ETFRN NEWS 41/42: National Forest Programmes

European Tropical Forest Research Network

ETFRN NEWS 41/42: National Forest Programmes

ETFRN NEWS

Sustainability…
The current financial situation of ETFRN is worrisome, as the EC grant to ETFRN ended on the 1st of April 2004 (no joke). Despite a very positive external evaluation, recommending that the EC continue funding ETFRN, several proposals submitted to the EC together with partners in developing countries and the EU member states were not successful. On the positive side, funding has been found for two issues of the ETFRN News: the current issue, which is coproduced with PROFOR, the National Forest Programme Facility and Tropenbos International (TBI), and the forthcoming issue on forests in areas of violent social conflict which is funded by the United Kingdom’s department for International Development (DFID), together with the Netherlands Department for International Cooperation (DGIS). David Kaimowitz, the Director of the center for International Forest Research, is guest editing the next issue, and has generously provided his own and CIFOR staff time to assist. Another issue on Forests and Water has been commissioned, but whether this can be published will also depend on the availability of further funds for the ETFRN Coordination Unit, as TBI, which has kept ETFRN afloat for the past months, will not be able to continue this without external support.

The ETFRN Coordination Unit has always operated with very few staff, and this is now further reduced to the Coordinator and the ETFRN webmaster, both working part-time. Fortunately, the Director of TBI has kindly allowed Blanca Méndez of the TBI Communication Unit to assist in the preparation of this newsletter. Blanca’s help has been invaluable. This edition is a result of the hard work and commitment of the guest editors, Laura Ivers of PROFOR and Paul Matthews of the National Forest Programme Facility. A big thank you to Laura, Blanca and Paul!

We would be very interested in hearing from you; whether you think ETFRN is worthwhile and should be continued, and if yes, your suggestions as to how we may achieve this.

Publications
The ETFRN website has a new page from which most of the recent ETFRN publications may be downloaded, and listing the ETFRN CDRoms published so far: http://www.etfrn.org/etfrn/resource/publications.html

Two of the most recent publications include:

ETFRN Series No. 3: Cultivating (in) Tropical Forests? The evolution and sustainability of systems of management between extractivism and plantations, Heidi Asbjornsen et al (ed.) These are the proceedings of a workshop held 28 June - 1 July 2000 in Kræmmervika, Lofoten, Norway, organised by the Norwegian National Focal Point of ETFRN. It is currently only available in digital form as we have no funds to print.
CDROM: Participatory assessment, monitoring and evaluation of biodiversity (PAMEB), Anna Lawrence and Jeannette van Rijsoort (ed.) Results of the internet workshop 7 - 25 January 2002, and policy seminar 21 May 2002, convened by the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, published June 2004.

Other downlodable publications on the ETFRN website include:

FORNESSA and IUFRO-SPDC Initiative on “Rehabilitation of Degraded Lands in Sub-Saharan Africa” synthesis report This scientific synthesis document is the result of more than two years of thematic networking activities among forest scientists on the issue of rehabilitation of degraded lands in Sub-Saharan Africa.
‘Prunings’ from the DFID Forest Research Programme are a compilation of one sheet human interest stories or little prunings taken from the project outputs. You can download the 2003 and 2004 versions, each containing 10 prunings, form the ETFRN website.

New topics page on rehabilitation of degraded forest lands
The new ETFRN topics page on this subject http://www.etfrn.org/etfrn/topics/rehabilitation/index.html includes the IUFRO SPDC synthesis report mentioned above; as well as links to European capability; relevant ETFRN Newsletters; annotated links to other web-based resources; and search results from other databases. It also includes a link to the updated website of the workshop on Trees, agroforestry and climate change in dryland Africa (TACCDA) that was held in Hyytiälä, Finland, on 30 June - 4 July 2003. http://www.etfrn.org/etfrn/workshop/degradedlands/index.html. The final workshop proceedings may also be downloaded from the workshop website.

Website on EU and developing countries: cooperation in environment and forests
The European Commission has launched a website for the combined tropical forests and environment budget lines. It includes information on previously funded projects; a page on ‘who does what’ ie the role of different EC directorates; procedures; links to relevant official documents; and more. These web pages on co-operation between the European Union and the developing countries in the field of environment and forests may be found at http://europa.eu.int/comm/europeaid/projects/forests/index_en.htm.

The environment programme aims at supporting developing countries in their efforts to integrate the environmental dimension into their development process. The objective of the forest programme is to support the conservation and sustainable management of tropical forests and other forests in these countries.

DGResearch: 7th framework programme development
EC Research funding is managed through multiannual RTD programmes. The next framework programme will be the seventh (FP7), and is planned to span the period 2006-2010. In June 2004 the European Commission launched a consultation process on the preparation of FP7 with the publication of the Communication, COM(2004) 353, “Science and technology, the key to Europe’s future - Guidelines for future European Union policy to support research”. The communication and an evaluation of the new financing instruments used in the 6th framework programme may be downloaded from: http://www.cordis.lu/era/fp7_findoc.htm

For further information on the development of the 7th framework programme, including EU member state consultations and position papers, please see: http://www.cordis.lu/era/fp7.htm

An EC expert consultation for forests and development issues for the 7th framework programme is planned for mid December.