On 22 and 23 October 2018 an international conference on Biodiversity, Climate Change and Sustainable Development was held at the Eduardo Mondlane University campus in Pemba, organized by the Faculty of Natural Sciences, under the motto:

For a sustainable development with biodiversity taking care of climate change.

The objectives of which were

To promote the national academic exchange of relevant scientific information and reflections on current trends in the problem of Climate Change: adaptation and mitigation to extreme effects, in the areas of Biodiversity and Agriculture. We intend to bring national students and teachers to listen and discuss biodiversity and climate change issues with internationally recognized speakers (national and foreign). This symposium will promote a network of participants and provide a platform for them to explore the possibilities of cooperation.

The conference addressed recent advances in research on ecosystem dynamics, maintenance mechanism, adaptation, mitigation, conservation strategies and conservation agriculture and beekeeping in the context of global climate change.

Biodiversity, Climate Change and Sustainable Development Projects

For most of the scientific community, climate change affects biodiversity. According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, climate change will become one of the most significant factors in biodiversity loss by the end of the century. Climate change is already forcing biological diversity to adapt, whether through changes in habitat, life cycles or the development of new physical traits. Conservation of natural ecosystems and restoration of degraded ecosystems are essential to the overall objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change because ecosystems play a key role in the global carbon cycle and adaptation to climate change and provide a wide range of ecosystem services that are essential for human well-being and the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The conference was attended by national and international researchers doing research in areas related to climate change, where the keynote speaker was Prof. Dr. Solomon Bandeira with the theme “Biodiversity and Vulnerabilities – Emphasis on Marine and Coastal Habitats”.

The program was divided into sessions, where for the Biodiversity session Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Mareen (UB, Norway) with the theme “Sustainable Development and Life on Earth” as the keynote speaker. For the Climate Change session Prof. Dr. Ian Bryceson (NORAGRIC, Norway) was the keynote speaker on “The concept of resilience and interdisciplinary studies linking socio-ecological processes in marine and coastal research” and for the Sustainable Development session Prof. Paulo Russo (UTAD, Portugal) was the keynote speaker on “Beekeeping as an activity promoting socio-economic development and biodiversity”.

 The opening ceremony was directed by His Excellency the Governor of Cabo Delgado Province and the closing ceremony was attended by His Excellency the Norwegian Ambassador, Chancellor of Lurio University and His Excellency the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, to finish, a Cocktail was held with live performance of the Band of the Moment.

The conference was supported by the Norwegian Embassy, Centro Terra Viva, Nunisa, Tmcel, Arquitec, Lda.