ETFRN NEWS 43/44: Forests and conflicts

European Tropical Forest Research Network

ETFRN NEWS 43/44: Forests and conflicts

EC NEWS

DGRES INCODEV call for proposals
On 17 December 2004 the European Commission published its new call for proposals for research with developing countries (INCO-DEV).

The following specific topics may be of interest:

A.2 Rational use of natural resources
A.2.1 managing humid and semi-humid ecosystems (open only for Specific Support Actions, SSAs eg workshops etc)
A.2.3 Managing arid and semi-arid ecosystems (Coordination actions (CA) are strongly encouraged for this call)
(i) Improved agriculture and agroforestry systems
(ii) Sustainable, integrated water resource management
(iii) Research in forest ecosystem restoration and reclamation techniques

A.3 Food security
A.3.2 Bio-diverse, bio-safe and value added crops
A.3.2.2 Development and dissemination of sustainable improved production and management practices
A.3.2.3 Development of innovative, efficient, environment-friendly post-harvest, storage, processing and marketing methods
A.3.2.4 Policy, regulatory and institutional issues

The call closure for Specific Targeted Research Projects (STREP) and CA is 13 September 2005, the budget available 60 million Euro. The call closure for SSA is 7 March and 7 September 2005, the budget available 0.5 million Euro for March, and 1.5 million Euro for September. Contracts are expected to be signed 9 months after call closure.

The call and supporting documents may be downloaded from: http://fp6.cordis.lu/fp6/call_details.cfm?CALL_ID=185

Please note that only electronic submission via the EPSS is allowed for this call. For further details please refer to the call text.

DGResearch expert consultation on forest research for development
On 20 and 21 January 2005, the European Commission held an expert meeting on forest research for development. The consultation was to provide inputs for the EC 7th framework programme for research, which is currently being drafted.

The presentations and draft workshop reports for the meeting are available at:
http://www.etfrn.org/etfrn/eucomm/7fp/index.html

The meeting report is in preparation, and will also become available at the web address above. It is anticipated that the report may serve as a background document for a wider consultation.

European Union Development Policy reviewed
The current European Union Development policy, focusing mainly on poverty reduction, is under review to address

An accelerated globalisation process which includes not only trade and economic matters, but also all the major issues of concern to citizens, such as environment, health, migration, security;
new political priorities in an enlarged EU, in particular the EU’s neighbourhood policy and the security strategy, and the draft Constitutional Treaty;
the emergence of a more robust international consensus reflected in: the UN’s Millennium Declaration and Development Objectives; the commitments made at Monterrey regarding funding for development, at Doha regarding trade and at Johannesburg regarding sustainable development; and
the debate on the effectiveness of aid, covering issues such as harmonisation between donors and the tailoring of aid to policies and procedures in the partner countries.

From mid January – 2 March 2005, the European Commission’s Directorate for Development held a web-based consultation to contribute to the debate on and review of the EU development policy. The consultation was based on an issues paper, which is available in English and French. The issues papers may be downloaded from:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/development/body/theme/consultation/index_en.htm

The Commission services will publish the comments received, a report about the results of the consultation and how the responses have been taken into account. This information will be accessible via the consultation page: Your Voice in Europe:
http://www.europa.eu.int/yourvoice/consultations/index_en.htm#open

ETFRN NEWS

I would like to thank the readers who wrote to convey their appreciation of the ETFRN news. Your moral support is valued, and has assisted in generating further interest in the continuation of ETFRN. So far, the ETFRN CU has funding commitments for two further issues of the ETFRN News in 2005, one on forests and water, and another on a theme to be confirmed.

Partnership with the National Forest Programme Facility
The ETFRN CU is entering into a partnership agreement with the National Forest Programme Facility (Facility). The agreement will cover communication and dissemination activities for the Facility, using both the ETFRN and the Facility networks. It will include work on the NFP digests, and an issue of the ETFRN News, on a theme to be defined.

An independent legal status for ETFRN
The ETFRN Steering Committee agreed to review the future strategy and governance, and to set up an independent legal status for ETFRN to address the current funding difficulties. More news will follow in due course.

Job Opportunities
Readers looking for a new job may be interested in the ETFRN vacancies webpage. It has many links to job opportunities pages, and links to specific vacancies are regularly added – to see these, you will need to scroll to the bottom of the page.
http://www.etfrn.org/etfrn/resource/frames/job.html