Project Summary
Countries: Ethiopia, Guinea, Sierra Leone
Delivery Partner: Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
Project Partners:
Ethiopia: Addis Ababa University, Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute;
Guinea: Herbier National du Guinee, Guinee Ecologie, Institut de Recherche Agronomique du Guinea, Centre Forestier Nzerekore;
Sierra Leone: Njala University;
Principal Investigator:
James Borrell (Phase 2): Research Leader at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
Carolina Tovar (Phase 2): Research Leader at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
Iain Darbyshire (Phase 1): Research Leader at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
Olwen Grace (Phase 1): Honorary Research Associate at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
Contact:
James Borrell: J.Borrell@kew.org
Carolina Tovar: c.tovar@kew.org
Iain Darbyshire: I.Darbyshire@kew.org
Olwen Grace: o.grace@kew.org
Challenge
More than 31,000 useful plant species have historically been documented to fulfil needs and services for humans, yet today in our food systems, we derive >50% of calories from just three crops, rice, wheat and maize. Sustainable exploitation of the diverse library of underutilized species and bioresources – including timber, medicines and valuable chemicals – represents an untapped opportunity to alleviate poverty, develop value chains, and tackle food insecurity, whilst being underpinned by nature conservation. These nature-based opportunities lie predominantly in tropical high-biodiversity countries and offer significant climate alleviation and biodiversity co-benefits. This project seeks to accelerate Kew’s efforts to identify and characterise high-value plant biodiversity hotspots, in three strategic tropical high-biodiversity countries, and pathways to develop bioresources within them. It aims to demonstrate both the economic and ecosystem service benefits of plant bioresources at both the local community and national level.
Related links: Supporting climate-resilient sustainable development in Africa | Kew
