The CABES (Capacities on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) project aims to bring together government representatives, researchers and practitioners - incorporating indigenous and local knowledge. The project will support a total of 38 countries in West, Central and East Africa.
Dr. Jan Henning Sommer, senior scientist at ZEF and coordinator of the project consortium, which consists of seven universities and research institutions across Africa and Europe, says:
"This will build a network of platforms for implementing policy decisions for the management and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystem services for local people. In this way, the regions will develop a strong voice in future IPBES processes."
IPBES (Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) is an intergovernmental platform und the umbrella of the United Nations with currently 137 member states and a secretariat in Bonn. The platform aims to promote scientific evidence on biodiversity and ecosystem services in order to inform policy-making processes.
Another goal of the project is to train early career scientists as intermediaries at the science-policy interface. Together with local partners, master's degree programs are being established in Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia and the DRC. Students from as many of the 38 countries as possible in West, Central and East Africa are to participate and receive methodological and practical knowledge related to the IPBES work program.
ZEF Director Prof. Dr. Christian Borgemeister says:
"Thanks to ZEF's many years of experience with international projects in the field of research and the promotion of young researchers, as well as through the successful establishment of graduate schools in Africa, we are well connected in the region. The activities in CABES contribute to the University’s Transdisciplinary Research Area ‘Innovation and Technology for Sustainable Futures (TRA6)’ and - in addition - implement many key points of the new ZEF Strategy 2021-2030."
In addition to the very important substantive priorities of CABES, the project based at ZEF will contribute significantly to strengthening the international networking of the University of Bonn and further improving its international visibility. Prof. Dr. Birgit Ulrike Münch, Vice Rector for International Affairs at the University of Bonn, emphasizes:
"The new CABES project hits the core of the University's internationalization strategy, which aims to expand multilaterally active partnerships for research and teaching with a special regional focus on Africa."
The new master's programs will be affiliated with several local project partners. The partners are the African Center of Excellence on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Agriculture (CEA-CCBAD) at the Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny (UFHB) in Côte d'Ivoire, the Horn of Africa Regional Environment Center and Network (HoAREC) in Ethiopia, and the Faculty of Agronomic Sciences of the Université de Lubumbashi (FSA-UNILU) in the DRC.
In addition, prominent project partners contribute their particular expertise to achieve the various project objectives. These include the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre in Cambridge (WCMC) for the national platforms, the West African Science Service Center on Climate Change & Adapted Land Use (WASCAL) for the regional platforms, and the company CoKnow Consulting for innovative hybrid and digital teaching and learning formats.
