Partnering Institute: 
Centre for Biological Control, Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes 老虎机游戏_pt老虎机-平台*官网

About the project: The work that the CBC will concentrate on for this project will fit into two of the research clusters: Clean water supply and provisioning (SDG 6 and 9) and Ecological infrastructure: Restoration, management and governance (SDG 14 and 15)

Water demand for agriculture and industrial consumption continues to grow, while threats such as climate change and ecosystem degradation impact on availability of freshwater. This highlights the importance of sustainable water resources management at local and global scales. Controlling factors such as the presence of Invasive Alien Plants (IAPs), that may reduce water quality, quantity or productivity must therefore form part of broader water management programmes for effective sustainable management (Arp et al., 2017). IAPs have been identified as one of the five of
the most significant threats to the provision of ecosystem goods and services, including freshwater resources (MEA, 2005), with SA affected severely, costing approximately R580 million in water provisioning services (ibid). Biological control has emerged as one of the scientific frontiers for controlling IAPs in water systems as well as in other habitats. Biodiversity loss can be caused by IAPs so biological control can assist in lowering loss of important species.

In 2017, the Department of Zoology and Entomology launched the Centre for Biological Control (CBC) at RU, creating a huge opportunity for expanding scientific knowledge in this area. The focus of the CBC is the long-term, sustainable control of IAP species and crop pests through the introduction of biological control technologies, and it focusses on the entire value chain of biological control from fundamental research through to engaged research and student development.

The CBC emphasizes knowledge sharing via community engagement programmes. The main aim in joining this CoP is to strengthen knowledge sharing and use of biological control in SA. 

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