NWFP-Digest-L
No. 11/09
Welcome to FAO's NWFP-Digest-L, a free e-mail journal that covers all aspects of non-wood forest products. Back issues of the Digest may be found on FAO's NWFP home page: www.fao.org/forestry/site/12980/en.
You can take part in contributing to the continued success of this newsletter by sharing with the NWFP community any news that you may have regarding research, events, publications and projects. Kindly send such information to NWFP-Digest-L@mailserv.fao.org: We also appreciate any comments or feedback.
A special thank you to all those who have sent me links to information and also to Agnese Bazzucchi for her help with this issue.
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1. Bamboo: craftsmen earn a living through art
2. Bushmeat: new analysis sounds alarm over scale of trade in Central Africa
3. Cinderella fruit: wild delicacies become cash crops
5. Ginseng: research uncovers anti-inflammatory properties
6. Honey: natural way out of poverty
7. Medicinal Plants: concerns over herbal swine flu remedy
8. Rafflesia: new hope for world's biggest flower
9. Australia: Koalas "could face extinction"
10. Bhutan: forest products to help alleviate poverty
11. Botswana: traditional doctors are engaged in research on Traditional Knowledge
12. Brazil: Indigenous tribe teams with Google to make stand in Amazon
13. Colombia: endangered rainforest species at the mercy of jungle drug cartels
14. Democratic Republic of Congo: bushmeat workshop held in Kinshasa
15. India in talks with USA for granting access to TK data to curb biopiracy
16. India to host 2012 biodiversity summit
17. Madagascar: lemurs in danger from political turmoil and 'timber mafia'
18. Malaysia: palm oil threatens Borneo's rarest wild cats
19. Nigeria: women seek protection of their forests
20. United Kingdom: Japanese maples under threat from climate change
21. $3 million to save Mara River Basin, vanishing new wonder of the world
22. Forests much more than carbon storage
23. Illegal ivory demand could wipe out Africa's elephants by 2025
24. New policy brief on sustainable use of NTFPs
25. Opportunities for graduate students, National Science Foundation's EPSCoR program, USA
26. Species' extinction threat grows
27. Wildlife expert claims gorilla dung is critical to containing climate change
28. African Forestry and Wildlife Commission
29. IOF Forest-People Interaction Conference
30. 18TH Commonwealth Forestry Conference
31. FAO Senior Forestry Officer(Global Forest Resources Assessment)
32. Just forest governance: how small learning groups can have big impact
33. Other publications of interest
34. Birth of new species witnessed by scientists
35. First neotropical rainforest was home of the Titanoboa world's biggest snake
36. Orangutans unique in movement through tree tops
37. Training opportunity: Centre for Sustainable Development launch online field course
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PRODUCTS
1. Bamboo: Craftsmen earn a living through art
Source: Track.in news, India, 19 October 2009
Bihar (India) - Sitting in his small unkempt studio, known as The Bamboo Art Centre, artisan Sitaram Malik is concentrating hard to carve out a piece of art from dead and dry bamboo. Forty-year-old Malik has created many statues, facemasks and replicas of famous buildings which have won him laurels and awards. A seasoned artist, whose artefacts are in big demand in India as well as overseas, he earns a living out of bamboo art.
He says the art can come to the rescue of rural unemployed youth in his village. All he wishes is that the government should patronize and promote it "
The artist has trained many young people, who in turn are encouraging others in learning the skills of making bamboo artefacts.
Students who have learnt how to put bamboo poles and reeds in use are making household items like furniture, dustbins, tea mugs, wall hangings, and jewellery not only for their personal use but also for sale. "We encourage children in the village to pursue the art. We have trained people elsewhere and created job opportunities. There were people who were unemployed they took training from this centre. They are now working and earning a decent living," said Nabal Kishore, an artisan.
The artisans say depending on the traditional bamboo art will not only preserve and promote the art, but will also stop rural people from migrating to cities in search of jobs.
Bamboo is split into thin strips to craft beautiful items. Sourcing bamboo is economical and viable as it is the fastest growing woody plant in the world. Some of the prime species of bamboo have recorded growth rate of three to four feet in a single day.
For full story, please see: http://trak.in/news/bihar-artisans-earn-a-living-through-bamboo-art/15345/
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2. Bushmeat: new analysis sounds alarm over scale of trade in Central Africa
From: Roland Melisch, TRAFFIC International, 16 October 2009
New analytical techniques have revealed that the scale of bushmeat trade in Central Africa may be much larger than originally thought, according to a study published today by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network.
The study, based on an analysis of food balance sheets provided by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's statistical database FAOSTAT, strongly supports the view that the current situation surrounding bushmeat hunting in Central African rainforests is precarious. According to the analysis, bushmeat extraction rose considerably in the Congo Basin between 1990 and 2005, despite the overall decrease in forest cover in Central Africa.
Cameroon appears to be exceeding—by more than 100%—an estimated sustainable offtake of 150 kg of game meat per square kilometre of forest, and Gabon and the Republic of Congo are both close to this limit. The greatest rise in bushmeat production was in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the yield rose from 78,000 tonnes in 1990 to 90,000 tonnes in 2005. In the Republic of Congo, production almost doubled, from 11,000 to 20,000 tonnes per year in the same time period.
"While the FAOSTAT bushmeat data probably underestimates and should be regarded with caution, the data are the most readily available official sources of information on production of wild meat in the Congo Basin and are valuable indicators of bushmeat production and consumption trends," says Stefan Ziegler, Programme Officer with WWF Germany, and author of the report.
Wildlife is a significant and direct source of protein for more than 34 million people living in the Congo Basin and bushmeat hunting is a key component of many peoples' livelihoods in Central Africa.
Earlier studies have demonstrated that bushmeat extraction increases with human population growth. However, the latest study finds that bushmeat consumption increases significantly with personal wealth too.
"Bushmeat consumption is higher in countries with large urban populations, and the increasing urbanization in the Congo region is likely to place even greater pressure on wild animal populations there," says Ziegler,
"The danger is unsustainable offtake of wild game will lead to a collapse in wild animal populations and widespread human hunger in the region," says Ziegler.
Unsustainable harvest levels are widely believed to be the most immediate threat to the region's forest mammals. "Local people have hunted for centuries, for food and for barter, but the last 20 years have seen the emergence of a commercial bushmeat market due to rural people being increasingly drawn into the cash economy," says Nathalie van Vliet, TRAFFIC Bushmeat Strategic Advisor. "The impacts of subsistence hunting was previously balanced by the fact of the hunting was done on a rotation basis on alternate tracts of forest areas. However, shifts in human population dynamics and socio-economic factors are leading to rising, and increasingly unsustainable demands on wild animal populations."
An earlier WCS study found that off take by commercial hunters in south-eastern Cameroon was ten times more per immigrant hunter than for local subsistence hunters.
"What is clear is that management strategies to prevent over-harvesting need to be implemented and measures put in place to provide alternative sources of protein for the inhabitants of the region."
However, the study also indicated that the development of animal husbandry may not be an ideal solution to provide substitute protein for game meat. The study, Application of food balance sheets to assess the scale of the bushmeat trade in Central Africa, was launched today at the Convention on Biological Diversity's Bushmeat Liaison Group Meeting, currently taking place in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Further to the results of the study, TRAFFIC is encouraging countries in Central Africa to enhance enforcement efforts and establish concrete law enforcement mechanisms targeted at curbing commercial bushmeat poaching. "Central African countries can cooperate in addressing this growing problem through the development of a regional enforcement plan and creating the political will to combat commercial bushmeat poaching in regional fora such as the upcoming Yaounde +10 Summit." says Germain Ngandjui, TRAFFIC's representative in Central Africa.
For full story, please see: www.traffic.org/home/2009/10/16/new-analysis-sounds-alarm-over-scale-of-bushmeat-trade-in-ce.html
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3. Cinderella fruit: wild delicacies become cash crops
Source: NewScientist, 10 November 2009
If you had come here 10 years ago, says Thaddeus Salah as he shows us round his tree nursery in north-west Cameroon, you would have seen real hunger and poverty. "In those times," he says, "we didn't have enough chop to eat." It wasn't just food - "chop" in the local dialect - that his family lacked. They couldn't afford school fees, healthcare or even chairs for their dilapidated grass-thatch house.
Salah's fortunes changed in 2000 when he and his neighbours learned how to identify the best wild fruit trees and propagate them in a nursery. "Domesticating wild fruit like bush mango (Irvingia gabonensis), has changed our lives," he says. His family now has "plenty chop", as he puts it. He is also earning enough from the sale of indigenous fruit trees to pay school fees for four of his children. He has been able to re-roof his house with zinc sheets and buy goods he could only dream of owning before. He even has a mobile phone.
From Salah's farm we gaze across the intensively cultivated hills which roll away towards the Nigerian border. "Ten years ago, you'd hardly see any safou (Dacryodes edulis) in this area," says Zachary Tchoundjeu, a botanist at the World Agroforestry Centre's regional office in the Cameroonian capital Yaoundé. "Now you see them growing everywhere."
The spread of African plum through these hills is one small part of a bigger movement that could change the lives of millions of Africans. The continent is home to some 3000 species of wild fruit tree, many of which are ripe for domestication. Chocolate berries, gingerbread plums, monkey oranges, gumvines, tree grapes and a host of others could soon play a role in ensuring dependable food supplies in areas now plagued by malnutrition.
