COORDINATING COMMITTEE | contacts
Chair Dr
Samuel Kyamanywa, c/o Dr Herbert A. L. Talwana,
Uganda;
Dr Ghebrehiwet Medhanie, Eritrea;
Dr Emily Wabuyele, Kenya;
Dr Wanja Kinuthia, Kenya;
Dr Afihini Ijani, Tanzania;
Dr Mwatima Juma, Zanzibar.
Status Formally endorsed by five governments, 1998.
Member countries 5: Eritrea, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and
Zanzibar; subject to endorsement 1: Ethiopia.
Context There are important
national biological collections in the east African region. The
largest biological collections are at the National Museums of Kenya.
The collections need support for curatorial, expansion, maintenance
and proper databasing, which will promote accessibility and sharing
of specimens and information and collaboration. The taxonomic
impediment is exacerbated by lack of local taxonomic expertise,
access to adequate literature and connection to the Internet. The establishment of a national and subregional network supported by international cooperation is an effective means to reinforce taxonomic capacities and assist with the in situ protection of the ecosystems and the ex situ conservation of biological and genetic resources.
Goals and Priorioties
- Training of taxonomists and
parataxonomists.
- Development of new technologies e.g.
electronic specimen identification tools.
- Supporting member country institutions to
strengthen and develop appropriate databases.
- Rehabilitation of existing collections
and records including expedition collections.
- Preservation of indigenous taxonomic
expertise and strengthening its links with scientific taxonomy.
- Development and enhancement of information and communication flow.
Current Activities
- Development and implementation of the
BOZONET GEF project.
- Implementing the GEF PDF-B project on
"Conservation and Management of Pollinators for Sustainable
Agriculture, Through an Ecosystem Approach".
- Implementing the BIOTA-East project.
- Organizing training in Lucid electronic key building software.
Recent Achievements
- National needs assessments have been
conducted and used to define taxonomy capacity building
priorities.
- Fellowships have been used to provide
capacity building for taxonomists and parataxonomists in modern
curation techniques, in South-South and North-South collaboration.
- Co-organiser of the first East African DNA barcode meeting.
- The National Museums of Kenya is a key advisory research institution for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES); a key player in plant conservation e.g the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC); a member of the IUCN Task Force on Pollinators; and the focal point for GTI and CBD.
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