical inventory and new records

By  Andreas Kruger & Jurgen Deckert

Abstract

The knowledge of insect biodiversity of Botswana is far from perfect. By 2015, there were only inventories publicly avail­able for butterflies, dragonflies and grasshoppers. Here we report 331 species and subspecies of true bugs (Heteroptera), of which 242 records were extracted from scattered published literature and online sources, and 89 (27%) are new records for Botswana. These data significantly increase the number of insect species known from Botswana by roughly 30%.

First World Leaders’ Conservation Forum promotes peaceful co-existence with nature

The first World Leaders’ Conservation Forum that was held in the Republic of South Korea underscored the critical role of nature conservation in peace building and sustainable development. It called for bold leadership at the global and local levels to stop the devastating loss of biodiversity taking place today.

Under the theme Nature: a path to peace and coexistence, the Forum included technical Expert Sessions and a World Leaders’ Dialogue that covered a range of topics from the threats to biodiversity and co-existence between humans and wildlife to peace-building and sustainable development.

Hosted by the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of the Environment, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and IUCN, this inaugural event attracted more than 700 participants from 52 countries.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon sent a video message to Forum participants, commending the organisers for taking up these issues. Distinguished author and journalist Alan Weisman delivered an insightful keynote speech drawing on decades of research into human impacts on the environment, warning we were playing a game of “Russian roulette” with biodiversity.

“Human progress and nature conservation are complementary, and we must ensure that the two thrive together – not consume each other, said IUCN Director General Inger Andersen. “There are credible and accessible political, economic and technological approaches that can promote human welfare in ways that support – and even enhance – our natural planet’s assets. We have a limited window of opportunity to act, before it will be too late.”

The Republic of Korea Minister of Environment Yoon Seongkyu noted that for too long nature conservation was considered a constraint to economic development. “But when we connect nature conservation and economic growth, and engage them with each other, they become one strong and powerful mechanism that will lead us toward a better future for all.”

The Governor of Jeju Self-Governing Province Won Heeryong noted that while there is a growing awareness that human survival ultimately depends on healthy, resilient ecosystems, “we urgently need a new concept of environmental peace, where we live in harmony with nature.”

Read more: https://www.iucn.org/news_homepage/?21637/First-World-Leaders-Conservation-Forum-promotes-peaceful-co-existence-with-nature

Commercial agriculture and forestry could have a net positive impact on biodiversity – IUCN report

A new IUCN study examines, for the first time, how commercial agriculture and forestry production could reduce global biodiversity loss by applying innovative approaches already used by some companies in the extractive and infrastructure industries. 

The report, No Net Loss and Net Positive Impact: Approaches for Biodiversity, finds that under certain conditions, applying No Net Loss (NNL) and Net Positive Impact (NPI) approaches to agriculture and forestry landscapes associated with companies’ operations and supply chains could have a greater impact in reducing biodiversity loss than in other sectors.

According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™, agriculture impacts 8,482 threatened species globally, while forestry impacts 7,953 threatened species, compared to the infrastructure and extractive sectors, which impact up to 4,688 and 1,692 threatened species respectively.

Read more : http://www.iucn.org/news_homepage/?20232/npipressrelease16april2015final1doc