Rural Africans consume an enormous variety of wild foodstuffs. In Cameroon, fruits and seeds from around 300 indigenous trees are eaten, according to a study by researchers at Cameroon's University of Dschang. A similar survey in Malawi and Zambia found that up to 40 per cent of rural households rely on indigenous fruits to sustain them during the "hungry months", particularly January and February, when supplies in their granaries are exhausted and they are waiting for their next harvest.
Some of these so called "famine foods" have already been domesticated by accident, says ethnoecologist Anthony Cunningham of People and Plants International, an NGO based in Essex Junction, Vermont, USA. He cites the example of marula (Sclerocarya birrea), a southern African tree in the cashew family with edible nutty seeds encased in a tart, turpentine-flavoured fruit. "Long before the development of agricultural crops, hunter-gatherers were eating marula fruit," he says. "They'd pick the best fruit, then scatter the seeds around their camps." These would eventually germinate and mature into fruit-bearing trees, ensuring, in evolutionary terms, the survival of the tastiest. Marula is now fully domesticated and the fruit is used to make juice, a liqueur called Amarula Cream and cosmetic oils.
"If you come back here in 10 years' time, I hope - I'm sure - you'll see improved varieties of indigenous fruit tree on every smallholding," says Tchoundjeu. "I think you'll see a great diversity of different tree crops and a much more complex, more sustainable environment. And the people will be healthier and better off."
For full story, please see: www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427331.200-cinderella-fruit-wild-delicacies-become-cash-crops.html?page=3
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4. Devil's Claw (Harpagophytum procumbens): research work may save African plant as a natural health resource
Source: Personal Liberty Digest, USA 14 October 2009
An African plant with highly regarded medicinal properties has been threatened with extinction, but researchers around the globe are coming together to preserve its unique compounds for natural medicine.
Devil's claw (Harpagophytum procumbens) – which is under threat from drought in large parts of Africa – is believed to provide effective treatments for a range of conditions including arthritis and tendonitis. In fact, its extracts are in Phase II clinical trials in the U.S. for the treatment of hip and knee arthritis.
Scientists suspect that its beneficial effects stem from compounds called iridoid glycosides harpagoside and harpagide.
Dr. Milen I. Georgiev says the plant currently faces significant problems with natural renewal, mainly due to low rainfall in areas where it grows. "These problems are driving efforts to find alternative ways to produce high value compounds from the plant, independent of geographical and climatic factors," he stresses.
Georgiev is one of the scientists spearheading the effort, and at the recently held 238th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society he presented a paper which describes a new technique which may be used to develop "biofactories" that could produce large quantities of the plant extracts at low cost.
For full story, please see: www.personalliberty.com/news/research-work-may-save-devils-claw-as-a-natural-health-resource-19398515/
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5. Ginseng: research uncovers anti-inflammatory properties
Source: Personal Liberty Digest, USA, 30 October 2009
According to the results of a new study, the herb ginseng—which has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for millennia—may be a natural anti-inflammatory agent.
The news comes from the University of Hong Kong where scientists isolated seven ginseng compounds, called ginsenosides, which they say show strong immune-suppressive effects.
Using human immune cells, which they treated with extracts of ginseng, they discovered the seven ginsenosides had the ability to selectively inhibit expression of the inflammatory gene CXCL-10.
Allan Lau, lead researcher on the team, says the beneficial effects of ginseng may result from the combined effects of ginsenosides which appear to target different levels of immunological activity.
However, he added that "further studies will be needed to examine the potential beneficial effects of [the herb] in the management of acute and chronic inflammatory diseases in humans."
Ginseng is a perennial fleshy plant native to cooler climates of eastern Asia, including northern China, Korea and eastern Siberia. Extracts and nutritional supplements containing ginseng are widely available across the globe.
For full story, please see: www.personalliberty.com/news/research-uncovers-anti-inflammatory-properties-of-ginseng-19422913/
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6. Honey: natural way out of poverty
Source: allAfrica, 29 October 2009
Kampala (Uganda) — Born 60 years ago, Mugisha Elly never knew that his love for bees would turn into an income generating activity. At an early age, he started by harvesting wild honey combs, a habit that developed into a passion down in Bushenyi District, where he was born.
The owner of 6.2 hectares of land says that his love for beekeeping was at some point the source of conflict between him and his father. However the returns he enjoys today are a good consolation for all those troubles. "I'm harvesting 1.6 metric tonnes (1,600 kg) of honey twice in a year and 1kg goes for Shs 4, 000," he says. In the beginning, he used reeds to weave his five behives and harvested 5kg. At that time, each kilo sold at Shs50.
"I used the money to buy a shirt and bed sheets, it was a lot by then" he recalls. It is those earnings that inspired him to hold on to his passion, which enabled him to multiply his hives to four, after two years. Presently, as Managing Director of Bushenyi Connoisseur Honeys Co-operative Society Limited, Mugisha says that he does not only depend on bees for honey but uses the wax to make candles, which he sells to supplement his income.
However, this work is done by his four children in whom he says he has instilled the attribute of hard work. During holidays, the children rest on Saturdays and Sundays only, their dad says that they have to reap something out of the bees as well. "(on average) each child makes twenty candles per day, " he says.
The entrepreneur who married in his 40s due to his love for bees says he had to buy land, settle his bees and then consider marriage. He adds that despite his late marriage, he has raised his children, whose effort sees him sell each candle at Shs400. However, out of the Shs400, he saves Shs200 for each child and uses the rest to buy more wax. "It has managed to pay part of their fees and maintain them," he adds.
After school, Mugisha joined several trainings including apiary management, simple bee biology and bee product handling. He later joined a teacher's training college in Bushenyi where he was not only trained as a tutor but appointed as the bees' master, "despite being a student I would earn Shs80,000 per month," he says.
As the bees master, the founder of Bushenyi Connoisseur Honeys Cooperative Society Limited organized a group of 30 students who started a bee keepers club, these were later joined by other members of the society. "(Altogether) we would produce 1 metric tonne (1,000 kg) of honey which we would sell locally," he adds.
The group's efforts did not stop there as in the following year, the sales not only increased to 2.5 metric tonnes but the market was expanded to Kampala as well. Among others, the earnings from bee keeping have enabled Mugisha buy cows and construct two fish ponds. "I am able to sell my fish to the community and use some for home consumption," he says.
Yesterday's challenges pave way for today's success and that's what happened to Mugisha's enterprise. Marketing alone was a challenge and that is why he spearheaded the merging of a group of beekeepers, which lessened the burden of searching for a market.
In his enterprise life, the beekeeper, says there is a lack of information in Uganda for beekeepers and therefore they fail to reap higher yields due to lack of direction.
The farmers of this natural product are also faced with a challenge of conservation. Honey is a perishable product and therefore if not well conserved, it goes bad quickly. Unfortunately, local farmers can not afford the modern expensive preservation methods.
In future, he hopes to increase the volume of honey through establishing nursery beds to provide nectar for his bees. He will decorate his compound with flowers that can attract bees as well.
He also intends to buy more land and attract more community members to engage in beekeeping and create ways of exporting honey.
For full story, please see: http://allafrica.com/stories/200910290279.html
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7. Medicinal Plants: Concerns over herbal swine flu remedy
Source: SciDev.Net, 13 October 2009
Excitement about a potential herbal remedy for swine flu — influenza A(H1N1) — may be unfounded, according to an expert in pandemic preparedness.
There was wide publicity last month for the discovery that compounds in the roots of the plant Ferula assafoetida — used during the 1918 flu pandemic — have "potent" activity against A(H1N1) viruses in laboratory tests and could be a cheap, traditional way of tackling infection.
But George Avery, of Purdue University in the United States, says the time needed to demonstrate effectiveness, along with proving its safety, rules it out as a treatment for this outbreak. "It is a promising discovery but a long way from demonstration as a viable product, much less for widespread use," he says. "I would use great caution in attributing significance to this finding at present," he told SciDev.Net. He says the antiviral effect has been shown only in the laboratory, not in more complex animal models. "Nor is there evidence to show that they are of low enough toxicity to produce less harm than they prevent," he says.
The plant, commonly called devil's dung (Ferula assafoetida) because of its foul smell, grows in central Asia, mainly in Afghanistan, China and Iran. It has been used for centuries in folk medicine for various illnesses including influenza — and has a number of present-day supporters.
The lead researcher on the Ferula assafoetida research, Yang-Chang Wu at Kaohsiung Medical University, Taiwan, says: "The discovery may not only cure and/or prevent A(H1N1) flu, but also lead to new drug development against H1N1 viruses". "I think it's a wonderful discovery," says Shahana Urooj Kazmi, dean of the University of Karachi's faculty of science, Pakistan. "This medicinal plant extract is already in use for other ailments. I would expect that it should be a good source of an anti-A(H1N1) flu control medicine if found safe in clinical trials."
Meanwhile, Ali Karami, molecular biologist at Baqiyatallah Medical Sciences University, Iran, suggests setting up a regional research plan to evaluate the potential of the plant for drug development.
The research was published online in the Journal of Natural Products on 19 August 2009.
