PROJECT SUMMARY
Trees are structurally important components of Southern African forests, thickets, and savannas, and they support millions of African livelihoods now threatened by climate change. This project will develop an extensive floristic and plant database that leverages species’ medicinal, food provision and other trait data, together with the Southern African trees’ climate relationships and growth characteristics for climate adaptation and mitigation planning. Species data such as land-use, climate, geology and soil data will be collated to define Southern African tree species biogeoclimatic niches. This data will be used to promote indigenous tree use for reforestation, regenerative agriculture, ecological restoration, human health and livelihood support, and urban afforestation programmes to adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
PROJECT LEADER
Prof Guy Midgley, Julia Harper
AFFILIATION
Faculty of AgriSciences, School for Data Science and Computational Thinking
DURATION
2024 -2025
