technology in conservation
6 April 2006
Over 120 biodiversity scientists from across the globe including academics,
experts and students, met in Cape Town yesterday, for a two-day Science
Symposium, which is organised by the Department of Science and Technology (DST)
in conjunction with the Copenhagen-based Global Biodiversity Information
Facility (GBIF).
South Africa is the first African country to host this Symposium since its
inception four years ago. This pays tribute to the countryâs vast biodiversity
wealth and its technological research contributions towards the globally
sustainable use of natural resources.
The annual Science Symposium forms part of the GBIFâs ongoing global efforts
to find ways of slowing down and eventually curbing the loss of biodiversity
through long-term conservation and the sustainable use of biological
biodiversity.
In his first public engagement as the new Director-General of the DST, Dr
Philemon Mjwara, highlighted the importance of a knowledge-based economy in
achieving economic growth: âWhen you have a knowledge-based economy coupled
with natural resource stocks, many developing countries can find themselves
riding a huge and dynamic wave of economic growth. Globally, biodiversity
already provides an ever-increasing portion of wealth derived from the natural
resource-base.â
The Symposium explored in detail a number of ways towards better conserving
the ecosystem as well as enhancing countries abilities to access and share
biodiversity data through international science facilities such as the GBIF. In
line with this, the following issues were discussed:
* The role of GBIF in projecting and monitoring climate change impacts on
terrestrial biodiversity;
* Efforts towards developing and implementing a global strategy for
conservation;
* Biodiversity conservation and sustainable rural livelihoods in marginal
environments;
* Biodiversity data acquisition and assessment; as well as
* The potential role for GBIF in developing management policies in African
national parks.
GBIF is an international, mega-science facility that aims at making the
worldâs biodiversity data freely available on the Internet through
international collaboration with more than 75 countries. South Africa became
the only African voting participant of the GBIF in 2003 and established the
South African Biodiversity Information Facility (SABIF) in 2005 as the national
node to this international network and biodiversity inventory.
These data provide the scientific underpinnings for decision-making about
the placement of wildlife reserves and national parks, the management of
forests and offshore resources, the handling of watersheds and other
biodiversity-rich environments, amongst other things.
South Africa is ranked as the third most biologically diverse country in the
world, containing between 250 000 and 1 000 000 species of organisms much of
which occur nowhere else in the world. While South Africa occupies about two
percent of the worldâs land area, it is estimated that the country is home to
10% of the worldâs plants and seven percent of the reptiles, birds and mammals.
The Southern African coast is home to almost 15% of known coastal marine
species, providing a rich source of nutrition and supporting livelihoods of
coastal communities.
Three globally recognised biodiversity hotspots include the Cape Floristic
Region, which falls entirely within South African boundaries; the Succulent
Karoo, which South African shares with Namibia; and Maputaland-Pondoland which
South Africa share with Mozambique and Swaziland.
The Science Symposium continues today at the BMW Convention Centre at the
Cape Town Waterfront at 10H30.
All media is invited to attend.
Enquiries:
Kristin Klose
Director Communication
Cell: 082 902 9503
E-mail: kristin.klose@dst.gov.za
Nthabi Maoela
Deputy Director Communication
Cell: 073 648 2876
E-mail: nthabiseng.maoela@dst.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Science and Technology
6 April 2006
