Transcript PROTA Presentation
www.prota.org
PEOPLE AND PLANTS
PLANT RESOURCES OF TROPICAL AFRICA
• • Tropical Africa houses one of the remaining complexes of tropical plant diversity • World major regions of plant diversity include: – Humid forest zone of West and Central Africa – Ethiopian Highlands – Sahelian transition zone • 30,000 higher plants recorded • 16,500 endemic species
About 8,000 have documented uses
PLANTS AND PEOPLE
• 44% of Subsaharan Africa’s 800 million population earn less than a dollar a day • Poverty is more pervasive in rural areas where 75% of the poor live • Poor people’s dependence on plant resources is immediate • Plants provide life supporting goods (food, fuel, fodder, medicines, wood, etc) • Also income, employment and services
INFORMATION AS TOOL FOR DEVELOPMENT
• FAO estimates the annual forest cover loss at 5.2 million ha • This has profound influence on the livelihood of the poor •
Key to development is knowledge and informed people
• Relevant up-to-date information is essential for decision-making • Improved access to information on plant resources would improve earning opportunities for the poor
ENHANCING ACCESS TO INFORMATION
The major problem facing information seekers is the location of information sources corresponding to their needs
PROTA Mission
Synthesis of the dispersed information on the approx. 7,000 useful plants of Tropical Africa and wide access to the synthesis (Webdatabase / Books / CD-ROMs / Special Products / Small Projects).
INFORMATION NEEDS
Botanical name Protologue Family Chromosome number Synonyms Vernacular names Origin and geographic distribution (map) Uses Production and international trade Properties Adulterations and substitutes Botany Description (line drawing) Other botanical information Anatomy Growth and development Ecology Management Propagation and planting In vitro production active compounds Management Diseases and pests Harvesting Yield Handling after harvest Genetic resources and breeding Genetic resources Breeding Prospects Major references Other references Sources of illustration
FORMAT OF DATA
• Fields organized in a standard format • Data encapsulated in a readable text • No systematic effort to standardize terminology • Many disciplines involved: human diseases, plant pests and diseases, chemical compounds...
• Translation into French helps promoting standardization • Search by free text possible, but no complex queries possible
DATA FOR CLOSED FIELDS
• uses • geographic distribution • chemical compounds • nutritional value • wood anatomy • yield • pests and diseases
Species per commodity group
Number of species PU SU ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Cereals and pulses / Céréales et légumes secs (completed) 80 (155) 2. Vegetables / Légumes (completed) 397 (396) 3. Dyes and tannins / Colorants et tanins (completed) 129 (386) 4. Ornamentals / Plantes ornementales 5. Forages / Plantes fourragères 533 (395) 611 (715) 6. Fruits / Fruits 477 7. Timbers / Bois d’œuvre (502) (in progress) 820 (604) 8. Carbohydrates / Sucres et amidons 176 (154) 9. Auxiliary plants / Plantes auxiliaires 220 (491) 10. Fuel plants / Bois de feu 104 (448) 11. Medicinal plants / Plantes médicinales (in progress) 1975 (2074) 12. Spices and condiments / Epices et condiments 130 (242) 13. Essential oils and exudates / Huiles essentielles et exsudats 240 (315) 14. Vegetable oils / Oléagineux (completed) 54 (181) 15. Stimulants / Plantes stimulantes 16. Fibres / Plantes à fibres (in progress) 53 (138) 377 -- Miscellaneous uses / Usages divers - (658) (890) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6376 (8744)
PREPARATORY PHASE 2000-2003
• Identification of core partners • Establishment of Regional / Country / Network Offices • Compilation of ‘Basic list of species’ • Commodity grouping (16) • Prototype of the information system (Precursor) • International consensus (First PROTA International Workshop in 2002)
FIRST IMPLEMENTATION PHASE 2003-2007
