The cocoons of wild Gonometa spp., that this little girl is marvelling over, have transformed the livelihoods of communities, and provide an incentive to protect the endangered forests of East Africa.
Human activities such as agricultural production and establishment of settlements have reduced the natural environment and its biodiversity. Ninety percent of the land surface has been disturbed to some extent and 5% is burnt annually. An annual reduction of this magnitude translates into about 0.5% loss in species. Adequate protection of the most critical areas of biodiversity would ensure the survival of a wide variety of flora and fauna. icipe has reached these conclusions by analysis of information on species distribution in Africa.
Objective
icipe's environmental health research focuses on conserving threatened habitats and species through education and sustainable utilisation.
Approach
The Centre has several research and training activities that deal with inventorying, conservation and utilisation of biodiversity. Environmental health activities started with the silk and beekeeping projects and have now been extended to include the environmental impact of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), the contribution of arthropods to ecosystem services, ranging from soil biota to pollinators, and bioprospecting for medicinal plants and other income-generating products for insect control and other uses.
Environmental health research has an active programme of education and outreach related to practical biodiversity, including farmers' courses and postgraduate training programmes in collaboration with several universities in Africa and other parts of the world. Activities focus on four areas of research:
Environmental sustainability, a prerequisite to social and economic development, is a concept that icipe has wholly embraced since its founding 37 years ago.
In tropical Africa, the main roadblock to environmental conservation is poverty. Most farmers in the continent are too poor to rejuvenate the soil with nutrients or allow a fallow period. In other cases they are forced to over-harvest forests and natural vegetation for income, thereby over-stretching demands on the environment and consequently disrupting nature's regenerative potential. Removing people's reliance on the forest by engaging them in commercially viable projects, such as sericulture and apiculture and cultivation of medicinal plants, is one of icipe's latest ventures.
