Invasive Alien Plants and their Management in Africa

Invasive Alien Species (IAS) pose one of the most significant threats to biodiversity, agriculture, sustainable economic development and human and animal health on this planet. As a result of increased global trade and travel, invasive species have established themselves on every continent – not even Antarctica has escaped the onslaught of invasive plants and animals! Diverse habitats such as snow-capped mountains, deserts, tropical forests, wetlands, savannas, grasslands and marine environments are all being impacted by a range of introduced species. People living in developing countries often bear the brunt of these plant and animal invasions, as most of them are directly dependent on the natural resource base for their survival.

As such, Removing Barriers to Invasive Plant Management in Africa is a timely and important book as it highlights the impacts of IAS and the barriers which need to be, and can be, overcome in the fight against this global scourge. The book, covering the outputs and outcomes of a UNEP/GEF project, makes it abundantly clear that IAS are not only having an impact on biodiversity in Africa, but are also reducing, amongst a host of others, water resources, crop yields, pasture production, and hydro-electricity generation capacity together with having a significant negative impact on human and animal health. This is particularly disturbing in a continent which is already facing a large burden in the form of climate change and where food security to a large extent has yet to be achieved.

Detalles de publicación

• Publicado: 2013
• Editor: CABI
• ISBN-13: 978 1 78064 408 0