A keynote conference will be organized at Oxford University on 4 January 2012. This conference will witness the discussion amongst scientists and conservationists on the fate of African tropical forests
Africa comprises the second largest amount of rainforest on the planet, out of which 30% is covered by global rainforest but its relationship to climate change has so far attracted far less attention than the Amazonia. The region has witnessed relatively little systematic scientific study but over the 21st century the region is likely to undergo significant change both through an expansion of extraction, hunting and deforestation and through the effects of global climate change.
Some of the topics include:
- Ecology
- Past history of Africa’s forests through current patterns of climate change and land use change
- Projections of future climate change
- Prospect of management of Africa’s tropical forests for adaptation and mitigation of climate change
The Oxford Centre for Tropical Forests located in the School of Geography and the Environment will organize a conference which provides a multidisciplinary examination of the current research and is an opportunity to share the latest scientific insights into the future of African tropical forests.
The conference will ask the following questions:
- What are the potential scenarios of climate change and land use change for African forest regions?
- What do we know about the sensitivity of African forests and their communities to these changes, and what consequences will these changes have for the future of the region?
- How can this knowledge influence policy decisions on development and climate change adaptation?
- What are the prospects for climate change mitigation and adaptation in Africa’s forest regions?
- What are the gaps in our knowledge and priorities for research?
Eminent speakers will include:
- Climate scientists Prof Myles Allen (Oxford University) and Prof Mark New (University of Cape Town) on climate change projections for the African tropics
- Paleoecologist Prof Kathy Willis (Oxford University) on what insights the past ecology of Africa can give us into how it will cope with climate change
- Satellite monitoring expert Phillipe Mayaux (European Joint Research Centre, Italy) on the patterns and causes of land use change in African forests
- Forest conservation experts, Dr Danae Maniatis (FAO, Rome) and Dr John Mason (Nature Conservation Research Centre, Ghana), on the prospects for climate change mitigation funds (REDD+) to protect Africa’s forests
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