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:
icipe's human health research focuses on anopheline mosquitoes, which transmit the malaria parasite. Malaria is the tropics' most serious infectious disease, affecting more than 500 million people yearly, 3 million of whom die from the disease. Its effective and sustainable control in most parts of the tropics cannot be realistically accomplished without new tools and approaches for fighting both the parasites and the mosquito vectors.
Vector control and treatment methods previously effective in controlling malaria are now largely ineffective due to the growing prevalence of insecticide-resistant mosquitoes and drug-resistant parasites. Resistance to anti-malarials is emerging and spreading faster than new drugs are being developed and deployed. Thus, there is need for the development of new control methods that can supplement the mosquito-killing measures that currently target mainly the adult insects.