For full story, please see: www.scidev.net/en/news/concerns-over-herbal-swine-flu-remedy.html
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8. Rafflesia: new hope for world's biggest flower
Source: The Brunei Times, 10 November 2009
Deep in the jungles of Southeast Asia blooms the world's biggest flower — a massive fleshy orb designed by nature to attract insects by mimicking the colour and stench of rotting meat. The bizarre bloom, named Rafflesia after famed British colonialist Sir Stamford Raffles who stumbled across one in Borneo in 1818, is under threat from deforestation and harvesting for traditional medicine. But under an innovative Malaysian scheme, indigenous tribes who once gathered Rafflesia buds by the sack load are being trained as custodians of the rare flowers, and to act as guides for ecotourists.
"We used to pick the buds and sell them to traders. We took many, many sack fulls," said Long Kadak, a member of the Semai tribe in Ulu Geroh, a scenic village in northern Perak state which has embraced the scheme. "But now we're not selling them because we want tourists to come and see our flowers. We make much more money that way," said
Long is one of a dozen guides who take visitors to the elusive blooms as well as to enchanting butterfly groves and waterfalls. As she guides a number of tourists behind her, she said the scheme had revived traditional skills and knowledge. "Only older people used to pick them because they knew the places where they grew. At that time we didn't know because we didn't often go deep into the jungle. Now the young people know how to reach them and return," she said. "Now we know the value of the flowers we don't allow our people to gather them. We've got to take care of this place," said Long, whose tribe is one of Malaysia's indigenous people known collectively as "Orang Asli".
Abdul Latiff Mohamad, a world expert on the Rafflesia, said the scheme has brightened the prospects of the plant which grows only on a specific jungle vine in parts of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. "When we first started studying Rafflesia we were in a state of shock. We didn't know much, including where they were distributed, but we did know they were being collected by the Orang Asli and others," he said. "Ten years ago we thought — if this state of affairs continues we may see extinction," said the scientist from the National University of Malaysia.
The total number of species is debated, but many scientists agree on 24, of which three are already extinct.
Sometimes called the "corpse flower" for its stomach-churning scent, or the "giant panda of the plant world" for its rarity, the Rafflesia is a parasite which has no stems or leaves. It first emerges as a small lump on the vine, and over about nine months swells into a cabbage-like bud which opens to reveal a massive five-petalled flower sometimes measuring more than 1m across. The bloom, coloured a mottled red, pink or orange depending on the species, is visible for just a few days, before turning black and rotting away. Not all varieties of Rafflesia have the distinctive stench, and even among those which do, the open bud has to be caught just at the right time. Abdul Latiff confesses he has rarely caught the full whiff. The smell is due to the exuding smell to attract the carrion flies. They come browsing and help in pollination. But the flies must have a better sense of smell than I do!" he laughs.
The conservation scheme originated in Sabah state in Borneo in 1993, when an enterprising national parks official asked indigenous people to monitor the buds so he could alert hotels, who sent guests to see an open bloom.
Abdul Latiff said that as well as providing income for local people, the new ecotourism business influenced developers who previously had quietly hacked out Rafflesia groves to avoid any interference from environmentalists. "The Rafflesia population of Sabah really was saved. There was no over-collection any more and people took the initiative to locate new populations they had heard about from their grandfathers," he said.
There are several more sites across the country which are potential locations for Rafflesia conservation programs, he said, including some areas where "sacks and sacks" of buds are still being harvested.
New interest in the Rafflesia has seen more studies carried out, into its range and even its DNA. But Abdul Latiff says its best hope is with the Orang Asli. "They have had an association with the jungle much longer than us. If they fail in looking after the Rafflesia, what chance do I have?" he said. "I'm emotional about it because I'm a scientist and I don't think we have the right to drive anything to extinction. Without this programme, they would have faced a slow death."
For full story, please see: www.bt.com.bn/en/science-technology/2009/11/10/new-hope-worlds-biggest-flower
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9. Australia: koalas "could face extinction"
Source: BBCNews.co.uk, 10 November 2009
Australia's koalas could be wiped out within 30 years unless urgent action is taken to halt a decline in population, according to researchers. They say development, climate change and bushfires have all combined to send the numbers of wild koalas plummeting.
The Australian Koala Foundation said a recent survey showed the population could have dropped by more than half in the past six years. Many have been killed by the sexually transmitted disease Chlamydia.
Previous estimates put the number of koalas at more than 100,000 - but the latest calculations suggest there could now be as few as 43,000. The foundation collected field data from 1,800 sites and 80,000 trees to calculate the numbers. In one area in northern Queensland estimated to have 20,000 koalas a decade ago, a team of eight people could not find a single animal in four days of searching.
The foundation said as well as problems caused by deforestation, hotter, drier conditions attributed to global warming had reduced the nutritional value of their staple food, eucalyptus leaves, leading to malnutrition.
Koalas, which are confined to forests in Australia's east and south, are notoriously fussy about what types of the leaves they eat. Foundation chief Deborah Tabart said: "The koalas are missing everywhere we look. It's really no tree, no me. If you keep cutting down trees you don't have any koalas."
She is hoping the new figures will persuade the government's Threatened Species Steering Committee (TSSC) to list the koala as threatened. But committee chairman Bob Beeton said a decision was not likely until mid-2010 - and the koala's status as one of the country's favourite animals would not be a factor. "There's a number of species which are charismatic and emotionally charged. We don't consider that," Mr Beeton was reported as saying by the AFP agency. "We'd consider the koala with the same level of diligence and dedication as if it were the death adder."
For full story, please see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8352107.stm
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10. Bhutan: forest products to help alleviate poverty
Source: Kuenselonline, Bhutan, 30 October 2009
Farmers from Trongsa will not have to go to Zhemgang divisional forest office to ask for permission for the use of forest products like in the past. The time and cost saving measure will be made possible after the Department of Forests (Dof), with a strong focus on delivery of services through decentralisation, will allow the territorial forest offices to issue permits.
This move to improve service delivery is one of the sub-themes discussed in the second annual forestry conference held in Zhemgang from 29 to 31 October. "The DoF is making it simple and convenient for the farmers," said the nature conservationist, Dr Sangay Wangchuk.
With the main theme of "Managing Forestry Resources for Poverty Alleviation", forest officers will also sort out how to enhance the access of forest resources, especially NWFPs, by the community. "Clear-cut guidelines and frameworks for the use of forest products and marketing will be framed," said Dr Sangay Wangchuk.
NWFPs include cane and bamboo products, various medicinal plants, cordyceps, mushroom and different species of ferns. He said that lack of guidelines and frameworks restricted people from using the forest resources so far. "Giving farmers access to harvest forest resources would generate income to the community, which would help in poverty alleviation," he said.
The chief forest officers, park managers, dzongkhag forest officers, senior range officers, and representatives from WWF, Helvetas and SNV, will also discuss issues like sustainable forest management and linking conservation activities to livelihood, by developing strategies for income generation through ecotourism and urban recreational centres.
The conference will also discuss emerging issues such as role of forest resources in poverty alleviation, payment for ecosystem/environmental services and making conservation programmes sustainable through programmes such as ecotourism, urban recreational centres, etc.
The agriculture minister, who inaugurated the conference, also launched DoF's website www.dof.gov.bt. Bhutan has 72 percent forest cover, with 64 percent tree cover and 8 percent degraded forest.
For full story, please see: www.kuenselonline.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=13842
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11. Botswana: traditional doctors are engaged in research on Traditional Knowledge
Source: University of Botswana, 22 October 2009
The Centre for Scientific Research Indigenous Knowledge and Innovation (CESRIKI) is carrying out research in Maun, (Botswana) that seeks to address Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) as a vital source of knowledge adapted over centuries and strongly rooted in cultural and social relations. Maun and the Okavango Delta were selected because they represent areas of ethnic and cultural diversity, as well as of an enormous biodiversity.
CESRIKI recognizes the wealth of knowledge that needs to be explored, documented and studied, as well as modernized in a way that it contributes maximally to the benefit of communities in terms of development, innovation and entrepreneurship and to enable traditional doctors to express their views in decision making.
The Okavango research would also help in documenting, evaluating, validation and protecting widely practiced IKS and also to identify problems associated with their use that can serve as researchable topics to find solutions for them as well as create a database of IKS to ensure future access for IKS practitioners, community representatives and researchers.
Traditional doctors are involved as research partners. Activities carried out include consultative workshops and sampling of different plant medicine and testing. This will give the traditional doctors insight of how dangerous and helpful their plants could be. Ngaka Seputhe from Maun and many others will share their knowledge with researchers and certificates of appreciation will be awarded for providing and sharing traditional medical knowledge with the research team.
Traditional doctors are overwhelmed by the joint effort during such research. Ngaka Themba said he is very happy as this showed some development and a sense of recognition and appreciation. He said this bares testimony to the fact that indeed their profession is worthy and given the benefit of the doubt. He said they want to build cooperation with both the researchers and the University of Botswana.
The doctors affirmed to have learnt a lot about plant activities and their toxicity. However, traditional doctors were concerned about the research that their medicinal plants will become extinct once people learn about them. They called upon the authorities to find ways to preserve endangered plant species from harvesters. Another challenge faced by the traditional doctors is that most of them do not have formal education. The research statistics show that 47 percent of traditional doctors do not have formal education while 7 percent have Juniour Secondary Education.
The research exposed the need to establish contacts with IK practitioners in various parts of the country to explore appropriate modalities for interaction with IK practitioners as well as community leaders and members, and to develop a solid base for long-term and mutually beneficial relationships that are transparent and respectful.
