Biodiversity
The global biodiversity crisis is linked to sustainable development in many ways. Biodiversity and functional ecosystems do not only have a high intrinsic value, but nature also provides indispensable ecosystem services to support human livelihood. A large proportion of the global human population depends directly or indirectly on healthy ecosystems, and minimizing trade-offs between biodiversity conservation and human development is thus one of the major challenges ahead.
To address these challenges, science-policy-practice interfaces bodies such as IPBES play a crucial role as they help translate scientific evidence into policy options. At ZEF, several research projects and doctoral theses focus on the interconnectedness between biodiversity and sustainable human development, such as WABES, LANUSYNCON and AFAS. All these initiatives strive for the valuation and higher recognition of biodiversity and endorse the importance of implementing measures for its conservation as a precondition for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Red-billed Oxpecker on horseback in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. ZEF’s research in West, East and South Africa includes biodiversity and nature conservation.
Tea plantation in Kenya. Several ZEF research projects focus on the interconnectedness between biodiversity and sustainable human development.
Cocoa plantation in Ecuador. The global biodiversity crisis is linked to sustainable development in many ways.
ZEF Projects related to "Biodiversity"
AFAS - African Climate and Environment Center - Future African Savannas
AFS-TRP - Agrifood Systems-Transformative Research and Policy Guidance
ArboEmerge - The consequences of biodiversity loss and land use change on infectious disease emergence
BioClimSocial - The Social Dimension of Research and Implementation of Nature-based solutions: Utilising Synergies for Biodiversity and Climate
CABES - Capacity Development for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Experts in Africa
Climate-sensitive nutrients, undernutrition and malaria
Future roads: Assessing the political and socioeconomic drivers of road investments as well as the socioecological impacts due to road development in Kenya and Namibia
HealthyDiets4Africa – Combating malnutrition in Africa through diversification of the food system
Iakumama 2050: Imagining 'Environmental Peace' through Transdisciplinary Encounters in the Colombian Amazon
LANUSYNCON - At the Science Policy Interface: LANd Use SYNergies and CONflicts within the framework of the 2030 Agenda
Malabo Montpellier Panel
RAINFOREST - Coproduced transformative knowledge to accelerate change for biodiversity