Politique publique de gestion des espaces verts de la ville de Lomé au Togo

Lomé, capitale du Togo, a connu des études qui ont montré que les espaces verts qui étaient inséparables de la ville à l’origine n’ont pas suivi l’extension spatiale et ont même disparu.  Ainsi, Lomé est caractérisée par un environnement de plus en plus urbanisé où le besoin de verdure et de fleurs est de plus en plus ressenti. Cela pose donc un problème de gestion de ces espaces verts en l’occurrence un problème de politique publique de gestion des espaces verts. Une prospection de la ville de Lomé a permis de répertorier, quantifier et de dresser la typologie des espaces verts. Des interviews ont permis d’établir le diagnostic du cadre institutionnel et juridique de ces espaces verts. Il ressort de cette étude que chaque habitant  de la ville de Lomé dispose de 0,75 m2 d’espace vert contre une norme de 10 m2 préconisée par l’Organisation Mondiale de la Santé. Et pourtant, des cadres institutionnel et juridique de mise en valeur et gestion des espaces verts existent et sont incarnés par des services publics (la direction des espaces verts, des monuments historiques et de l’embellissement ; l’atelier espaces verts de la municipalité et le service technique de la préfecture du Golfe) et la loi n°2008-005 du 30 mai 2008 portant loi-cadre sur l’environnement. Cette étude fait un bilan de la politique publique et de l’état des lieux de la gestion des espaces verts et analyse les dysfonctionnements et manquements liés aux cadres institutionnel et juridique.© 2015 International Formulae Group. All rights reserved.Mots clés: Espaces verts, politique publique, gestion municipale, LoméEnglish AbstractSome studies done in Lomé, the capital city of Togo, have shown that the green spaces which at the beginning were inseparable from the city did not follow the space extension and have even disappeared today. Therefore, Lomé is characterized today by an environment that is more and more urbanized and where the need for greenery and the flowers is more felt. This leads to a problem that is the management of these green spaces known as the problem of public of green spaces management policy. A prospecting of the city of Lomé made it possible to index, quantify and to draw up the typology of green spaces. Interviews let to establish the diagnosis of the institutional and legal framework of the green spaces. From this study it  comes out that each inhabitant of Lomé only has 0,75 m2 of green spaces against a norm of 10 m2 that is recommended by the World Health Organization. Yet, the executive and law  institutions that regularize the management of green spaces exist and are incarnated by public services (management of green spaces, historic monuments and embellishment) and the law n°2008-005 of 30 may 2008 concerning the framework law on the environment. This study is an assessment of the public policy and the inventory management of green spaces. It also analyzes the dysfunctioning and failures related to the institutional and legal framework.© 2015 International Formulae Group. All rights reserved.Keywords: Green spaces, public policies, municipal management, Lom

A New Model for Efficient, Need-Driven Progress in Generating Primary Biodiversity Information Resources

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC0 Public Domain Dedication.The field of biodiversity informatics has developed rapidly in recent years with broad availability of large-scale information resources. However, online biodiversity information are biased (Boakes et al. 2010, Stropp et al. 2016) as a result of the relatively slow capture and digitization of existing data resources. The West African Plants (WAP) initiative approach to data capture is a prototype of a novel solution to the challenge of the traditional model, in which the institutional “owner” of the specimens is responsible for digital capture of associated data. The WAP Initiative is a consortium of West African researchers in botany, in coordination with six institutions across Europe and North America; its goal is to digitize and mobilize available, high-quality, primary biodiversity occurrence data resources for West African plant diversity (http://jrsbiodiversity.org/grants/university-of-ghana-herbaria/). Here, we developed customized workflows for data capture in formats directly and permanently useful to the “owner” herbarium, and digitized significant new biodiversity records adding to the information available for the plants of the region. Data records were captured strictly in accordance with DarwinCore standards, achieved either by (a) capturing data records from existing images (e.g., images supplied by Naturalis Bodiversity Centre), or (b) capturing data from images taken quickly and efficiently by project personnel in West African Herbaria. Digitization of images and data began in 2015 in West African partner institutions, and by middle of 2018 resulted in 190,953 records of species in 1965 genera and 331 families from 16 West African countries (Fig. 1). Our approach is cost-effective, allows development of information resources even for regions in which political situations make it impossible, and it provides a historical context against which to compare newer data as the latter become available (Peterson et al. 2016). Further measures of success of the initiative will center on whether the institutions “owning” the specimens follow through and put the new data records online. Already, several project institutions have put initial project data online as part of their GBIF data contributions, but—of course—success would consist of all project-generated data being completely available online. Note that this model is the reverse of the traditional model, in which the institutions holding the specimens create the information resources that are used by the rest of the world. This new paradigm in specimen digitization has considerable promise to accelerate and improve the process of generating biodiversity information, and can be replicated and applied in many biodiversity-rich, information-poor regions to remedy the oft-cited massive gaps in information availability