For full story, please see: www.ub.bw/news.cfm?a=865
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12. Brazil: Indigenous tribe teams with Google to make stand in Amazon
Source: San Francisco Gate, 18 October 2009
The chief of an endangered Amazon tribe will unveil today the product of an unusual partnership with Google Inc. that pairs high tech with indigenous knowledge in an effort to rescue ancient rain forests and a dying culture.
Almir Surui, speaking at the 20th annual Bioneers Conference in San Rafael, plans to showcase Google Earth images years in the making that throw into sharp relief the rapid encroachment of illegal mining and logging onto his people's 600,000-acre reserve.
The data-rich maps include layers of videos, pictures, text and historical markers gathered by tribe members. It promises to underscore the importance of the land and propel the Surui people's efforts to become self-sufficient.
"Right now, under current development models, a standing forest is always worth less than its extractable parts," Chief Almir, 35, a stocky man with a bulldog head crowned by a feathered Amazon headdress, said through an interpreter.
"Forests are very important for the welfare of the indigenous people and for the world," he said. "We want to show concretely, practically that you can have quality of life and economic development, with an intact forest." The Google Earth updates will become viewable later this week.
The 1,300-member Surui tribe was 5,000 strong in the late 1960s, when it first came into contact with outsiders as construction began on the BR-364 highway through nearby Cacoal, Brazil, about 125 miles from the northwest border of Bolivia. The ensuing decades brought disease, crushing poverty and continual clashes with plunderers. The Brazilian Constitution grants indigenous tribes the right to their traditional lands, but the government hasn't backed the policy with the necessary resources to halt the incursions, environmental groups allege.
Eleven chiefs of Surui and neighbouring tribes have been shot and killed this decade, deaths members attribute to loggers and miners and see as clear warnings for others who would obstruct their efforts. Almir, an outspoken activist for nearly two decades and the first member of his tribe to graduate from college, has been cautioned there's a $100,000 bounty on his head.
Amazon Conservation Team of Arlington, Va. (USA), which funded and provided technical equipment for the mapping project, evacuated Almir to the United States for his safety in 2006. The following year, they took him to Silicon Valley to appeal directly to Google for help.
The company agreed to provide high resolution satellite images of the region and train the Surui people to survey their lands and document their culture, using tools like Google Earth, Google Maps, Blogger and YouTube.
The tribe adopted Amazon Conservation Team's methodology for so-called ethnographic mapping, which has been used to chart more than 40 million acres of rainforest. Members interviewed their elders, photographed their territory, and plotted out more than 2,000 important sites using GPS tools, including: ceremonial lands, hunting grounds, fishing spots and stands of the three tree types necessary to make their arrows.
"It shows how they use the land, their history on the land, the stories related to each point and also the spiritual side," said Vasco van Roosmalen, Brazil director for the Amazon Conservation Team.
All the data have been embedded into the Google Earth images that Chief Almir will unveil today, and will continue to be updated in the years ahead. The overarching hope is that stark pictures of deforestation's devastation will grab the world's attention and enlist new allies in the Surui's struggles.
For full story, please see: www.sfgate.com/cgibin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/18/MN4O1A3I0E.DTL
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13. Colombia: endangered rainforest species at the mercy of jungle drug cartels
Source: guardian.co.uk, 25 October 2009
Until recently, the Gorgeted Puffleg was rather obscure – in fact, until four years ago it did not officially exist. But although the tiny hummingbird was discovered only in 2005, in a small and remote region of rainforest in south-western Colombia, it is about to take centre stage in the war on drugs as governments around the globe alert the younger generation to the dangers of cocaine. Experts fear the bird is one of several hundred species that will become extinct within decades if Colombia's rainforests continue to be razed for the purposes of coca cultivation. Other animals under threat – and that appear in information packs distributed to European schoolchildren – include the harpy eagle, titi monkey, golden poison frog, tapir, spectacled bear and gorgona blue lizard.
Colombia, one of the largest environmental hubs in the planet, with a territory of more than 1 million square km, has been warning about the dangers of "ecocide" caused by the country's drug cartels for several years. As one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, it is home to 50,000 plant species and 18% of the world's bird species. But now it is attempting to make children aware that the threats facing its rainforests are a global issue that will have an impact on climatic stability.
The move represents a tacit admission that the past strategy of highlighting the cocaine trade's links to violence and kidnappings has struggled to leave much of an impression on the drug's users. "The environment is an issue that is important to everyone," said the Colombian minister for the environment, Carlos Costa Posada. "We are tired of using images of violence. It is all people think about when they think about Colombia – people don't want to come here for tourism. We are not saying this issue [cocaine's role in the destruction of the rainforests] is the most important issue, but it is something people can identify with."
Cultivation of illicit crops has led to destruction of 2.2 million hectares of tropical forest in Colombia, an area slightly larger than Wales. For every hectare of coca grown, 3 of forest are cut down. This means that for each gram of cocaine used, four square metres of rainforest are cleared.
The Gorgeted Puffleg (Eriocnemis isabellae) only 90 millimetres long, is particularly vulnerable. Its habitat consists of only 1,200 hectares of rainforest, 100 of which are disappearing every year because of coca cultivation. "We have around 400 species that are facing extinction," Costa Posada said. "Violence is a local issue, but biodiversity is a world issue – deforestation is a major contributor to climate change."
Cocaine production creates other problems for Colombians. The jungle laboratories used to refine the coca leaf into powder require significant amounts of chemicals that end up dumped into local water sources. Among them are the "dirty dozen", which are highly toxic and resist biodegradation.
The UK's Home Office minister Alan Campbell, who has recently returned from a fact-finding mission to Colombia, said the country was a key partner in the UK's war on the drugs trade. "Most of the cocaine coming into the UK comes from Colombia," Campbell said. "I've seen the damage the coca plantations are doing to Colombia at first hand and what it does to those communities. Maybe people will not listen to a middle-aged minister saying drugs are harmful, but the message may carry more impact if they know the harm they are doing to the environment."
In conjunction with the Colombian government, the UK is backing "Shared Responsibility", a global campaign to highlight what it says is "the environmental catastrophe caused by illicit crop cultivation felt around the globe".
For full story, please see: www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/oct/25/colombia-endangered-species-cocaine
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14. Democratic Republic of Congo: bushmeat workshop held in Kinshasa
From: Roland Melisch, TRAFFIC International, 8 October 2009
Some 50 participants from across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) met in Kinshasa this September to formulate a national action plan to address the issue of trade in wild meat, popularly termed "bushmeat".
The workshop, organized by ICCN (the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature) under the patronage of the Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Tourism) in collaboration with TRAFFIC Central Africa, brought together participants from national authorities, civil society representatives, other elected bodies and print and broadcast media.
They met to brainstorm how to identify the factors underlying the unsustainable management of wildlife in the DRC, to formulate a plan to address these issues and enable sustainable management of wildlife resources, and to develop a plan of action with defined objectives, expected outcomes, actions to perform, indicators, sources of verification and funding.
Stéphane Ringuet, Technical Advisor to TRAFFIC's Central Africa Programme, noted that TRAFFIC's role in the workshop was to support the development of a strategy and National Action Plan on bushmeat, and commented: "This strategy will help guide and focus the future efforts of the Democratic Republic of Congo, to establish a framework for action throughout the country."
Dr Petrus Ndongala-Viengele, representing the Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Tourism welcomed the support of development partners and stressed that the strategy would allow the DRC to conserve its present wildlife resources and give nature the time for them to regenerate. "Personally, I am worried about the future of our natural ecosystems: the cry of alarm inherent in the term 'empty forest syndrome' unfortunately became a reality for the forests of the DRC". "It would be a disaster for our country, home to endemic species including the Bonobo and the Northern White Rhino, to lose such animals. This workshop, to develop a nation management strategy for bushmeat, is therefore vital."
Mr Idi Omari India, representing the ICCN, underlined that his organization is "looking forward to seeing the end of the current process launched during this workshop to elaborate the national bushmeat strategy and action plan."
Participants identified the three main areas on which to construct the future strategy and action plan on bushmeat in the DRC, namely: (i) improvement of the efficiency of legal and institutional frameworks, (ii) the initiation and the promotion of alternative activities to bushmeat consumption and trade, and (iii) promoting awareness of the bushmeat problem by all stakeholders.
Workshop participants included representatives from the Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Tourism, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health, General Secretariat of Defence, General Secretary of the Interior, Directorate General of ICCN, regional environmental co-ordinators, national parks staff, COMIFAC (Central African Forest Commission), the Regional Programme for Central Africa for the Environment (CARPE/IUCN), the Biodiversity and Forests of the German Technical Cooperation, the University of Kisangani, the Working Group Forest (GTF), the Lukuru Wildlife Research Project (LWRP), IUCN, WWF, national NGOs and international organizations
For full story, please see: www.traffic.org/home/2009/10/8/wild-meat-workshop-held-in-kinshasa.html
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15. India in talks with USA for granting access to TK data to curb biopiracy
Source: Pharmabiz.com, India, 2 November 2009
After sharing the database of Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) with
European countries, India is now in talks with more countries including the US for similar agreement to grant access to the details in a bid to prevent wrong patents across the world on Indian medicinal plants.
The talks with US Patent and Trademark Office (US PTO) are in advanced stages and the agreement will be concluded soon. Likewise, the authorities are also negotiating with other countries like Japan and China so that it becomes a 'win-win' situation for all sharing countries, sources with the National Institute of Science Communication and Informative Resources (NISCAIR) said.
