| European
Tropical Forest Research Network |
FORESTRY’S CONTRIBUTION TO POVERTY REDUCTION
The Proceedings of the 17th Commonwealth Forestry Conference have been published by the Forestry Commission in the UK on behalf of the Standing Committee on Commonwealth Forestry.
A Commonwealth Forestry Conference has been held every 4-5 years since 1920 in a member nation of the Commonwealth. It is organised by the host country in cooperation with the Standing Committee on Commonwealth Forestry which provides continuity between the Conferences and is chaired by the Forestry Commission Director-General.
The most recent Conference took place in Sri Lanka in March 2005 against the backdrop of the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004. With eradication of poverty and hunger at the top of the global agenda, the theme “ Forestry’s Contribution to Poverty Reduction” could not have been more relevant.
Through wide-ranging papers, presentations and discussions, the Conference clearly recognised that forests make a significant contribution to the welfare and livelihoods of the poorest in society and identified actions that need to be taken. These are set out in Resolutions that form part of the Conference proceedings.
If you would like to receive a copy of the proceedings, please contact Libby Jones: libby.jones@forestry.gsi.gov.uk or +44 31 314 6137.
THE RIGHTS AND RESOURCES INITIATIVE
The Rights and Resources Initiative encourages people and organizations to combine efforts to:
Around half of all those surviving on less than US$2 a day – some 1.6 billion people – live in and around forests. Poor women, in particular, shoulder much of the burden for hauling wood, and collecting and marketing forest products. The lack of clear rights to own and use land and trade in forest products has driven millions of forest dwellers to poverty, and encouraged widespread illegal logging and forest loss.
National and global goals of reducing poverty and protecting the environment will not be met unless poor people’s rights to their lands and resources are strengthened. The next two decades are critical – both for the poor and for the forests. The world faces a historic opportunity to advance human rights and improve the wellbeing of forest communities by establishing the institutional foundations for sustained conservation and forest-based economic development.
The Rights and Resources Initiative marshals the efforts and expertise of leading community, conservation and development organizations. Together we will catalyze greater global commitment and action on pro-poor tenure, policy and market reforms.
Founding partners of the Rights and Resources Initiative include The World Conservation Union (IUCN), Asociación Coordinadora Indígena y Campesina de Agroforestería Comunitaria Centroamericana (ACICAFOC), Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Foundation for People and Community Development (FPCD), Regional Community Forestry Training Center for Asia and the Pacific (RECOFTC), InterCoopearation, Forest Trends, and World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF). The Initiative is supported by the International Development Research Centre of Canada , the Department for International Development of the UK , the Ford Foundation, the US Forest Service, and USAID.
Please contact Megan Liddle for more information:
Megan Liddle, Rights and Resources Group
1050 Potomac St NW, Washington DC 20007, USA
mliddle@rightsandresources.org
http://www.rightsandresources.org
INTERNATIONAL POVERTY CENTRE WORKING PAPERS
The Working Paper series by the International Poverty Centre disseminates findings from work in progress to encourage policy debate and help consolidate good poverty reduction practices. You are invited to post your comments on publications at the IPC Open Forum: http://www.undp-povertycentre.org/forum.htm
Recent working paper titles include:
To view or download, please visit: http://www.undp-povertycentre.org/ipcpublications.htm
Or contact:
International Poverty Centre
United Nations Development Programme
SBS, Quadra 01, Bloco J, Ed. BNDES, 10º andar 70.076-900 Brasilia - Brazil
Phone: (55-61) 2105-5000 Fax: (55-61) 2105-5001
http://www.undp-povertycentre.org/
povertycentre@undp-povertycentre.org
WEBSITE ON HUNGER AND VULNERABILITY IN SOUTHERN AFRICA
The Regional Hunger and Vulnerability Programme (RHVP) promotes change and provides support to practitioners and policy makers in southern Africa on hunger and vulnerability issues. RHVP has launched a website on 5 April. http://www.wahenga.net will reach a wide and diverse audience and encourage them to engage in the hunger and vulnerability debate.
The website contains a range of material including comments (short editorial pieces on topical issues), briefings (providing more in-depth analysis on hunger and vulnerability issues), reports (substantive presentation and analysis of evidencebuilding work) and monthly newsletters. Interactive features encourage the user ‘to have your say’ and a library directs users to a wide range of related information about hunger and vulnerability.
RHVP’s Learning Network is responsible for the operation of www.wahenga.net and its associated range of communication products.
