The 96^th RIHN seminar

Key words:

Mesquite, Eradication Dilemma, Sophism, Sudan

Abstract:

The mesquite (Prosopis juliflora) has been introduced to Sudan in 1917 as a tolerant drought species then became an invasive plant and took over arable agricultural lands, pastures and started replacing local trees and grasses and as consequence, livelihood of rural communities in Sudan has being affected. Accordingly, in 1995 the Government considered mesquite a noxious weed and issued a Presidential Decree for its eradication. Since then many efforts have been carried and large budget has been spent, but invasion going on and possible solutions are still in shadow. Not only has that but also communities and some scientists and decision makers had different views regarding eradication of mesquite as no recommended alternative species for it. Therefore, the issue of eradication tends to be a dilemma and sophism and needs to be studied. For this study, seventy fours articles about mesquite efforts in Sudan have been collected, reviewed, scrutinized, categorized and analyzed. Furthermore, a risk mapping model has been developed and implemented for verifying mesquite invasion and risk strategy. The results showed that most of the efforts were either funded projects or private initiatives, while the Government own work was insignificant. The studied themes also indicated that mesquite activities were more organized before issued of the eradication decree and then after tend to be a common concern with many overlap and duplications. It has also found that a little concern was given to the extension and community role in the eradication aspect. Moreover, mesquite invasion has been verified using risk mapping model. The results indicated that mesquite invasion was concentrating in the zone of 500 meter from the water streams where it represents a high risk, while in outer zone, the risk in not significant. It has been also found that mesquite has several levels of acceptability among the community which has not been considered in the eradication decree and that brought another dilemma and sophism. The study concluded that; there were considerable efforts and works regarding mesquite eradication and a lot of budget spent, however the invasion is still going on and that was a real dilemma and sophism. Therefore, the mesquite eradication decree needed to be revised and linked with the forestry sector and further, the works, researches and activities about mesquite need to be organized and integrated.

Curriculum Vitae (Summary):

PhD, Assistant Prof. at College of Forestry and Range Science, Sudan University of Science and Technology (SUST), Khartoum-Sudan. PhD in forestry Science (Remote Sensing and GIS, SUST & TU-Dresden Germany 2009); MSc (Tropical Forestry: Remote Sensing and GIS-TU-Dresden Germany 2003). Research field: applied remote sensing and GIS for natural resources. More than 13 years of teaching and research in the field Remote Sensing and GIS in SUST. Visiting lecturer for many years in Sudanese Universities, TU-Dresden Germany and UNEP course in Germany. Head of Protection Department, Head of Examination Office & 3 years as coordinator for the International Relationship, Information and Student Training at College of College of Forestry and Range Science. Published more than 10 papers; member in more than 4 research projects; supervised several PhD, MSc and undergraduate students and peer reviewer in 3 international journal. Contributed in construction a base map for Kenana Sugar Company-Sudan (the biggest sugar company in Africa), with FEST GIS company, Khartoum, Sudan in 2005. Worked as Livelihood and Community Development Consultant for 2 years with American Refugees Committee International (ARC)- NGO, Nyala-South-Darfur-Sudan. Worked as local coordinator and natural resources consultant with GAF AG in Munich, for the project: Natural Resources, Land Use Database and Map for Darfur (Project of 5 million Euro).

Contact:
KURATA Takashi (Associate Professor, RIHN)
Research Institute for Humanity and Nature
457-4 Motoyama, Kamigamo, Kita-ku, Kyoto, 603-8047, Japan
Phone : +81-75-707-2382
Fax : +81-75-707-2513
E-mail:

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