In February this year, India granted access to TKDL to the examiners at the European Patent Office (EPO) to prevent attempts at patenting existing traditional knowledge or to curb 'biopiracy'. Sources said the trend of giving wrong patents has come down, especially after India successfully set up the TKDL. In a study carried out in 2000 by the TKDL task force, as many as 4,896 patent references were found on the medicinal plants at the international level. It went up to 15,000 in the year 2003. However, another study in 2005 found that the number of patents on medicinal plants was 35,587.
After successfully fighting the wrong patents granted at US PTO on turmeric and basmati and at EPO on neem, the TKDL was created as fighting the wrong patents was expensive and time consuming. TDKL establishes prior art for approximately 2.04 lakh formulations transcribed in 5 international languages – English, French, German,
Spanish and Japanese – and prevents the grant of wrong patents, if claimed at the international patent offices.
The TKDL is a joint venture between five agencies including NISCAIR and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). The vast database includes 54 authoritative textbooks on ayurvedic medicine, nearly 150,000 Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha medicines and 1,500 physical exercises and postures in yoga, more than 5,000 years old.
The TKDL allows examiners to compare patent applications with existing traditional knowledge. New patent applications need to demonstrate significant improvements and inventiveness compared to prior art in their field. The TKDL is so precise that it lists the time, place and medium of publication for prior art. This new catalogue system, called the Traditional Knowledge Resource Classification (TKRC), ensures meticulous documentation.
More countries across the globe are also framing such database and sharing with other countries. In 2008, the Chinese patent office (SIPO) granted the EPO access to its 32000-entry database on traditional Chinese medicine.
For full story, please see: www.pharmabiz.com/article/detnews.asp?articleid=52398§ionid=
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16. India to host 2012 biodiversity summit
Source: Thaindian News, 31 October 2009
India has offered to host the 11th global biodiversity summit in 2012, a government spokesperson said here Saturday, adding that the head of the UN biodiversity convention secretariat has welcomed the offer. "This will allow us to continue the strategic partnership of the presidencies of the Conference of the Parties (to the biodiversity convention) started at the eighth meeting, held in Brazil in 2006," Executive Secretary of the convention Ahmed Djoghlaf said. "I look forward to India joining Brazil, Germany and Japan in the quadruple presidency."
UNEP pointed out that 2012 will be a very important year for the international green community as it will mark the 20th anniversary of the Rio Conference on Environment and Development, as well as the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The 11th summit will also be crucial as it will be the first opportunity for the international community to review post-2010 biodiversity conservation targets, the revised strategic plan of the UNCBD, and the international agreement on access and benefit-sharing.
India is among the 17 mega-diverse countries that are custodian of 70 percent of the world's biodiversity. It is home to the three of the 34 "global biodiversity hotspots", biologically rich areas facing severe conservation threats.
India's biodiversity is of immense economic, ecological, social and cultural value and its potential future value is far greater. The ecosystem services from the forested watersheds of two major mountain chains — the Himalayas and the Western Ghats — indirectly support several million people and non-timber forest products alone have been estimated to be worth $200 million a year.
For full story, please see: www.thaindian.com/newsportal/enviornment/india-to-host-2012-biodiversity-summit_100268314.html#ixzz0Z5L025Qe
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17. Madagascar: lemurs in danger from political turmoil and 'timber mafia'
Source: iplextra.com, India, 17 November 2009
The lemur, a furry primate that symbolises Madagascar's unique biodiversity, is under renewed threat from a "timber mafia" pillaging the island's forests for profit. Environmentalists warn that a political crisis in the impoverished country is reversing conservation gains of recent years and putting "hundreds if not thousands" of species, many not yet identified, at risk of extinction. Madagascar, which has been isolated from landmasses for more than 160 million years, is the world's fourth largest island and a "conservation hotspot" with thousands of exotic species found only here. These include nearly 100 species of lemur, six of which are deemed critically endangered.
Decades of logging, mining and slash-and-burn farming have destroyed 90% of Madagascar's forests, though the rate has slowed in the past two decades. The former president, Marc Ravalomanana, was praised for putting 6 million hectares under protection and backing eco-friendly community projects and sustainable farming. But Ravalomanana was ousted in March in a violent coup that led to a breakdown of law and order and a "gold rush" of armed loggers and poachers. International sanctions have caused the suspension of environmental programmes and could hit 45 national parks that are 90% dependent on overseas aid.
Lemurs' natural habitat is under threat from the accelerating deforestation. In addition, the endangered animals are being hunted for bushmeat, either to be eaten by drought-afflicted local populations or sold as a roasted delicacy in city restaurants.
Dr Hantanirina Rasamimanana, a researcher and teacher at Antananarivo University, said: "Deforestation is always a problem, but in these past five months bushmeat is also very dangerous. People are desperate because of the lack of rain." She added: "Here in Madagascar, when there is a political change, everything is burning. It's always like that. They burn, they cut, they destroy, they steal. "If they don't stop, I am afraid that some species will become extinct." Conservationists say that armed gangs are exploiting the security vacuum to pillage rosewood and ebony from supposedly protected forests on behalf of a so-called "timber mafia".
This year an estimated $100m worth of hardwood has been cut down and sold, mostly to China to be turned into furniture. The government, which levies a 40% export tax, is accused of not only failing to stop the trade but actively encouraging it. It issued an order last month authorising the export of raw and semi-processed hardwood. This supposedly related to trees already felled in cyclones, but environmental activists say it has only provided an incentive for more illegal logging.
Niall O'Connor, head of the World Wide Fund for Nature's Indian Ocean regional office, said: "This is the legalisation of illegally cut timber. The government stands to make a lot from the tax levied on this timber. The current crisis is setting back the good impacts made in conservation in the past 15 to 20 years."
About half of Madagascar's national budget, and 70% of investment spending, comes from outside assistance. But after the coup by city mayor and former DJ Andry Rajoelina, most international donors and lending agencies suspended or cancelled non-humanitarian assistance until a constitutional government is elected. The WWF has been forced to suspend several projects. O'Connor said: "The impact of not having funding is probably greater than the political crisis. You start to lose the confidence of the communities. If the World Bank doesn't fund Madagascar national parks, they will run out of money very quickly."
Madagascar's $390m (£230m) a year tourism industry, of which ecotourism is the backbone, is down to just 40% of its normal level due to this year's instability.
O'Connor warned that Madagascar's priceless natural laboratory was in jeopardy. "We have the potential for losing hundreds if not thousands of species. There are still new species being discovered: plants, birds, chameleons, lemurs, tortoises that we might not yet know about, that could be on the brink of extinction."
For full story, please see: http://iplextra.indiatimes.com/article/0dU8c1i50AecC
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18. Malaysia: palm oil threatens Borneo's rarest wild cats
Source: Mongabay.com, 4 November 2009
Oil palm expansion is threatening Borneo's rarest wild cats, reports a new study based on three years of fieldwork and more than 17,000 camera trap nights. Studying cats in five locations—each with different environments—in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, researchers found that four of five cat species are threatened by habitat loss due to palm oil plantations.
"No other place has a higher percentage of threatened wild cats!" Jim Sanderson, an expert on the world's small cats, told Mongabay.com. Pointing out that 80 percent of Borneo's cats face extinction, Sanderson said that "not one of these wild cats poses a direct threat to humans."
The groundbreaking study, undertaken by Jo Ross and Andrew Hearn with the UK's Global Canopy Program's Bornean Wild Cat and Clouded Leopard Project, has uncovered some of the first data on Borneo's wild cats. The five cats species in Borneo include the Sunda clouded leopard, the bay cat, the marbled cat, the leopard cat, and the flat-headed cat.
Sabah's five species of wild cat are a special conservation treasure, and this study has made a tremendous contribution to knowledge about them," Director of the WildCRU Professor David Macdonald said. Having worked with wild cats around the world, MacDonald is chairing a workshop in Sabah with various stakeholders to discuss conservation measures to protect the island's embattled cats.
Ross and Hearn discovered that Borneo's cats were present in both primary forests and recently logged over forest, yet only one of the five cat species—the leopard cat—utilizes palm oil plantations. For the other four species, palm oil plantations appear to be off-limits, even for migration purposes. In addition, Ross and Hearn found no evidence of the flat-headed cat utilizing or migrating in palm oil plantations, despite claims that the cats survive there. The researchers say that their findings should give special emphasis to keeping remaining forests—even those recently logged—free from further palm oil expansion.
"Wild cat (and wildlife) endangerment is due to a wide variety of threats including: unmitigated massive habitat loss caused by palm oil plantations, unregulated destructive logging practices including widespread small-scale illegal logging, unchecked poaching even in conservation areas and wildlife reserves, destruction of fresh water rivers and streams from logging, dumping of debris from oil palm plantations, bottom dredging for gold, and pollution caused by the use of streams as sewers, and the widespread use of nets for fishing," Sanderson explains.
Except for the leopard cat, Borneo's cats all occur in low densities. The study found that to have a viable population of 250 Sunda clouded leopards requires an area of 3,000-8,600 square kilometres. There are very places in Sabah with this much forest left.
"These wild cats, and especially the Sunda clouded leopard are important emblems of Borneo's forests, and it is vital to conserve them as umbrella species which provide protection to forest wildlife in general," Macdonald said.
