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MILJØ2015-Norsk miljøforskning mot 2015

Sammenhengen mellom arealbruk, biodiversitet og økosystemfunksjon i Serengeti-Mara økosystemet

Awarded: NOK 0.50 mill.

In February 2015, the project «AfricanBioServices -Linking biodiversity, ecosystem functions and services in the Great Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem - drivers of change, causalities and sustainable management strategies», where Professor Eivin Røskaft, NTNU is the main coordinator, received almost 10 million EURO from EU Horizon 2020 (Program «Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials» (SC5-2014) and Subject «Biodiversity and ecosystem services: drivers of change and causalities» (SC5-06-2014)). The project consists of 7 work packages (WPs). The aim of the project «Sammenhengen mellom arealbruk, biodiversitet og økosystemfunksjon i Serengeti-Mara økosystemet» funded by the Research Council of Norway was to ensure an effective initiation and expansion of the EU projects WP2: "Modelling how population growth affects biodiversity and ecosystem function through land use changes and infrastructure development", with Professor Bente Graae, NTNU, as work package leader. Two specific activities were undertaken in the Research Council funded project: 1). WP2 is composed of two main components (tasks). WP2.1. will analyze land use development in the area, while WP2.2. will analyze the effects of different forms of land use on the area's biodiversity and ecosystems. Despite acknowledging that the socioeconomic, political and cultural processes in the surrounding area are crucial for land use in the study area, WP2.1 has less manpower than WP2.2. WP2.1 is in the project scheduled to be mainly operated from Kenya and with relatively few resources. The participants of WP 2.1 will use existing and new data to construct scenarios for land use in Kenya and Tanzania. Through the funds that were allocated from the Research Council, we extended this part of WP2.1 by connecting two Norwegian scientists to this task. Associate Professor Francesca Verones from NTNU and the Noragric professor from NMBU, Tor Arve Benjaminsen, were invited to support the project to strengthen the socio-economic research in WP2.1. The new partners will also act as a more effective liaison towards WP5 concerning natural resource use at the household level (coordinated from Denmark). By creating this supplement to the main project we will therefore strengthen both research in WP2.1 and the national network in the EU project. 2). Because of the status of the Serengeti-Mara region both as World Heritage Site and as source of income for the national economy in Tanzania and Kenya, analyzes of biodiversity is very important in the project. We will adopt a range of different surveys to estimate indicators for biodiversity which characterize healthy ecosystems. We will also investigate influence of land use on the soils, vegetation, grazing animals and predators. Collection of data will occur in carefully selected areas to cover variation in habitats and land use. The selection of areas requires careful planning and the extensive WP2.2 requires well-organized coordination among the more than 20 researchers involved from four countries. It was therefore an urgent need to prepare for project start and coordination from the Norwegian side, and select optimal areas of data collection in the Serengeti-Mara. Through the funds from the Research Council, Researcher Bård Stokke was employed for a month to a) build up an efficient organizational framework for work in WP2 before the EU project started on 1 September 2015, and b) organize two workshops in Tanzania for WP2 participants which was completed in 2015. In the period 8th to 12th June, 2015 a workshop was arranged in Serengeti, Tanzania, where 17 people (8 from Norway) participated. Most of these are participants of WP2.2, but WP-leaders from other work packages linked to WP2 also participated. The details surrounding area selection, logistics, methodology, economics and time schedules were discussed with Graae and Stokke as leaders. An internal document was prepared, summarizing the topics that was discussed at the workshop and present the recommended plans. The second workshop for participants of WP2.1 was held in Arusha, Tanzania 29th-30th of August 2015 and involved 25 members whereof 5 were from Norway. Similar themes as in the June workshop were discussed and plans were coordinated. The new Norwegian participants in the EU project (Verones and Benjaminsen) were introduced to the study area through a 3-day excursion to the Serengeti along with Graae during the days before the workshop. In October, Verones also participated in a 3 days workshop in Nairobi helping the mapping exercises These two workshops, as well as the inclusion of the new Norwegian project participants has been very successful and will lead to a more effective implementation of the EU project. The workshops helped networking between the various participants, and led to a good and constructive discussion and clarification of important aspects in connection with execution of AfricanBioServices.

EU-prosjektet AfricanBioServices koordineres fra NTNU og skal undersøke sammenhenger mellom menneskers bruk av naturressurser, biodiversitet og økosystemfunksjoner i Serengeti-Mara området i Tanzania og Kenya. Oppstartsdato er satt til 1. september 2015. Arbeidspakke 2 i prosjektet koordineres likeledes fra NTNU og involverer samarbeidspartnere fra NINA, Universiteter i Glasgow, Kenya og Tanzania. Denne arbeidspakken skal fokusere på sammenhengen mellom befolkningen rundt Serengeti-Mara og effektene av deres arealbruk på biodiversiteten og økosystemene i området. I dette forskningsrådsfinansierte prosjekt sikrer vi hurtig og effektiv igangsetting av EU-prosjektet og påbegynner nye samarbeid med norske samfunnsvitenskapelige forskere for bedre belysning av de sosioøkonomiske forhold knyttet til arealbruk og effekter på økosystemene. To spesifikke aktiviteter er planlagt 1) Arbeidspakke 2 har et meget bra team av biologer fra NTNU og NINA, men det er stort behov for å øke antallet av samfunnsvitenskapelige forskere i gruppen. Vi utvider det norske bidrag med to forskere fra NTNU og NMBU. Francesca Verones, fra NTNUs Industriell Økologi, som anvender mange av de samme metoder som våre kenyanske samarbeidspartnere i arbeidspakken, inviteres som ny samarbeidspartner fra NTNU. Noragric-forskeren fra NMBU, Tor Arve Benjaminsen, skal dessuten styrke forskningen i arbeidspakken innenfor politisk økologi. De nye partnerne vil også fungere som et mer effektivt bindeledd mot arbeidspakke 5 som tar for seg naturressursbruken på husholdsnivå (koordinert fra Danmark). 2) Arbeidspakke 2 har mer enn 20 forskere fra fire land. Det er viktig at samarbeidet koordineres effektivt fra første stund. Vi starter arbeidet med effektiv koordinering allerede nå med en workshop i Tanzania i juni 2015 før EU-prosjektet begynner. De 11 norske forskerne treffes, koordinerer arbeidet og velger ut undersøkelsesområder med de øvrige deltagere i arbeidspakke 2 i workshopen.

Funding scheme:

MILJØ2015-Norsk miljøforskning mot 2015