For further information contact:
Rahel Otieno
E-Mail: rhvp@rhvp.org
Forest management by small farmers in the Amazon: An opportunity to enhance forest ecosystem stability and rural livelihoods
In the Amazon, forest management concepts and policies for small farmers are usually externally defined, and do not adequately relate to their livelihood systems and competence. Forest policies and management concepts incorporating the needs, concerns, views and capacities of small farmers may be more effective in providing incentives to small forest owners to manage their forests for the common good.
The ForLive project analyses promising local forest management initiatives in the Bolivian, Brazilian, Ecuadorian and Peruvian Amazon, in partnership with smallholders and local organizations, in order to identify locally viable forest use options ontributing to local livelihoods and the ecological stabilization of landscapes. The project also aims to identify possibilities to promote these options as a basis for sustainable development in rural areas of the Amazon. The project combines Participatory Action Research (PAR) and traditional research approaches, to ensure local relevance and constructive learning processes to develop key indicators for sustainable forest management by Amazonian smallholders.
The INCO-programme of the European Commission’s Directorate for Research contributes 1.85 Million Euros to the project budget, which is complemented by significant contributions from the partner organisations involved. The project consortium, coordinated by the University of Freiburg in Germany includes the following partners: the Instituto do Homen e Meio Ambiente da Amazônia (IMAZON) and the Universidad Federal Rural da Amazônia (UFRA), both from Brazil , the Asociación para la Investigación y el Desarrollo Integral (AIDER) in Peru; the Universidad Autónoma de Beni (UAB) in Bolivia , the Servicio Forestal Amazónico (SFA) in Ecuador , the University of Wageningen in the Netherlands , the Universidad de León in Spain , and the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). The project started on 1st of February 2005 and will conclude on the 31st of January 2008.
For further information on the project, please see: http://www.waldbau.uni-freiburg.de/forlive/Home.html
or contact:
Inka Montero
Waldbau-Institut, Universität Freiburg, Tennenbacher Str. 4, D-79085 Freiburg, Germany
Phone: +49 761/203-8621
Fax: +49 761/203-3781
Email: inka.montero@waldbau.unifreiburg.de
Skype: inkamontero
ForLive
Investigación del manejo forestal por pequeños productores en la Amazonía: Una oportunidad para mejorar la estabilidad de ecosistemas forestales y los medios de vida rurales
En muchos casos, conceptos de manejo forestal para pequeños productores son establecidos externamente y no corresponden a las realidades y posibilidades locales de forma adecuada. Esta es una de las razones, por lo que solamente un numero limitado de pequeños productores usa su bosque eficientemente para mejorar sus medios de vida. Se requiere una consideración más adecuada donde se toma en cuenta las necesidades, vistas y capacidades locales.
Por tal motivo, el proyecto – en colaboración con los pequeños productores y organizaciones locales - va a analizar iniciativas locales promisorias de manejo forestal en la amazonia boliviana, brasilera, ecuatoriana y peruana para identificar opciones de manejo forestal localmente viables que contribuyan a los medios de vida y a la estabilización ecológica de paisajes. Asimismo, se pretende definir posibilidades para promover estas opciones como base hacia un desarrollo sostenible en las áreas rurales de la Amazonia. Mediante la aplicación de Investigación de Acción Participativa y enfoques tradicionales de investigación el proyecto va a asegurar la relevancia local y procesos de aprendizaje constructivo como base de desarrollo de indicadores claves para un manejo sostenible por pequeños productores en la Amazonia.
El proyecto está financiado con 1.85 Millones de Euro del programa INCO de la Unión Europea (PL 510903) y recibe contribuciones significantes de las organizaciones contrapartes involucradas. El consorcio, coordinado por la Universidad de Freiburg en Alemania es compuesto por los siguientes socios: Instituto do Homen e Meio Ambiente da Amazônia (IMAZON) y la Universidad Federal Rural da Amazônia (UFRA), ambos en Brasil, la Asociación para la Investigación y el Desarrollo Integral (AIDER) en Perú; la Universidad Autónoma de Beni (UAB) en Bolivia, el Servicio Forestal Amazónico (SFA) en Ecuador, la Universidad de Wageningen en los Países Bajos, la Universidad de León en España y el Centro de Investigación Forestal (CIFOR). El proyecto empezó el 1 de febrero de 2005 y va a terminar el 31 de enero de 2008.
