The Diversity of Pollinating Diptera in Afrotropical biodiversity hotspots (DIPoDIP) project will study the biodiversity of true fly families (Diptera) in Biodiversity Hotspots of the Afrotropical Region (AR). The project will improve the taxonomy and identification of these families and provide basic data on their distribution and (pollination) ecology. This will be achieved through training of entomologists, conservationists and officials from the AR, including PhD and MSc students of the project partners, as well as joint research. Workshops with local partners and stakeholders will translate the results for policy making, Citizen Science (CS) and education. This will result in Red List assessments and improved conservation strategies for Diptera biodiversity in the AR, and CS and education activities will raise awareness on the importance of Diptera in pollination, food security and nature conservation. Results will be disseminated through websites, a Facebook page, newsletters, and promotion movies.

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The DIPoDIP project comprises two phases (2019-2023 and 2024-2029) and is funded by the Belgian Directorate for Development Cooperation (DGD). Three project partners (John Midgley, KZNM; Allan Ellis, SU and Kurt Jordaens, RMCA) are partner in both project periods. Three new partners joined the second phase of the project  (Eugène Sinzinkayo, OBPE; Venuste Nsengimana (UR); Catherine Sole, UP). In the first project period the focus was on the study of the biodiversity of true flies (Diptera) in Afrotropical Biodiversity hotspots and provided data and guidelines for a better protections of these environments. In the second phase of the project, the research will continue, but we will bring in four large, new initiatives:

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1.The second phase will allow a better South-South transfer of knowledge, of both research and education, between the partners of South Africa and those from Burundi and Rwanda.

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2. Many of the (education, training, conservation) documents will be translated into French allowing a better inclusion of francophone countries.
 

3.The project will have a strong involvement of stakeholders, both from the north and from the south. Stakeholders will be involved in the development, testing, and evaluation of educational materials developed in the first phase of the DIPoDIP project. Conservation agencies will have a strong(er) collaboration with the project partners on how research results obtained can be translated to guidelines for conservation and policy briefs. For instance, the Natural Science Collections Facility of the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) is responsible for ensuring that the outputs from projects flow into long term national and global archives and are available for activities such as red listing, environmental assessments, the compilation of species pages for a national e-fauna, and for building the DNA barcode reference library. This is an important link for ensuring that the outputs of the proposed project are taken up into policy-related activities and have a long-term impact.

4.The DIPoDIP2 project will encompass strong Citizen Science and educational components in order to translate scientific results to relevant information for teachers, students and the larger public.​​

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Here you will find a document listing the projected outcomes of the project.

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A theory-of-change can be consulted here.​