Newsletter 28

Internet Features

by Jelle Maas

The International Arid Lands Consortium (http://ialcworld.org/) is an independent, non-profit research organisation supporting ecological sustainability in arid and semiarid lands world-wide. The website highlights the tree-planting programme of one of its members, the JNF in Israel (http://www.jpostshop.com/JNF/).

The International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) publishes specific information on the semi-arid lowlands of West Africa in its Regional Programmes. This includes information on the characteristics of ecoregions and main land-use systems, the main constraints and opportunities for intervention and more.

http://www.cgiar.org/ICRAF/regional/region_3/region_3.htm

The World Bank group on Drylands management & combating desertification is accessible through the ESSD (Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development) web sites and links (http://wbln0018.worldbank.org/essd/kb.nsf/), as are many other subjects concerning the World Bank and the environment. One interesting link is the Bank's Forest Policy Implementation Review and Strategy, which is directly accessible at http://wbln0018.worldbank.org/essd/forestpol-e.nsf/Mainview. Included is an update of the latest meetings (under 'the latest on the process') with links to minutes or background papers, including three recent new studies:

Recent Experience in Collaborative Forest Management Approaches: A Review of Key Issues. This study by Jane Carter focuses on institutional and organisational arrangements necessary for local forest management, based on sustainable and environmentally-friendly principles. Appropriate instruments, circumstances for resolution and the promotion of participatory approaches are also addressed.

Discussion Note. Indigenous Peoples and Forests: Main Issues. This paper produced by Marcus Colchester is available in English and Spanish.

The World Bank and Non-Forest Sector Policies that Affect Forests by David Kaimowitz and Arild Angelsen, Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bogor Indonesia.

The website of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification was previously announced in ETFRN News. Because of its relevance for the subject of (semi-)arid forestry the address is repeated: http://www.unccd.ch. Information on COP-2 of UNCCD is available at http://www.iisd.ca/linkages/ desert.html. The 'Réseau Internationale des ONG sur la Désertification' (RIOD) is a network of Regional, Subregional and National Focal Points implementing the Convention to Combat Desertification in Africa (http://www.enda.sn/energie/desertif/desertif.htm). Available information is mainly in French.

The UNDP has a special Office to Combat Desertification and Drought (UNSO). Information on its activities can be viewed at: http://www.undp.org/seed/unso/

The International Institute for Environment and Development has a special Drylands programme. Information can be retrieved at http://www.oneworld.org/iied/drylands/index.html. Other similar programmes have been developed by CSIRO, Australia (http://www.clw.csiro.au/) and IDRC, Canada (http://www.idrc.ca/index.html). The latter provides information in French and English.

Research institutes with information available on the web on arid land management include: the Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem (Israel, http://www.arij.org), Centre for Arid Zone Studies at the University of Bangor (http://www.cazs.bangor.ac.uk/), the 'Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas', IADIZA (http://www.cricyt.edu.ar/INSTITUTOS/

iadiza/), and the Sheffield Centre for International Dryland Research, SCIDR (http://www.shef.ac.uk/~scidr/). The Desert Research Institute, DRI, in Nevada (http://www.dri.edu), also has an international collaboration programme, with projects in the US, Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

Several newsletters covering the issue of (semi-) arid forests are available on the internet, including: ARIDLANDS Newsletter (http://ag.arizona.edu/OALS/ALN/

ALNHome.html) published by the College of Agriculture, University of Arizona, and the Journal of Arid Environments (http://www.academicpress.com/jae) published by Academic Press.