The European Commission and the Agricultural Economics Research Institute (LEI), The Netherlands have entered into an agreement to strengthen the potential of indigenous fruit trees in the agro forestry parklands of Burkina Faso , Mali and Niger to improve local livelihoods. With a total budget of 1,5 million euros for 4 years (2006-2009), this project, SAFRUIT, is a joint effort with the Danish Centre for Forest Landscape and Planning (leading partner), University of Wales Bangor (United Kingdom) and six leading African research institutes.
The LEI contribution to SAFRUIT aims to assess the potential of fruit trees for local livelihood improvements, to identify institutional and legal opportunities and constraints for enhanced use of fruit trees and their sustainable management, and to improve the marketing of fruit tree food products to increase local incomes. LEI researchers will pilot a participatory learning and action approach that will address the immediate concerns and issues of local communities and encourage their participation in sustainable parkland tree management. Its application in three pilot areas will be used to demonstrate the utility of this approach across West Africa .
More information, please contact:
Jolanda van den Berg
Agricultural Economics Research Institute, P.O. Box 297037, 2502 LS The Hague, The Netherlands
Phone: +31 703358165
Fax: +31 70 3358196
Email: jolanda.vandenberg@wur.nl
GLOBAL HORTICULTURE INITIATIVE LAUNCHED
Research to make a change for the resource-poor
The geographical focus of the Global Horticulture Initiative is the developing world, with sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia , where most of the world’s extreme poor live, as primary focal points. Secondary regions of emphasis will be in Central Asia , Southeast Asia , and Latin America .
The primary beneficiaries of the Global Horticulture Initiative are resource-poor households working within the agricultural sector and food processing industries in rural, peri-urban and urban areas. Special efforts will be made to empower women, the principal workers in most horticultural crop production and related industries.
The initiative will initially focus on alliaceous, cucurbitaceous, leguminous, and solanaceous vegetables, tropical and subtropical tree fruits, and indigenous horticultural crops. Activities for ornamentals, aromatic and medicinal plants will follow.
The Global Horticulture Initiative will coordinate activities in a framework of broader issues, such as
The Global Horticulture Initiative was launched by 74 participants representing 55 organizations on March 22-24, 2006 in Montpellier France , under the auspices of AVRDC - The World Vegetable Center , the Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD), and the International Society for Horticulture Science (ISHS).
Global Horticulture Initiative
Interim Administrative Office
c/o AVRDC – The World Vegetable Center, P.O. Box 42, Shanhua, Tainan, Taiwan 74199, R.O.C.
http://www.globalhort.org/index.html
Dr. Remi Kahane
Fax : +886 6 5830009
Email: rkahane@globalhort.org
Dr. Thomas A. Lumpkin
Fax : +886 6 5830009
Email: lumpkin@globalhort.org
Flora Brasiliensis, said to be the largest publication of its kind on the biodiversity of Brazilian plants, has been placed on the internet. Flora brasiliensis was published between 1840 and 1906 by the editors Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, August Wilhelm Eichler, and Ignatz Urban, with the participation of 65 specialists from various countries. It contains taxonomic treatments of 22.767 species, mostly Brazilian angiosperms, held in 15 volumes, divided in 40 parts, with a total of 10.367 pages.
The projects’ aim is to develop an on-line information system about Brazil ’s flora, using Martius’ Flora brasiliensis with high resolution digitized images of the plates as a base. Missouri Botanical Garden is responsible for digitizing all plates. Researchers from the The Department of Botany of the Biology Institute of Unicamp are responsible for organizing the scientific community to produce a validated checklist of names. CRIA is responsible for the development of the system.
The information system has the following modules:
User’s comments, suggestions and doubts are very welcome.
The project was sponsored by the São Paulo State Research Support Foundation (FAPESP), Natura and Fundação Vitae.
The address is: http://florabrasiliensis.cria.org.br
Source: SOUTHEM Online 140 distributed by: FOREST-LIST Mailing list on forest research and studies [FORESTLIST@JOYX.JOENSUU.FI] and Flora brasiliensis website
TROPICAL FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION (TROFCCA)
The Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the Tropical Agriculture Centre for Research and Higher Education (CATIE) have initiated regional activities for the project “Tropical Forests and Climate Change Adaptation (TroFCCA)”. The project objective is to promote adaptation of tropical forests to the adverse effects of climate change through the assessment of vulnerability and the development of policy-oriented adaptation strategies.
