Land use systems develop from the extensive use of the natural forest vegetation, via subsistence production to intensive market oriented peri-urban production systems Studies conducted along socio-economic gradients in Africa could show that land use intensification is generally associated with a loss in biodiversity, which has implications on the ecological and economic sustainability of such systems. A further degradation of biodiversity as a result of increasing pressure on land for agricultural and economic activities must be avoided or reversed. There is an urgent need to reconcile the growing economic needs with the increasing public concern for environmental issues through the development of environmental concepts that ensure sustainable land use.

Research activities that lead to the realisation of sustainable land use concepts comprise in a first step the initial status quo analysis regarding the effect of anthropogenic activities on biodiversity and the effect of biodiversity on various human activities. Such analyses will lead in the second step to the development of a comprehensive model of anthropogenic impacts on biodiversity. This model provides a tool to forecast as to how a changing biodiversity affects various economic activities as to how biodiversity will develop with changing human interventions. In a final step, concepts and tools for the sustainable conservation and management of biodiversity will be developed. Their implementation involves the participatory validation of the models, the creation of local knowledge networks and the development of a political and administrative supportive frame.

The research will focus on Kakamega district in western Kenya. The objects of study are land use gradients centering on population pressure (low to highly populated areas) and market access (forest to urban centre). The subproject will

1. study the role of biodiversity on performance indicators of agricultural production and other economic activities,
2. determine the causal factors and social and economic implications biodiversity and propose options for the sustainable management of biodiversity.

Aims
The research project aims at

• strengthening the understanding of anthropogenic risk factors for biodiversity and its importance for agriculture and income generating activities,
• improving the sustainable use of natural resources in East Africa,
• developing management tools for protecting biodiversity within the context of integrated rural development and
• strengthening local and regional capability for biodiversity research and management.