Target of the knowledge synthesis: • 3,500 species in 8 Commodity groups Achievements so far: • 3 Commodity groups completed PROTA 1: Cereals and pulses (82 species) PROTA 2: Vegetables (356 species) PROTA 3: Dyes and tannins (116 species) • 3 Commodity groups under preparation PROTA 7: Timbers - 1 (c. 900 species) PROTA 11: Medicinal plants - 1 (c. 2,200 species) PROTA 14: Vegetable oils (c. 60 species)
Books
Synthesis Webdatabase www.prota.org
Special products CD-ROMs Small projects
PROTABASE (www.prota.org) • 4,000 articles (now1,200) • 7,000 species • Standard format (Eng/French) • 1,300 drawings • 6,500 photographs • 1,300 distribution maps
2004
2005
2006
SUPPORTING DATABASES
* WORLDREFS: * AFRIREFS: * EXPERTISE: * IMAGEFILE: * TGA: * BASELIST: * SPECIESLIST: 389,000 records 18,600 records 1,150 records 1,560 records 710 records 6,400 records 7,800 records
CORE OUTPUT & TARGET GROUPS
Farmers Forest Communities Cottage Entrepreneurs Private Sector Rural Development (extension) Research Systems PROTA Core Output (Webdatabase/ CD-ROMs/ Books) Vocational Training Policy-makers Higher Education
SPECIAL OUTPUT & TARGET GROUPS
Farmers Forest Communities Cottage Entrepreneurs Private Sector Research Systems Rural Development (extension) development gaps research gaps conservation needs conservation needs policy measures PROTA Special Output thesis subjects ‘candidate’ technologies ‘candidate’ technologies Vocational Training Policy-makers Higher Education
SECOND IMPLEMENTATION PHASE 2008-2012
Targets
• Completion of an additional 50% of the Databank (3,500 species in 8 commodity groups among which the medicinal plants, the timbers, the fruits and the fuel plants.
• Staff training to strengthen the network: the African nodes and contact persons developing into focal points for plant resources information.
• Wide access of the target groups to the core output in electronic and printed forms (webdatabase, books, CDs).
• Making specific recommendations regarding these commodity groups to the target groups for realizing impact on end-users (special products).
• Commissioning small projects on promising species and technologies for direct impact on end-users.
AFRICAN UNION
(NEPAD / FARA)
‘Natural resources management’ is quite prominent as focal sector at the regional and pan-African level (Africa’s S & T Consolidated Plan of Action; Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Plan; regional plans under the EDF).
PROTA’s knowledge synthesis on the 8,000 useful plants of the whole of tropical Africa constitutes a sound basis for these regional and pan-African programmes.
CBD / GSPC
PROTA’s knowledge synthesis, with ample attention for the conservation status of the African useful plants, affirms commitment to the implementation of the CBD. By documenting plant diversity, PROTA makes a substantial contribution to the 16 targets of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC).
MDG
Through its impact on food production, nutrition, health, and enhancement of income, it is a pillar for the realization of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) in tropical Africa.
WUR RBGKEW AGRO POLIS Board of Trustees/Executive Board MU NHBGM PBZT CENA REST FORIG CNSF ICRAF PROSEA Wageningen University Netherlands Network Office Europe WUR-Node at ICRAF Kenya Network Office Africa RBG KEW AGRO POLIS Global Network of Editors and Authors MU Uganda NHBGM Malawi PBZT Madagascar CENAREST Gabon FORIG Ghana CNSF Burkina Faso C.O.
United Kingdom C.O.
France R.O.
East Africa R.O.
Southern Africa R.O.
Indian Ocean Islands R.O.
Central Africa R.O.
West Africa anglophone R.O.
West Africa francophone Sudan Eritrea Ethiopia Djibouti Somalia Kenya Uganda Tanzania Malawi Zambia Angola Namibia Botswana Zimbabwe Mozambique Comoros Mayotte (Fr) Madagascar Seychelles Réunion (Fr) Mauritius São Tomé & Principe Cameroon Chad Centr.Afr.Rep.
Equat. Guinea Gabon Congo DR Congo Rwanda Burundi Cape Verde Gambia Guinea Bissau Sierra Leone Liberia Ghana Nigeria Mauritania Senegal Guinea Côte d’Ivoire Mali Burkina Faso Togo Benin Niger
PROLAC?
?
11,000
Copyright©EUMETSAT2003