Tropical forest ecosystems, in particular those on which the livelihoods of people from several regions of the world depend, are among the most vulnerable ecosystems to climate change variability and long term changes in temperature and rainfall. TroFCCA is an effort to contribute to the limited understanding of climate change impacts over forests, as well as to the scarcity of robust methodologies to assess vulnerability and plan for adaptation for these systems in particular.
During its four years, TroFCCA will develop targeted methodologies, it will undertake policy analysis and will coordinate regional policy dialogues in the following countries: Costa Rica , Nicaragua and Honduras in Central America ; Burkina Faso , Mali and Ghana in West Africa ; and Indonesia and the Philippines in South East Asia . In coordination with national governments, the project will focus its activities on specific development policies for which goods and services from forest ecosystems play a significant role. TroFCCA is supported by the European Commission.
More information is available on the project website, http://www.cifor.cgiar.org/trofcca
Project Coordinator: Claudio Forner
Email: c.forner@cgiar.org
EUROPEAN CITIES AND INDIGENOUS RAINFOREST PEOPLES ALLIANCE PLEDGE TO REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
The Climate Alliance of European Cities with Indigenous Rainforest Peoples has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by ten per cent every five years. The long-term strategy will result in a halving of emissions below the 1990 baseline by 2030. Climate Alliance cities and municipalities will cut emissions through energy conservation and efficiency measures and the use of renewable energy sources. They are also committed to avoiding procuring tropical timber derived from destructive logging and helping indigenous partners to conserve the rainforests.
“The new target... extends far beyond the year 2010, but also permits short-term monitoring of performance,” reported Joachim Lorenz, a Munich city councillor. “It allows local authorities who are only just starting their climate protection activities to pursue concrete quantitative goals,” he continued. The goal was announced at the 14th International Climate Alliance Annual Conference, held 4-6th May in Vienna , Austria . At the meeting, participants from across Europe exchanged experience and discussed strategies, measures and barriers affecting climate protection at the local level.
For more information, please see http://www.klimabuendnis.org/english/update/frameset.htm
Or contact: Klima-Bündnis / Alianza del Clima e.V. - Climate Alliance European Secretariat
Galvanistr. 28, D-60486, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Phone: +49-69-717139-0
Fax: +49-69-717139-93
Email: europe@klimabuendnis.org
Source Tiempo Climate Newswatch: http://www.tiempocyberclimate.org/newswatch/
ADAPTING TO CLIMATE CHANGE: INFORMATION AND NETWORKING
The Climate Change and Disasters Group , part of the Vulnerability and Poverty Reduction Team at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex , UK , have launched a new website as part of the Linking Climate Adaptation (LCA) Network: http://www.linkingclimateadaptation.org
The aim of LCA Network is to help communities, policy-makers, practitioners and academics share experiences and knowledge about adaptation to climate change. The website supports this objective by providing:
The LCA Team welcome comments, additions and suggestions and would be happy to include additional organizations and publications for inclusion on the website.
Climate Change and Disasters Group, IDS
Farhana Yamin, Research Fellow; Tom Mitchell, Research Fellow; Thomas Tanner, Research Fellow; Alan Stanley, Senior Editor, Eldis; Boudy van Schagen, Assistant editor, Eldis; Climate Change Resource Guide: Cassandra Blowers, Administrator and Megan Davies, Research Assistant
Farhana Yamin, Research Fellow, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, Brighton , BN1 9RE , UK
Phone: +44 1273 606261
Fax: +44 1273 621202
Email: f.yamin@ids.ac.uk
Website: http://www.ids.ac.uk
BASIC Project Website: http://www.basicproject.net
EUROPEAN CAPACITY BUILDING INITIATIVE (ECBI) ON CLIMATE CHANGE NEGOTIATIONS
A key limitation of the United Nations climate change negotiations is the lack of a level playing field between many delegations, particularly North-South, and South-South. Other major obstacles are mutual misunderstanding and a lack of trust, above all between industrialised and developing countries.
The European Capacity Building Initiative (ECBI) aims to reduce and overcome these limitations and obstacles through a number of capacity- and trust- building activities, subsumed under three complementary integrated Programmes:
The core of the ECBI is focused on collaborations with European and developing countries from Sub-Saharan Africa , and South Asia - including the regional leaders South Africa and India - and the Group of Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Outside these core regions, there is also participation from Brazil and China , as well as from OECD non-Annex B ‘Advanced Developing Countries’ (ADCs), such as Mexico and Turkey .
