Environmental scientist Dr. Jacqueline Loos develops strategies to bridge the gap between environmental protection and the needs of the local population. Her goal: to improve both protection of the environment and people’s wellbeing in Tanzania and Zambia.
Biodiversity is on the decline all around the world, from rain forests in Central America and savannas in Africa to Germany’s Black Forest. One of the reasons behind this development is the global population boom, which entails more and more space being claimed by people and more intensive use of land. Increasing the number of wildlife sanctuaries is a way to provide relief and help maintain our planet’s biodiversity. However, although 15.4 percent of the earth’s surface has already been assigned nature reserve status, the protection of endangered species has so far only been successful in about half of these dedicated areas.
Environmental scientist Dr. Jacqueline Loos researches approaches to increasing the effectiveness of species protection in sub-Saharan Africa. Her project investigates to what extent governance structures impact the fragile balance between biodiversity, value systems, and justice in wildlife sanctuaries. The Robert Bosch Stiftung has named Dr. Loos the Robert Bosch Junior Professor 2018 and supports her research with funding of one million euros over five years, earmarked to set up an independent team of researchers. To find out more about her strategy, watch the video: