Abstract

The sustainable use of biodiversity is a major concern in West and Central Africa, threatened as it is by climate change and human activity. Indeed, human activity is having increasingly adverse effects as a result of rising poverty in rural, periurban and even urban zones. Most countries in West and Central Africa have ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention to Combat Desertification. Nonetheless, certain observers have the impression that these are just for show or to satisfy the requirements imposed by external donors. This grant will support a workshop with the general objective of promoting plans and programs for the sustainable use of biodiversity in the local community culture of West and Central Africa. It is hoped that such plans and programs will integrate the good cultural practices that have enabled generations of Africans to conserve the biodiversity of their land.

Recipient Institution(s)