CABES (Capacity Development for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Experts) is a regional initiative aimed at developing and strengthening the capacity of professionals in biodiversity-related fields in West, Central, and East Africa to engage in the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES, www.ipbes.net). CABES is supported by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV). The stakeholders in this initiative include researchers, practitioners from the public and private sectors, as well as non-governmental organizations (NGOs), indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) holders, women, and IPBES National Focal Points (NFPs). The initiative has three main pillars of capacity development:

1. Short term capacity development training, which will be delivered through e-learning portals offering open access online courses with unlimited participation;
2. Sub-regional and national expert platforms in East, West and Central Africa with the goal of strengthening south-south networks for experts;
3. Science-Policy-Practice Interface in Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (SPIBES) academic training program.

HoAREC&N- AAU; one of consortium member of the project, is facilitating CABES project which aim to develop capacities to Conserve Biodiversity and improve Ecosystem Services through interfacing science and policies in Easter Africa countries; Botswana, Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Seychelles, Uganda and United Republic of Tanzania.

Project Duration: January 2022 to December 2029

Consortium members of the project

• Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn, Department of Ecology & natural resource Management (Germany), Lead organization
• Coknow Consulting Firm (Germany)
• UNEP-WCMC (UK)
• Honr of Africa Regional Environment Center & Network, Addis Ababa University (HoAREC&N-AAU (Ethiopia)
• West African Science Service Center on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL) (Burkina Faso)
• African Center of Excellence on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Agriculture (CEA-CCBAD), Université Félix–Houphouët–Boigny (Coted’Ivoire)

Faculty of Agronomic Sciences of the Université de Lubumbashi (FSA-UNILUO-(Democratic Republic of Congo