CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR AFRICA: AN OVERVIEW OF KEY THEMES FROM THE PACN BIODIVERSITY CONFERENCE

摘要

A wall of three-dimensional tiles representing different micro-organisms provided an impressive backdrop in the Conference Centre of Nairobi University, an appropriate setting indeed for the inaugural Conference on Biodiversity of the Pan Africa Chemistry Network. This prologue chapter will give a flavour of the wide range of topics covered at the conference and will highlight some of the key themes that emerged from the individual scientific contributions. Much of the material was provided to the participants at the end of the conference in a 'rapporteur summary' and I would like to gratefully acknowledge the valuable contributions of my co-rapporteurs in distilling out the main points.