Biodiversity provides ecosystem services, which are the basis for healthy ecosystems that support life. These services could either be supporting, provisioning, cultural, or regulating services, and they are crucial to sustainable development as they contribute, in one way or the other, to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Africa is a continent with rich biodiversity; it has a great number of endemic species and global natural resources; yet the continent is being threatened due to human activities including habitat loss, overexploitation of species, invasive species as well as disease, changing climate, and pollution. Africa is a rapidly urbanizing continent and projections suggest a significant population increase by the year 2050. This will further put pressure on the region’s biodiversity and natural resources, with great implications for the poorest and most vulnerable who depend directly on these resources. There is, therefore, the need to use Africa’s biodiversity sustainably to realize the long-term benefits that the ecosystem provides and to ensure its continuous benefits to future generations. The sustainable use of Africa’s biodiversity would involve putting the right institutional mechanisms (Government coordination structures, Stakeholder engagement, inputs, etc.) in place; policies governing biodiversity conservation would not only be developed but also strictly enforced. There is also a need to put the right mechanisms in place for the continuous data collection on the status of the continent’s biodiversity. This is necessary for appropriate stock-taking and to make informed decisions. There is a necessity for increased awareness about the importance of biodiversity at all levels and the bottom-up approach of community involvement in conservation should also be put in place. Finally, it is important to mainstream biodiversity across all sectors in each country. 

The Value of Biodiversity to Sustainable Development in Africa

Abstract Biodiversity is declining due to the impact of human activities. However, public awareness of the biodiversity crisis is low, particularly for plants, creating a barrier to engage with conservation programs. In this perspective, we show how citizen science and mobile apps can be used as educational tools to raise awareness about plant biodiversity among students and the general public. We examine the outcomes of three Bachelor of Science activities as well as two informal education initiatives. We discuss the potential of these approaches as educational and outreach tools. Our results show that citizen science and mobile apps are excellent tools for engaging society in biodiversity conservation and environmental issues. 

/pdf/rescuing-botany-using-citizen-science-and-mobile-apps-in-the-36t2svja.pdf

Rescuing Botany: using citizen-science and mobile apps in the classroom and beyond

Pristine freshwater ecosystems are becoming rarer globally, increasing the urgency of protecting sites of special conservation importance, particularly in regions where biological information is scarce. This short article describes how the aquatic macroinvertebrate-based Community Conservation Index (CCI) approach was used to assess the conservation value of three waterfall-dominated stream systems located in different vegetation zones of Nigeria. Samples were collected in the wet and dry seasons of 2020, showing that all three sites had very high conservation values (CCI > 20) in both time periods. The results provide a benchmark for similar evaluations in the region. The use of biological evaluations such as CCI can improve the way freshwater ecosystems are assessed in the Afrotropics, helping to identify streams that could become freshwater protected areas or Ramsar sites. 

Conservation evaluation of three Nigerian streams in different vegetation zones demonstrates why pristine freshwater ecosystems in the Afrotropics should be protected

In recent years, Nigeria is witnessing increasing frequency of flood occurrence with devastating impact translating into significant loss of lives (in Nigeria, over 300 people died in September 2022) and properties. Addressing flood disaster requires holistic approach from policy and governance perspectives, integration of policies and programs and synergies between institutions. Using synergies and eliminating trade-offs, flood governance and policy coherence integrate all relevant policy fields and institutions to achieve common policy outcomes. The objective of this study is to examine and understand how flood governance and policy coherence are approached, as well as institutional design and implementation for coherence in Nigeria. The findings revealed that there is no single flood policy in Nigeria. Due to this, there is no focus and no defined objectives for flood governance, prevention, control, and management, and no imperative for the government to seek both short-term and long-term flood solutions. There is no synergy and coordination among institutions for flood governance in the country. Since the country established the federal ministry of environment in 1999, the environment, floods, and climate-related hazards were given less priority. State and local governments handle most flood disasters and emergencies. Federal assistance is provided, however, when flood disasters exceed the capabilities of local and state governments. This study recommends that across the country, flood policy needs to be designed, formulated, and implemented while assigning governance responsibility and decentralizing policy to state and local governments.