Three ECBI Fellows, Amjad Abdullah ( Maldives ), Bubu Pateh Jallow (The Gambia ) and Mohammad Reazuddin ( Bangladesh ) have recently written an Opinion Piece on Operationalising the Kyoto Protocol’s Adaptation Fund, a topic on the agenda for the Climate Change Conference in Nairobi , November 2006.
The piece is available at http://www.EuroCapacity.org
European Capacity Building Initiative, Oxford Climate Policy, Box 193 , 263 Banbury Rd , Summertown, Oxford , UK
Fax: +44 1865 421 898
IGES INFORMATION ON THE CLEAN DEVELOPMENT MECHANISM IN ASIA
The Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) has upgraded their “CDM and JI in Charts” to Ver. 5.1. All the changes from previous versions are listed in the book.
“CDM and JI in Charts” is a booklet providing a plain and easy-to-understand description of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and other Kyoto mechanisms. It is published by IGES as part of the Integrated Capacity Strengthening for the CDM/JI (ICSCDM/ JI) Programme under the Ministry of the Environment, Japan . To download: http://www.iges.or.jp/en/cdm/report01.html
IGES has also produced 6 CDM Country Guides, a series of manuals for CDM project development for each Asian country. Guides are now available for Cambodia , China , India , Indonesia , the Philippines , and Thailand .
The Guides aim to facilitate CDM project developments in Asia by providing necessary information to both project developers and potential investors. The main focus of the Guides is to provide country-specific information from a practical aspect of preparing CDM projects in the selected countries. The information goes far beyond that of currently available CDM guidebooks and includes: CDM potential sectors, project approval procedures, legal aspects, financing issues and government incentives which may affect project developers and/or investors.
In addition, the guides have many annexes that vary among the countries based on information availability. These include such things as a contact list of major stakeholders, a Project Concept Note (PCN) form and other valuable information.
The Guide was compiled under the Integrated Capacity Strengthening for the CDM/JI (ICS-CDM/JI) Programme initiated by the Ministry of the Environment, Japan . ‘CDM Country Guide’ can be downloaded from the IGES website at: http://www.iges.or.jp/en/news/topic/0512cdm.html
For further information:
IGES CDM Programme cdm-info@iges.or.jp
Institute for Global Environmental Strategies
2108-11 Kamiyamaguchi, Hayama, Kanagawa 240-0115 JAPAN
Phone: +81 46-855-3820
Fax:+81 46-855-3809
http://www.iges.or.jp
UP IN SMOKE? LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN : THE THREAT FROM CLIMATE CHANGE TO THE ENVIRONMENT AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
The third report from the Working Group on Climate Change and Development, a coalition of 20 major environment and development groups is now available. With a foreword by Juan Mayr, former Colombian Environment Minister and President of the first Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, the report catalogues the impact of climate change and environmental degradation ranging from drought in the Amazon to floods in Haiti and elsewhere; vanishing glaciers in Colombia to extreme cold in the Andes ; and hurricanes, not only in Central America and the Caribbean , but also in southern Brazil .
The Working Group on Climate Change and Development includes ActionAid, Bird Life International, CAFOD, Christian Aid, Columban Faith and Justice, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, IIED (International Institute for Environment and Development), MedAct, nef (the new economics foundation), Operation Noah, Panos, People & Planet, Practical Action (formerly ITDG), Progressio (formerly CIIR), RSPB, Tearfund, teri Europe , WWF, Worldvision International.
Up in smoke? Latin America and the Caribbean : The threat from climate change to the environment and human development can be downloaded in English http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/uploads/15erpvfzxbbipu552pnoo1f128082006213002.pdf
The Spanish version available at: http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/uploads/15erpvfzxbbipu552pnoo1f128082006213236.pdf
Source: message by Andrew Simms on the IISD climate change info mailing list. You may subscribe to IISD Reporting Services’ free newsletters and lists for environment and sustainable development policy professionals at http://www.iisd.ca/email/subscribe.htm
SATELLITE IMAGES FOR CHINA , BRAZIL AND NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES
The China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite (CBERS2) images are now available for download at no cost for requests coming from South American countries. The CBERS Programme was initiated in 2004 as a result of a partnership between Brazil and China to develop the remote sensing satellites technologies required to monitor their huge territories.
CBERS-2 was launched in 21 October 2003, from a Chinese base. It has three imaging sensors:
The opening of the CBERS Catalogue of Images without restrictions and cost for neighbouring countries to Brazil and China , was decided in the last meeting of the CBERS Joint Committee of Program, last March in Pequín, following the directions given by the two governments on the pacific aim of the initiative.
