03 Apr 2019

Botswana is rich in culture and biodiversity that needs to preserved and documented, Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) vice chancellor, Professor Otlogetswe Totolo, has said.

Giving welcome remarks at a San Indigenous Knowledge and Biodiversity symposium in Palapye recently,  Professor Totolo  said such included tangible and intangible cultural aspects and knowledge regarding living organism such as different plant life, insects and animals that could be utilised in scientific research.

The symposium focused on biodiversity in the context of San cultural practices and their traditional knowledge of biodiversity aspects.

Professor Totolo said there was a thin line between indigenous ways and Science. He said the ultimate aim was to remove this line so that Science could be utilised to document, preserve and use outcomes of scientific research for the benefit of human race.

He said the San people were believed to have been the first inhabitants in the region. He said it was imperative to learn from their old ways and such knowledge be used to inform scientific research.

“This symposium will look at aspects of indigenous knowledge and its role in biodiversity, cultural perceptions, human evolution, modern applications and other implications,” he said.

He said it was important that San were taken as equal researchers in research projects that were being undertaken. He said the San people of Southern Africa had become world leaders in laying out principles of research ethics due to their indigenous knowledge of bio-diverse organisms. For instance, the San have the knowledge on the type of beetles or plants to harvest, and use the residues from the organism to make poison and use it on their arrows to hunt and kill animals, he noted.

“Specimen collections is integral to the research that the group of local and international researchers embark on. Collected specimens will enrich the herbarium and animal collections, and will expand chemical libraries through research on plant and beetle toxins used by the San to hunt,” he said.

He said with still so many ‘new’ species waiting to be discovered, natural history collections would help understand Botswana’s biodiversity.

Professor Totolo said natural history collections also laid the foundation for bio-exploration and ensures that natural resources benefit from sharing is done in an accountable manner. “Natural history collection opens new portals to research in agriculture, medicine, tourism and accountable benefit sharing,” he said.

He said that has led great attention to the rights of local communities to have a say about research and to benefit from work of scientists and other groups involved in research.

He went on to state that through the symposium and research projects on biodiversity in Botswana and precisely the San indigenous knowledge, the move could serve as a model for many Batswana researchers and students in terms of learning, training and research into the country’s rich and valuable biodiversity.

Meanwhile during the symposium, scientists in various fields from United States of America and Botswana presented their research projects and findings in regards to biodiversity and climate change.. ENDS.