/pdf/flood-policy-and-governance-a-pathway-for-policy-coherence-119ph7ju.pdf

Flood Policy and Governance: A Pathway for Policy Coherence in Nigeria

Awareness and involvement of local communities adjacent Kihansi catchment in conservation of the re-introduced Kihansi spray toads (Nectophrynoides asperginis)

The adoption of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets (ABTs) was supposed to increase conservation awareness in different countries and regions of the world. However, there seems to be a limited understanding of the importance of ecosystem services, offered by biological diversity. Thus, the continued decline in biodiversity, especially in developing countries. This study appraised the level of success of the first target of Nigeria’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP), which is hinged on the first ABT. In a national survey, data were obtained from a total of 1,124 respondents (839 professionals and 285 non-professionals), using a structured questionnaire. Information on the respondents’ knowledge of biodiversity conservation and the associated ecosystem services, were elicited. Most of the non-professionals had a low level of understanding of biodiversity concepts (4.9 ± 1.7 to 20.5 ± 3.4%), while there was a moderate level of understanding among the professionals (48.0 ± 8.6 to 88.8 ± 3.4%). Awareness of the NBSAP was low for both groups (43.8 ± 7.2% professionals and 12.1 ± 3.7% non-professionals). The study concludes that there is a need to step up campaigns on biodiversity conservation in Nigeria and promote visits to natural sites. Youth engagement through the employment of graduates of biology-related disciplines, to educate the public on biodiversity conservation and the action plan, could also be a strong determinant to the success of the NBSAP targets.

/pdf/assessing-awareness-on-biodiversity-conservation-among-40jte6lhgv.pdf

Assessing awareness on biodiversity conservation among Nigerians: the Aichi Biodiversity Target 1

Handle everyday research tasks with reliable, citation-backed results

Your personal Research Agent to handle research tasks with citation-backed results

Popular Tasks used by Researchers

How can I help with your research?

Meet SciSpace

Get more enhanced response by uploading the PDFs you want me to reference.

No relevant PDFs in your library

SciSpace is the AI research assistant for academics. Run systematic literature reviews on 280M+ papers, and write papers with cited sources. Trusted by 1M+ students, PhDs & researchers.

SciSpace | AI for Research

Analyze PDFs

Code & Manuscripts

Funding & Grants

Literature & Patents

Medical & Clinical Data

Systematic Review

Visualize & Present

Web & Data

Build a Google Scholar-like website for your research.

Build a website

Create charts and images for your research

Create a Chart

Write a paper for submission to a journal

Draft a manuscript

Patent Search

Design eye-catching scientific posters in minutes.

Scientific Poster Generation

Systematic Literature Review

One task is running at the moment. Your messages will be shown right after.

Drag and drop or click here to browse

Loved by <highlight>1 million+</highlight> researchers

Extract a list of specific topics and their sources from unstructured text

Topics

Compare and analyze relevant papers that matches with your search

Papers

Get insights from PDFs and bookmarked papers from your library

My library

Recent searches

Try searching for:

Catch AI-generated content in scholarly and non-scholarly content

{ai} Detector

Ai Writer

Get PDF Summaries, highlighted text explanations 

Chat with PDF

Effortlessly create in-text citations and bibliographies in APA and 2,500 other formats

Citation generator

Get explanations, summaries, and answers on academic papers

Ease up your research workflow with {scispace}'s cohort of exciting AI tools

Elevate your academic writing skills and convey your ideas the way you want

Paraphraser

Explore our range of reading and writing tools

Your file is being prepared and should be ready in a few minutes. If it's a large file, it might take a bit longer. You can close this window, and we'll email you the file when it's done.

You have reached a maximum limit of <strong>{limit}</strong> columns in the table. Remove at least <strong>1</strong> column to add or create another one.

Freeman E. Oluowo

Author Tools

Chat about Author

Papers

Assessing awareness on biodiversity conservation among Nigerians: the Aichi Biodiversity Target 1