The workshop entitled "First Steps Towards Conserving Bornean Wild Cats" is hosted by the Sabah Wildlife Department in collaboration with Universiti Malaysia Sabah and Global Canopy Program's Bornean Wild Cat and Clouded Leopard Project. The project is largely funded by the UK government's Darwin Initiative.
For full story, please see: http://news.mongabay.com/2009/1104-hance_borneo_cats.html
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19. Nigeria: women seek protection of their forests
Source: Thisday Online, Nigeria, 11 November 2009
Women from Yelwa community of Mambila Plateau in Sarduna Local Government of Taraba state have called on the Federal and State Governments to give necessary attention to the Ngel-Nyaki forest reserve.
Speaking during a visitation to the forest field station recently, the leader of the community women, Aminatu Yam, called on government to post forest officers to the reserve area. Yam said four outposts have been built within the reserve area, yet no forest officers have been posted to the outpost. She said the absence of the forest patrol officers continue to give opportunities to hunters who are encroaching into the forest reserve.
She said women from the community have also condemned the illegal grazing activities within the forest, adding that farmers in the community left the reserve area since 1986 but absence of forest patrol officers allowed illegal grazers to occupy the area illegally.
She explained that the forest's preservation is very important because most of the trees serve as medicinal plants.
The director of the field station Dr. Hazel Chapman, thanked the women for their support and commitment to ensure that the forest is preserved for future generations.
For full story, please see: www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=159524
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20. United Kingdom: Japanese maples under threat from climate change
Source: Telegraph.co.uk, 2 October 2009
Assessment of almost half of the 16,000 specimens of different trees at the Westonbirt Arboretum, Gloucestershire, UK by the Forestry Commission has found almost a quarter do not seem to be tolerant of drought.
The site's Japanese maples - the largest collection of the tree in Britain - are particularly vulnerable to the hotter drier summers and more frequent and severe droughts expected with a changing climate, the commission's research agency Forest Research found.
The maples are at risk because of their shallow roots and a preference to be in soils which retains water.
The problem faced by the 350 types of Japanese maple at the arboretum - and those popular in gardens and parks - is not of immediate concern, but could become an issue in the coming decades, experts said.
Because trees live for many years, decisions taken now about what to grow and where must take into account changes which will take place in the coming decades and centuries.
And action must be taken now to ensure the survival of trees at Westonbirt, which is managed by the Forestry Commission.
This October, a multi-million pound project is being launched to protect the existing collection of trees in the face of climate change, conserve the Grade I listed landscape and create new facilities to give people the chance to learn more about trees.
Simon Toomer, Westonbirt Arboretum's new director, said: ''Thousands of people flock to Westonbirt each autumn to stand and wonder at the spectacular seasonal colours.
''Westonbirt is a national treasure, and we're doing everything we can to make sure it remains so for generations to come.''
And he said: ''It's vital that we act now. Working closely with scientists at Forest Research, our expert team here at Westonbirt will safeguard these important trees, and pass on the lessons learned to help climate-proof Britain's trees and woodlands.''
Steps will be taken to help protect the trees at the site, including moving vulnerable specimens to areas with deeper and more water retentive soils and ensuring good management of soils.
Gardeners keen to protect their maples can employ simple measures such as weeding around the tree so that the grass or weeds do not take up the water and mulch them, while those in pots should also be kept well-watered.
For full story, please see:
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21. $3 million to save Mara River Basin, vanishing new wonder of the world
Source: allAfrica.com, 5 October 2009
Fresh efforts have been launched to save East Africa's New Wonder of the World -- the Mara River Basin ecosystem -- from environmental degradation. A three-year funding agreement between the East African Community (EAC) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is expected to ensure that the Mara River Basin is brought under sound management.
The $3 million grant, provided under USAID Africa's Trans-boundary Water for Biodiversity in the Mara River Basin initiative, will be channelled through the Lake Victoria Basin Commission. It was signed two weeks ago. Under the agreement, EAC's Lake Victoria Basin Commission is expected to implement the Mara River Basin's 2009 Biodiversity Action Plan adopted recently by EAC ministers.
The plan is aimed at addressing threats to biodiversity hotspots in the Mara River Basin and identifying the best way to manage such habitats. Being cross-border in nature, the project's implementation will involve Kenyan and Tanzanian government agencies.
To facilitate cross-boundary management of natural resources in the Mara basin, the programme has brought together forestry, water, wildlife and agricultural sectors for dialogue and action.
With headwaters in the Mau Forest, the Mara basin watershed extends from Kenya to northern Tanzania, encompassing Serengeti National Park and the Masai Mara Game Reserve.
The Mara River Basin also makes up part of the eastern rim of the larger Lake Victoria basin.
Wildlife anchors Kenyan and Tanzanian tourism. It relies on the healthy functioning of the two countries' uniquely integrated and rich ecosystem. The survival of this ecosystem depends on the flow of the Mara River. Experts warn that the Mara River's diminishing water resources are a major threat to the ecosystem. With less water flowing in the Mara, there will, certainly, be less to drink for wildlife and pastoral communities. This has significantly increased the potential for conflict. And it has lowered the economic returns of tourist related activities.
At the signing ceremony, EAC Deputy Secretary-General in charge of Finance and Administration, Julius Rotich, stressed the importance of the Mara River Basin ecosystem.
Commonly referred to as a New Wonder of the World, USAID's support will help reverse negative environmental trends in the basin, said Dr Rotich. He said the intervention on the Mara River Basin is timely, since environmental issues, in particular global climate change, are affecting all people. "You don't have to spend a lot of time trying to convince people about the environmental devastation that is being experienced. Rains are failing, rivers are drying up or getting polluted. We have all contributed to environmental degradation. And now we must do something about it," he said.
USAID's acting African regional director, Larry Meserve, said livelihoods in Kenya and Tanzania would be affected severely unless East Africans put in place structures and measures to manage their watershed ecosystems. He said the funding agreement on the protection of the Mara was an expression of USAID's and international partners' commitment to strengthen African regional organizations in addressing development challenges.
In 2003, East African Community partner states signed a protocol on Sustainable Development of the Lake Victoria Basin.
With its headquarters in Kisumu, the Lake Victoria Basin Commission was established in 2005 as a specialised institution of the EAC responsible for co-ordinating the development of the basin.
For full story, please see: http://allafrica.com/stories/200910051294.html
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22. Forests much more than carbon storage
Source: IPS news, 28 October 2009
The world's forests and jungles are much more than carbon storage sites and compensation for greenhouse emissions, experts and activists point out to governments that are negotiating a new global climate change treaty.
Forests hold two-thirds of the planet's biodiversity, provide vital services in terms of water and food supplies, and sustain the cultural and spiritual identities of some 1.6 billion people, including many indigenous communities that survive in the forest habitat. This was one of the main conclusions reached by the 13th World Forestry Congress, held 18-23 October in Buenos Aires, which drew more than 4,000 academics, experts, business leaders, government and multilateral officials and representatives of a broad range of non-governmental organisations.
The main theme of the Congress, sponsored by FAO and hosted by the Argentine government, was the link between forests and climate change. At the Forum on Forests and Climate Change, experts presented strategies for reducing greenhouse-effect gases produced by the deforestation and degradation of forested areas. The scientific consensus is that the accumulation of carbon gases in the atmosphere as a result of human activities is causing global climate change. According to FAO, some 13 million hectares of forest are logged worldwide each year, which drives up greenhouse gas emissions while damaging local biodiversity and undermining the livelihoods of millions of people.
However Forests are not just accumulated carbon, argued Peter Saile, with the international forest policy programme of the German government's technical cooperation agency, GTZ, presenting a concept that became part of the Congress's final document.
He said it is very important to have a broader perspective on forests' environmental services and complementary benefits of preserving them for their biodiversity and the people who live there. For his part, Gerhard Dieterle, of the World Bank's forest investment programme, said the negotiators of the new international climate treaty should "put climate change inside a broader agenda of sustainable development."
Voices were also raised at the Forum on the need for sustainable management of forest systems, with the support of the communities that inhabit them.
In late September 2008, the U.N. and the government of Norway presented the pilot programme Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD), which is expected to take shape at the Copenhagen talks. Under the programme, wealthy countries would pay developing nations to keep their forests intact. But with less than two months to go to the Copenhagen meet, there is disagreement about the implementation and effectiveness of the system. Some NGOs suspect that it might benefit only governments and business.
In a conversation with Tierramérica, Thais Linhares, director of the Brazilian Forest Service, explained that her country established the Amazonia Fund last year as part of the REDD initiative so that the government would be paid for preventing emissions by reducing deforestation in the vast Amazon region. "Our expectation is that in Copenhagen we will move towards a better definition, so that developing countries can capture market resources" aimed at mitigating climate change through halting deforestation, she said. "The Fund is our large national REDD strategy, while we also support other (smaller-scale) projects," Linhares explained.
However, not everyone agrees that the programme will actually preserve the forests. Activist Ana Filippini, a member of the international secretariat of the World Rainforest Movement, told Tierramérica that "it's difficult to oppose the REDD initiative in itself." But the mechanism is being pushed by governments and businesses, which are the ones that in the end will demonstrate or certify that they will abstain from exploiting forests, she said. "In order to collect the money, it's harder for an indigenous community to demonstrate that it is not going to destroy the forest, as REDD requires," said Filippini.