Towards a Curriculum for Biodiversity Informatics

Biodiversity informatics has been characterized as a rapidly growing interdisciplinary field, which aims to bring together the areas of biodiversity and informatics. A study was conducted looking at the current level of activity within the GBIF Participant countries and its associated network in relation to work-based training and/or academic teaching at universities, in the field of biodiversity informatics. It was intended to get an overview of GBIF Node Managers, (hence, member countries), already engaged in developing course curricula, or in providing training, and whether they would be willing to share resources or enter into collaborations, to further elaborate this field of science.This investigation followed a survey approach, conducted globally across the GBIF community to identify the existing capacities and resources within the network. The results indicated that the vast majority of GBIF Nodes survey respondents, are engaged in onsite training activities in biodiversity informatics areas, with a focus on professionals, mostly researchers, policy makers and students. Training includes data digitization, management, publishing, analysis and use, to enable the accessibility of analogue and digital biological data which currently resides as scattered databases/datasets.A list containing the associated URL's for training and dissemination activities in GBIF Nodes has been developed, based on survey results, and will be presented. An initial assessment of the academic teaching activities indicated that many countries across most regions were already engaged in the conceptualisation, development and/or implementation of formal academic programs in biodiversity informatics including Benin, Colombia, Costa Rica, Finland, France, India, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Taiwan and Togo. This study also identified that digital e-learning platforms were a very important tool to help build capacity in a number of countries.To assess the level of potential in the network to support academic teaching and work-based training, sixty percent indicated that they would be willing to be recruited or commissioned to support teaching activities, demonstrating the value of the Nodes network to support the development of biodiversity informatics globally. The contributions and activities of various nodes across the network will be highlighted and a working high-level curriculum framework will be discussed

A global horizon scan of the future impacts of robotics and autonomous systems on urban ecosystems

Technology is transforming societies worldwide. A major innovation is the emergence of robotics and autonomous systems (RAS), which have the potential to revolutionize cities for both people and nature. Nonetheless, the opportunities and challenges associated with RAS for urban ecosystems have yet to be considered systematically. Here, we report the findings of an online horizon scan involving 170 expert participants from 35 countries. We conclude that RAS are likely to transform land use, transport systems and human–nature interactions. The prioritized opportunities were primarily centred on the deployment of RAS for the monitoring and management of biodiversity and ecosystems. Fewer challenges were prioritized. Those that were emphasized concerns surrounding waste from unrecovered RAS, and the quality and interpretation of RAS-collected data. Although the future impacts of RAS for urban ecosystems are difficult to predict, examining potentially important developments early is essential if we are to avoid detrimental consequences but fully realize the benefits

Connecting West and Central African Herbaria Data: A new Living Atlases regional data platform

International audienceThe label transcription and imaging of specimens in key African herbaria has been ongoing since the early 2000s. Many collections in Benin, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Guinea Conakry, and Togo are now fully transcribed and partially digitized. More than 200 000 transcribed specimens are available with the following distribution