Education, Training and Capacity-Building in the Field of Biological Invasions in South Africa

Résumé

Our changing relationship with the biosphere is one of many anxieties that human society currently confronts. The paradox that some biodiversity that has been moved across the planet by human trade could actually be harmful is unknown to many people. They are either oblivious, or perceive nature as being under threat, rather than as threatening in itself. Consequently workers in the field of invasion science widely acknowledge the need to inform the public about the subtleties surrounding the movement and control of invasive alien species, where some biodiversity can be bad or good, depending on our immediate relationship with those particular organisms. The aspects of South African science and environmental education reviewed for this chapter reveal broad-scale efforts to explain the impacts and intricacies of invasive species; these range from inclusion in school and university curricula, through to exposure on primetime television. Nevertheless, other surveys show that many people remain unaware of the issues around invasive species. Several South African awareness projects reviewed in this chapter conclude that more needs to be done, including further assessment of people’s knowledge of and attitudes to invaders. Use of citizen science, as a mechanism for both data collection and creation of awareness about invasive species, is proposed as a mechanism to personalise those species that directly impact our individual lives, where, for example, they compete with us for ecosystem services or sicken us through allergies.

Citer ce document

Accès au document

Ce document est hébergé sur son dépôt institutionnel d'origine.

Auteur(s)

Statistiques

Consultations : 1

Téléchargements : 0