Professor Jacob Midiwo is at the Department of Chemistry, University of Nairobi, Kenya, Africa Dr John Clough is at Syngenta, Bracknell, UK

• 1. Challenges and opportunities for Africa: an overview of key themes from the PACN biodiversity conference;2. Exploring the therapeutic potentials of African medicinal plants;3. Natural products from plant biodiversity and their use in the treatment of neglected diseases;4. In vitro and in vivo antiplasmodial activity of Kenyan medicinal plants;5. Anti-larval activity of crude plant extracts from vitex schiliebenii and vitex payos (verbenaceae);6. Natural products as leads for new and innovative crop protection chemicals;7. Exploiting phytochemical diversity to control pests of agriculture and vectors of human and animal disease;8. Root chemicals could offer opportunities for breeding for sweet potato resistance to the weevil cylas puncticollis boheman (coleoptera: apionidae);9. The role of biotechnology in meeting the biodiversity conservation challenge of Africa;10. Farmers as a treasure chest of biodiversity - the case of sorghum [sorghum bicolor (l.) Moench] in Ethiopia, a five decade analysis;11. Delivery of appropriate cattle genotypes to eastern African smallholder farmers through in-vitro embryo production technologies - the technical procedures, prospects and challenges;12. Levels of some nutrients and non-essential metals in cows' whole milk from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia;13. Water, water everywhere and when found not fit to drink;14. Foundation for analytical science and technology in Africa and its role in the preservation of endangered species;15. Jua kali metallurgical industries as point sources of the heavy metals lead and cadmium to aquatic systems in Kenyan urban areas;16. An assessment of effluent treatment to reduce heavy metal levels in effluent from a battery manufacturing concern;17. Spectroscopic detection of gaseous ammonia in the environment;18. Jatropha curcas l. As a source for the production of biodiesel in Kenya;19. Jatropha biodiesel as an alternative transport fuel in Zimbabwe;20. Biomass, bio-based products and bioenergy;21. Municipal solid waste as a resource rather than a waste. A preliminary study of biomass from Githurai market, an open market in the outskirts of Nairobi city;Subject Index