This new service was presented by the National Institute of Espaciais Searches (INPE), organ of the Ministry of Science and Technology, in charge of the CBERS Programme in Brazil , on 28 and 29 of March, in Chile , during the preparatory meeting of the 5th Space Conference of the Américas.
The extension of the free distribution of images will benefit the following countries of South America : French Guyana , Surinam, English Guyana, Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Venezuela .
The digital images of all sensors are distributed for free in Brazil and in footprint from around the ground station in Cuiaba- MT, Brazil , which covers parts of South America . To access to the images, please see the Catalogue of Images on the Web site http://www.dgi.inpe.br/CDSR and fill in the form with latitude and size of the area of interest. The required images will be sent through the Internet in a matter of minutes. Brazil is one of the greatest distributors of satellite imagery of the world, thanks to its policy of free distribution since June 2004. Up to March 2006, 190 thousand images were distributed to Brazilian users only.
(source: FAO Global Land Cover Network News http://www.glcn.org/news/)
POWERPOINTS OF UNEP’S ATLAS RELEASED FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES
One Planet, Many People: Atlas of Our Changing Environment , announced in the previous issue of the ETFRN News, provides a comprehensive, visual presentation of scientifically verifiable information about changes in the global environment, shown through state-of-theart remote sensing technology.
A collection of 405 Powerpoint slides divided into Regional and Thematic sets covering 11 contemporary and dynamic themes – Introduction to the Planet, People and Planet, Atmosphere, Coastal Areas, Urban Areas, Water and Lakes, Forests, Cropland, Grassland, Tundra and Polar Areas and Extreme Events – and 6 geographical regions – Africa , Asia and the Pacific, Europe , Latin America , North America and Polar Regions – can now be downloaded free of charge at http://www.na.unep.net/OnePlanetManyPeople/powerpoints.html.
This presentation of environmental hotspots and issues is based primarily on satellite imagery taken over 30 years showing how human actions and geophysical activities have changed various parts of the world. Examples include the shrinking ice in the Arctic , melting glaciers, growth of cities like Las Vegas , forest loss in the Amazon, and the decline of the Aral Sea and Lake Chad .
Satellite images found in the 334-page hard-bound Atlas are packaged in this Powerpoint presentation format to facilitate the use of imagery by environmental policy makers, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, academics, teachers and citizens interested in using this material to visually demonstrate the changes resulting from natural processes and humaninduced activities.
Tejaswi Giri (Mrs.), UNEP/GRID, USGS/EROS Data Center
47914 252nd Street, Sioux Falls , SD , 57198 , USA
Fax: +1 605 594 6119
Email: tgiri@usgs.gov
Source: IISD climate change info mailing list
Subscribe to IISD Reporting Services’ free newsletters and lists for environment and sustainable development policy professionals at http://www.iisd.ca/email/subscribe.htm
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT AND THE FOREST SECTOR
Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is an instrument to enhance decision making on policies, plans and programmes in the forestry sector, such as a Forest Bill, a national forest strategy and forest management and use plans.
The final objective of SEA in the forestry sector is to contribute to sustainable forest management and good governance. More concretely:
Supporting the introduction and application of SEA is one of the major tasks of the Netherlands Commission for Environmental Assessment (NCEA). We define SEA as a tool to bring people together in planning processes, and to structure and feed their debate on the consequences of strategic choices. Public participation, transparency and good quality information are key principles. Where needed, SEA also includes social and economic issues.
At present the NCEA is supporting the development of a SEA in Georgia for the National Forest Strategy. It is expected that FAO will be one of the partners involved. In this process, the recently adopted CBD Guidelines for Biodiversity in EIA and SEA (of which the NCEA is the major author) will be applied. The NCEA also closely follows the SEA process of the Forest Bill in Kenya , initiated by the World Bank. A two-page key sheet on SEA in the forest sector will become available soon.
Our advisory services are provided to governmental decision makers in those countries that have a bilateral relationship with the Netherlands Ministry of International Cooperation. Requests for support from other countries are considered, when we have sufficient staff time available and provided external funding is guaranteed.