Roberto Acosta, representative of the Secretariat of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, argued that forests can contribute to reducing emissions by increasing carbon absorption, which would permit "immediate" action to prevent the "catastrophic impacts" of climate change. Forests have to be adequately monitored, he said, and projects should be developed that strengthen the technical and financial capacities of developing countries in forest preservation, with the participation of local communities - a point he considers "vital" for a successful strategy.
For full story, please see: www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49036
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23. Illegal ivory demand could wipe out Africa's elephants by 2025
Source: Mongabay.com, 20 October 2009
Nearly twenty years ago the ivory trade was banned by Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Many saw this as the most important step in preventing the continued loss of elephants at the hands of poachers, and for awhile poaching slowed down. But now elephants are in danger again: a report by the International Fund for Wildlife Welfare (IFWW) states that an astounding 38,000 elephants are killed for their tusks annually—over a hundred every day.
If the number poached elephants were to remain steady, the illegal wildlife trade could potentially drive elephants in Africa to extinction by 2025. IFWW is calling for a total ban of all ivory sales. Since taking on the issue, CITES has allowed a few one off sales of ivory from elephants that died natural deaths.
Some conservationists argue that a legitimate and legal ivory trade could benefit elephants. In other words, if countries with sizeable populations of elephants were allowed to sell the ivory from already deceased individuals they could use the profit for increased conservation efforts, including more anti-poaching patrols.
"The problem is that the possibility of these sales is revisited at every CITES conference, which means that legal buyers (currently, ivory traders and merchants in China and Japan) can never be certain of future supply. That keeps the black market alive, preventing legal ivory from undercutting illicit supplies and crippling organized poaching," John Frederick Walker wrote in a Washington Post op-ed on the issue.
Others say that any ivory sold legally sends the wrong message and allows demand to remain high in China and Japan, providing poachers with the wealthy clientele they need to make elephant killing worthwhile.
"Most people will be shocked to hear that, 20 years on from a ban on international ivory trade, elephants in Africa are still threatened by commercial poaching. The ivory trade must be banned once again, and comprehensively, if we want to prevent the extinction of elephants," Robbie Marshland director of IFAW UK told the Telegraph. "Sadly, the truth is that ivory trade anywhere is a threat to elephants everywhere."
For full story, please see: http://news.mongabay.com/2009/1019-hance_elephant.html
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24. New policy brief on sustainable use of NTFPs
Source: United Nations University – IAS, 19 October 2009
A new policy brief discusses laws and policies relevant to sustainable and equitable NTFP use. The policy brief is a collaboration between the United Nations University - Institute of Advanced Studies (via the Traditional Knowledge Initiative), Centre for International Forestry Research, People and Plants International, Environmental Evaluation Unit, University of Cape Town and the Insitute for Culture and Ecology. It draws from the book Wild Product Governance: finding policies that work for non-timber forest products to be published by Earthscan in 2010 as part of the "People and Plants" series.
People have long developed and depended upon useful species from diverse ecosystems. Even today, botanical NTFPs provide critical subsistence and trade goods for forest and other communities. In many areas, NTFPs are the main source of cash to pay school fees, buy medicines, purchase equipment and supplies, and even buy food. However, NTFPs have been both overlooked and poorly regulated by governments. Laws tend to be inconsistent and confusing, with little resembling a policy 'framework' or strategy. Many are opportunistic or drafted in response to perceived threats, and rarely do regulations follow from consultations with stakeholders or careful analysis of the complex factors involved in the sustainability and equity of NTFP management, use and trade.
Despite wide variations in cultural, economic and political conditions, experiences with NTFP law and policy are remarkably similar around the world, and are characterized by common regulatory features. This finding applies to both developed and developing countries, and includes regions that still have strong traditional and subsistence use of NTFPs and those that may have reduced their dependence on NTFPs, but have recently 'rediscovered' natural products.
Case studies which contributed to this project include those from Bolivia, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, China, Fiji, Finland, India, Mexico, the Philippines, southern Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States. Important lessons for policy makers, NGOs, community groups, and others working with NTFPs include the need for better information, simplification, clarity, and consistency in NTFP policy frameworks.
For full story, please see: www.unutki.org/news.php?news_id=83&doc_id=103
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25. Opportunities for graduate students, National Science Foundation's EPSCoR program, USA
Source: The University of Maine, 12 November 2009
Maine's Sustainability Solutions Initiative (SSI), a partnership between the University of Maine and the University of Southern Maine offers opportunities for cutting-edge interdisciplinary learning experiences at the graduate level, including up to 25 PhD fellowships at the University of Maine. SSI is a $20 million, 5-year program funded by the National Science Foundation's EPSCoR program.
Students with backgrounds in a wide range of disciplines are encouraged to apply: e.g., social sciences, biological, earth, and chemical sciences, natural resource management, communication, engineering, education, mathematics, and more. SSI's mission is to create an integrative research program and strong stakeholder partnerships that generate improved solutions to intersecting ecological, social, and economic challenges in and beyond Maine.
Graduate students will be part of an integrated research program built on strong stakeholder partnerships and collaborative, interdisciplinary research teams focused on urbanization, forest ecosystem management, and climate change. These efforts address the dynamics of social-ecological systems with an emphasis on moving from knowledge to action.
We anticipate awarding up to 25 Ph.D. fellowships with a large portion beginning in the fall of 2010. These fellowships would provide up to five years of support for students, and will include a stipend of $20-25,000/yr, a tuition waiver, subsidy for health insurance, and funds to support dissertation research.
Tentative Schedule (likely to change):
- Initial application period: Nov. 1, 2009 – Jan. 11, 2009
- Invitations to finalists to attend Open House: Jan. 15
- Open House: Jan. 29-31 OR Feb. 5-7
- Initial selection decisions: Feb. 5 or Feb. 12
- Acceptance deadline: No more than two
For full story, please see: www.umaine.edu/sustainabilitysolutions/students/opportunities.htm
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26. Species' extinction threat grows
Source: amazonia.org.br, 4 November 2009
More than a third of species assessed in a major international biodiversity study are threatened with extinction, scientists have warned.
Out of the 47,677 species in the "International Union for Conservation of Nature" (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, 17,291 were deemed to be at serious risk, these included 21% of all known mammals, 30% of amphibians, 70% of plants and 35% of invertebrates.
Conservationists warned that not enough was being done to tackle the main threats, such as habitat loss. "The scientific evidence of a serious extinction crisis is mounting," warned Jane Smart, director of IUCN Biodiversity Conservation Group. "The latest analysis... shows that the 2010 target to reduce biodiversity loss will not be met," she added. "It's time for governments to start getting serious about saving species and make sure it's high on their agendas for next year, as we are rapidly running out of time."
The Red List, regarded as the most authoritative assessment of the state of the planet's species, draws on the work of thousands of scientists around the globe. The latest update lists amphibians as the most seriously affected group of organisms on the planet, with 1,895 of the 6,285 known species listed as threatened. Of these, it lists 39 species as either "extinct" or "extinct in the wild". A further 484 are deemed "critically endangered", 754 "endangered" and 657 "vulnerable".
The Kihansi Spray Toad (Nectophyrnoides asperginis) is one species that has seen its status change from critically endangered to extinct in the wild. It was only found in the Kihamsi Falls area of Tanzania, but its population had crashed in recent years from a high of an estimated 17,000 individuals. Conservationists suggest that the rapid decline was primarily the result of a dam being constructed upstream from the toads' habitat, which resulted in a 90% reduction in the flow of water.
"In our lifetime, we have gone from having to worry about a relatively small number of highly threatened species to the collapse of entire ecosystems," observed Professor Jonathan Baillie, director of conservation programmes at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). "At what point will society truly respond to this growing crisis?"
The updated data from the 2009 Red List is being made publicly available on the IUCN website on Tuesday 10 November
For full story, please see: www.amazonia.org.br/english/noticias/noticia.cfm?id=333555
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27. Wildlife expert claims gorilla dung is critical to containing climate change
Source: Guardian.co.uk, 13 October 2009
A leading UK wildlife expert today said protecting the large primates he called the "gardeners of the forest" could provide the easy fix for global warming envisaged by international reforestation programmes.
America and other industrialised countries are looking to reforestation programmes in Africa, South-east Asia and South America to help contain the effects of climate change. But Ian Redmond, the UN ambassador for the Year of the Gorilla, said the industrialized countries would be making a mistake if they did not commit specific funds to protecting the gorillas as part of the discussion on reforestation efforts at the climate change negotiations at Copenhagen next December.
"If we save the trees and not the animals then we will just see a slow death of the forests," Redmond said. "What I am urging the decision makers at Copenhagen to consider is that the gorillas are not a luxury item. If you want a long-term healthy forest you have to take action to protect them."
The gorillas - or "gardeners of the forest" as Redmond called them - were crucial to fighting climate change, he said. Gorillas, which are herbivores, feed on fruit and plants. The digested food, as it passes through their systems, helps seeds to germinate.
The full extent of the gorillas' role in propagation is unclear. But Redmond said a number of plant species could not flourish without them, or wild elephants, the other large mammal crucial in germination.
The gorillas - caught up in the region's civil wars, preyed on by poachers, and crowded out of their homes by mining and logging industries - are already endangered across Africa. But Redmond's argument could help give the animals a new level of protection.