Contact: Netherlands Commission for Environmental Assessment
P.O. Box 2345 , 3500 GH Utrecht , The Netherlands
For any question or request, please contact the helpdesk@eia.nl
Website: http://www.eia.nl/ncea/index.htm
Key sheets on Strategic Environmental Assessment and Biodiversity in EIA and SEA are available at: http://www.eia.nl/ncea/products/publications.htm
POLICY BRIEF ON CERTIFICATION FOR SMALL FOREST ENTERPRISES TO COMBAT FOREST DEGRADATION
The Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), based in Japan , has published a policy brief entitled ‘Combatting Forest Degradation: Certification as a driving force for amelioration - Challenges for small forest enterprises’
The natural forests of many Asia-Pacific countries are rapidly degrading or disappearing, threatened by a complex array of forces and appropriate measures for sustainable forest management are urgently required.
Forest certification provides a credible means of verifying the legality of timber/wood products and ensures that forests are managed according to the recognised principles of sustainable forest management. However, present supplies of certified timber, especially from tropical countries, are expected to fall short of the future demand envisioned by Japan and other importer countries. Small forest enterprises are a feature of forestry in many tropical countries and could play an important role in supplying certified timber.
This policy brief introduces four measures to improve the accessibility of forest certification to small forest enterprises referred to in IGES case studies done in Papua New Guinea .
Author: Dr. Henry Scheyvens, Policy Researcher, IGES Forest Conservation Project, scheyvens@iges.or.jp
The policy brief may be downloaded from: http://www.iges.or.jp/en/pub/policybrief.html
or contact: Megumi Kido, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)
Phone: +81-46-855-3700
Fax: +81-46-855-3709
Email: kido@iges.or.jp
http://www.iges.or.jp
Source: IISD forest policy info mailing list You may subscribe to IISD Reporting Services’ free newsletters and lists for environment and sustainable development policy professionals at http://www.iisd.ca/email/subscribe.htm
RSPO SUSTAINABLE PALM OIL PRINCIPLES AND CRITERIA
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) adopted the Principles & Criteria (P&C) for Sustainable Palm Oil Production at its 3rd Roundtable Meeting on Sustainable Palm Oil, and 2nd General Assembly of members held in November 2005. Programmes were initiated to provide a framework for verification of the P&C , to develop a Code of Conduct for all members and a Smallholder Task Force and several other activities were launched. At its roundtable meeting in November 2006, the RSPO shared preliminary results of this two year trial P&C implementation period. The presentations given are available on the RSPO website.
RSPO accepted its 100th Ordinary Member on 22 May 2006 , and has a total membership of around 140 members as of July 2007.
For more information, please contact: RSPO Secretariat, Mont Kiara Business Centre,
Suite D-03-01, Plaza Mont Kiara 2, Jalan Kiara , 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Phone: +60 3 6411 8803
Email: rspo@rspo.org
Website: http://www.rspo.org
THE FUTURE OF TRADE, AID AND SECURITY - 6 KEY OBJECTIVES
Supporting peace and security through natural resource trade and aid policies
The Trade, Aid and Security (TAS) initiative is a research program jointly co-ordinated by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the World Conservation Union (IUCN) with funding from the governments of Norway and Italy.
Since 2000, the initiative has focused on the way in which the exploitation of natural resources for international commerce can contribute to violent conflict at the sub-state and international level, and on the role of development assistance and trade liberalization-in tandem or in isolation-in fuelling or alleviating this downward spiral.
On the basis of this understanding, our current research focuses on identifying practical policy solutions for domestic and international policy-makers.
To that end IISD and IUCN have produced a series of policy briefs that outline six key objectives that the international community should strive to achieve if trade and aid policy is to support peace and security rather than increasing the likelihood and longevity of violent conflict.
Those objectives are: developing conflictsensitive trade and aid policies; restricting the trade in conflict resources; promoting ‘good’ governance and conflict-sensitive business practice; and improving the management of revenues from natural resources and aid. The briefs (i) explain why each objective is critical to security between and within states; (ii) assess current initiatives that attempt to realize that objective; and (iii) make recommendations for future action.
The policy briefs may be downloaded from the IISD Trade, Aid and security website, which also includes background papers and case studies: http://www.iisd.org/security/tas/
or contact:
Oli Brown, Project Manager, International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)
9 chemin de Balexert, Chatelaine, 1219
Phone: 0041 22 917 8630
Fax: 0041 22 917 8054
Email: obrown@iisd.org
UNITED NATIONS FORUM ON FORESTS INVITES INPUTS ON PRIORITIES
The United Nations Forum on Forests is inviting ‘major groups’ to submit discussion papers to its next meeting, highlighting priorities for the negotiation process. To facilitate the groups’ discussions, it has developed a web-based discussion forum for each group. To view or participate, please see http://esaconf.un.org/WB/?boardID=unff
The following ‘major groups’ have been identified:
For more information on the UNFF, please visit: http://www.un.org/esa/forests/
Or contact:
The UNFF secretariat, Department of Economic and Social Affairs
The United Nations Forum on Forests Secretariat
DC1-1245, One UN Plaza, New York , NY 10017, USA
Phone: +1 212 963 3160 / 3401
Fax: +1 917 367 3186
Email: unff@un.org
IPGRI CHANGES NAME TO BIOVERSITY INTERNATIONAL
The International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) is changing its name to Bioversity International or Bioversity (not biodiversity), according to a Special Message from the Director General, Dr Emile Frison, published on the IPGRI website.
Dr Frison writes: “Bioversity International echoes our new strategy, which focuses on improving people’s lives through biodiversity research.The new name will take effect from 1 st December 2006 .
IPGRI’s agenda has evolved over the past 10 years. At the end of 2004, IPGRI developed a new strategy entitled ‘Diversity for Well-being: Making the Most of Agricultural Biodiversity’. IPGRI then decided to review ways to better reflect its focus and work through its branding, which includes a name change.
In particular, IPGRI’s new strategy recognizes the following changes:
The new IPGRI strategy may be downloaded from the IPGRI website: http://www.ipgri.cgiar.org/index.htm
Please note the new address of IPGRI headquarters:
IPGRI-HQ
Via dei Tre Denari 472/a
00057 Maccarese (Fiumicino), Rome, ITALY
Phone: +39 06 6118.1
Fax: +39 06 61979661
Email: ipgri@cgiar.org
http://www.ipgri.cgiar.org
The Homepage of Basic Research
A new tool is available online for researchers and scientists worldwide: Enterscience.com, the new Homepage of Basic Research. The website provides continuously updated links to the best websites available for all activities and all researchers’ needs, such as funding opportunities, lab protocols, conference search, travel planning, article search or product and kit comparison, etc…
The goal of Enterscience is to speed up internet search and save scientist’s precious working time, by providing the best links by topic and location. The new Homepage of Basic Research www.enterscience.com is free, and requires no downloads nor subscriptions. Its goal is to become the reference website, the starting point for scientists working in basic research worldwide.
Website: http://www.enterscience.com
Email: info@enterscience.com
Source: message from Fabio Bianco University of Milano , Italy
INDIAN RESEARCH RESULTS ON PONGAMIA, JATROPHA AND OTHER AGROFORESTRY SPECIES
The Agroforestry Database Development Programme (INARIS), at the Indian National Research Centre for Agroforestry, Jhansi (UP), is making available bibliographic information on Indian research on Pongamia, Jatropha, and other agroforestry species. Pongamia and Jatropha seeds may be used to produce biodiesel, as discussed in the article on p.53 of this issue. Currently, the Pongamia database holds over 700 records of Indian research on the species, published between 1971 and 2005 in different journals and books. The INARIS programme also supports several other database initiatives and is funded by the World Bank.
For further information, please see: http://mirror.inaris.gen.in/net.
CGVLIBRARY: WEB GATEWAY TO GLOBAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH
The Virtual Library of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) provides access to research on agriculture, hunger, poverty, and the environment. From one search engine, you can tap into leading agricultural information databases, including the online libraries of all the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) research centers. Use the CGVlibrary to discover resources, go directly to the full text of thousands of publications, and stay current on CGIAR research. Custom-select which databases you want to search or use the topic-based QuickSets preselected by CGIAR information specialists.
RECOFTC: NEW TRAINING AND STUDY TOUR PACKAGE FOR 2007
The Regional Community Forestry Training Center for Asia and the Pacific (RECOFTC) designs and facilitates learning processes and systems to strengthen the capacity of community forestry institutions. In 2007, RECOFTC training programs and study tours will be delivered on demand and customized, to meet the specific needs of clients. The programs will continue to include a broad combination of specialist presentations, case study exploration and analysis, and field visits to highlight the issues in any chosen training theme in community-based natural resource management. Course content builds upon participant’s own experiences and work practice. RECOFTC can also adapt training courses to suit the national context and run training programs in many national languages from the region by working in collaboration with experienced national trainers or national training organizations.
For more information, please visit: http://www.recoftc.org/site/index.php?id=343.
Or contact: Ms. Noelle O’Brien, obrien@ku.ac.th; info@recoftc.org
Phone: +66 2940 1212/ +66-2-9405700;
Fax: 66-2-5614880