The world's forests act as a natural trap for carbon emissions, sucking up some 4.8bn tonnes of carbon a year.
Economists such as Lord Stern have said that spending some $15bn a year on reforestation programmes would be the cheapest way of cutting greenhouse gas emissions. In the run-up to the meeting on climate change in December, there has been a growing focus on reforestation programmes in Africa, South-east Asia and South America.
However, there has been no direct recognition of the role played by large animals - such as gorillas - in propagating plants on the jungle floor.
Redmond said gorillas were crucial in maintaining the lifecycle of the rainforests in the Congo basin. The forests themselves suck up more than 1bn tonnes of carbon every year.
"This is what the species are for. They are not ornaments. They are not just interesting things to study. They are part of an ecosystem," he said.
All of the big apes are now considered endangered. Nearly 20 years of civil war in the Great Lakes region of Africa have seen an explosion in illegal mining and logging by militias seeking money for guns.
Two gorillas are killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo each week and their corpses sold as bushmeat, an investigation by Endangered Species International found. Many gorillas live outside the relatively small protected enclaves of national parks. Those gorillas are losing their habitat because of rapid urbanisation. Villagers are venturing deeper into the forest to cut down trees for cooking charcoal.
For full story, please see: www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/oct/13/gorilla-forests-climate-change-redmond
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African Forestry and Wildlife Commission
Brazzaville, Republic of Congo
22-26 February 2010
Every two years, the African Forestry and Wildlife Commission (AFWC) meets to discuss and address forest and wildlife issues on the Continent. Created in 1959, the AFWC is one of six Regional Forestry Commissions established by the FAO to provide a policy and technical forum for countries to discuss and address forest and wildlife issues in their respective regions. 2010 will mark the 17th session of the Commission. The gathering will be in conjunction with the first ever African and Forestry Wildlife Week. The theme of the events will be common: "African Forests and Wildlife: Response to the Challenges of Sustainable Livelihood Systems."
The session will seek to highlight the important contribution of forests and wildlife to reducing poverty, hunger and malnutrition on the continent. The introduction of an entire week dedicated to African Forestry and Wildlife aims to draw the attention of policy makers to the contribution of forests and wildlife to the national economy and to the lives and livelihoods of Africans. Some 400 participants from a variety of backgrounds are expected at the event, including policy makers and practitioners from the public and private sectors, NGOs, civil society organizations, development agencies as well as experts from academia. They will discuss and exchange knowledge on the social, economic and environmental values of forests and wildlife and the need to manage them sustainably, particularly in the face of current global trends like the financial and food crises and Climate Change.
Fore more information, please contact: Mr. Foday Bojang, Senior Forestry Officer, FAO Regional Office for Africa, Gamel Abdul Nasser Road, P.O. Box 1628, Accra, Ghana. Tel. 233-21-675-000 Ext.3202; Fax: 233-21-668-427; e-mail: foday.bojang@fao.org or afwc@fao.org; website: www.fao.org/forestry/afwc
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IOF Forest-People Interaction Conference
7-8 June 2010
Among the five technical institutes under Tribhuvan University, The Institute of Forestry (IOF) is a well-established national academic, training, and research institute in Nepal. The mission of IOF is to develop technically sound and competent, and socially compatible human resources in the area of forestry and Natural Resource Management (NRM). The main objectives of this institute are to encourage research activities that could address the practical problems at grass root level and to develop IOF as the centre of excellence in forestry education and research.
Themes covered during the conference include:
- Community based forest management and livelihood strategies
- Biodiversity and environmental services
- Forest and tree management practices
- Forest policy, management and governance
For more information, please contact:
Dr. Krishna P. Devkota
Organizing Secretary
Forest-People Interaction Conference
Institute of Forestry, P. O. Box: 43
Pokhara, Nepal
Phone: 061-432169, 430694; Fax: 061-432078, 431563
Email : conference2010@iof.edu.np
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18th Commonwealth Forestry Conference
28 June-2 July 2010
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Theme: "Restoring the Commonwealth's Forests: Tackling Climate Change". Further information, including registration form, programme, call for abstracts and a sponsorship opportunities brochure, is available from the conference website.
The organizers are keen to encourage the submission of papers on successful restoration case studies.
For more information, please contact the conference organizers:
18th Commonwealth Forestry Conference, c/o In Conference Ltd, 4-6 Oak Lane, Edinburgh EH12 6XH, Scotland, United Kingdom; fax: +44 131 339 9798;
e-mail: cfcc@in-conference.org.uk.
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31. FAO Senior Forestry Officer (Global Forest Resources Assessment)
From: FAO's NWFP Programme
Deadline for application: 11 January 2010
Duty Station: Rome
Grade Level: P-5
Duration: Fixed term: 3 years
Under the general supervision of the Director, working in close collaboration with the Senior Officer, Forest Monitoring, Assessment and Reporting Service, and with wide latitude for personal initiative, the incumbent will manage the Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) Programme. In particular, will:
- ensure the further development of the FRA in collaboration with national, regional and international organizations, partners and donors;
- coordinate and supervise the collection, processing and analysis of information on forest resources, their management and uses at national, regional and global levels based on country reports, special studies and remote sensing surveys;
- coordinate the production of publications on global forest resources and ensure that related information products are timely and accurate;
- coordinate the network of National Correspondents to the FRA Programme;
- supervise the further development of the use of remote sensing within the FRA and of electronic archiving, processing and publishing of information collected by the Programme;
- serve as focal point for collaboration with other units in FAO and with international organizations and processes concerned with subject matters related to the Programme;
- coordinate the work and meetings of the FAO Advisory Group on FRA;
- ensure overall coordination of activities, providing guidance and day-to-day supervision of staff;
- manage the extra-budgetary funds provided for the Programme and help in fund raising activities;
- perform other related duties as required.
For more information, please see: www.fao.org/VA/PROF/2271FOI_en.pdf
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32. Just forest governance: how small learning groups can have big impact
From: International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).
Forests are power bases, but often for the wrong people. As attention turns from making an international deal on REDD to making it work on the ground, the hunt will be on for practical ways of shifting power over forests towards those who enable and pursue sustainable forest-linked livelihoods. The Forest Governance Learning Group – an alliance active in Cameroon, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Uganda and Vietnam – has developed practical tactics for securing safe space, provoking dialogue, building constituencies, wielding evidence and interacting politically. It has begun to have significant impacts. To deepen and widen those impacts, FGLG seeks allies.
Download: http://www.iied.org/pubs/display.php?o=17070IIED
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33. Other publications of interest
From: FAO's NWFP Programme
Batubara I., Mitsunaga T., Ohashi H. 2009. Screening antiacne potency of Indonesian medicinal plants: antibacterial, lipase inhibition, and antioxidant activities. Journal of Wood Science 55: 3, 230-235.
Coulibaly-Lingani Pascaline, Tigabu Mulualem, Savadogo Patrice, Oden Per-Christer, Ouadba Jean-Marie. 2009. Determinants of access to forest products in southern Burkina Faso Forest policy and economics 11(7) p. 516-524.
There is an increasing understanding that forests and the forestry sector are key elements in poverty reduction strategies in Africa. However, issues of equity between various forest users are becoming a major challenge to environmental development, forest management and poverty reduction. This paper presents an analysis of household representatives' socio-economic determinants and other constraints on accessing forest products, based on data collected through a questionnaire survey of 1865respondents in seven districts of the Sissili province, southern Burkina Faso. Three logistic regression models were developed to examine determinants of access to the forest for collecting fuelwood, grazing livestock and collecting NTFPs. The results showed that access to forest products is associated with individual characteristics. Age, ethnicity, occupation and sources of income were significant determinants of access to all types of forest products. Access the forest for grazing livestock was further influenced by gender and household size, while access to NTFPs was influenced by gender, household size and education level of the respondents. The formal forest law that precludes grazing in the forest, and customary rules and regulations pertaining to land tenure, were reported to be serious constraints to forest access for women and migrant people. Understanding the factors influencing access to products from commonly-owned forest resources could be the basis for developing, modifying and targeting policy instruments that promote equitable access. Policies should particularly encourage the direct involvement of vulnerable and marginalized groups (women and migrants) in forest management activities.
For more information, please contact:
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Faculty of Forest Sciences, Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre
PO Box 101, SE-230 53 Alnarp, Sweden.
Tel.: +46 40 41 5396; fax: +46 40 41 5398.
Hammett, Chamberlain Jim, Winn Matt. 2009. Finding effective ways to provide knowledge to forest managers about non-timber forest products: a case-study of distance learning approaches Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-116. Asheville NC: 215-222.
Many who grow or collect NTFPs have been under-served in traditional forestry educational programs. It has often been difficult to determine the needs of this disparate group of stakeholders as collectors and growers are widely dispersed across the landscape, and not recognized as important stakeholders in formal cost forest management or forest products outreach programs. In most cases they may not attend or participate in traditional forestry education programs. Forest managers and extension agents, who serve this clientele, lack information and knowledge concerning NTFPs and are challenged to serve these stakeholders' needs. Distance learning methods may be an efficient and low cost way to teach collectors, growers and the extension agents that serve this group of stakeholders about how to manage and utilize NTFPs in a sustainable way. We examine, here, distance learning methods such as two-way television (video conferencing) and on-line courses to determine if they are appropriate for training those who harvest and utilize NTFPs.
Hoch L., Pokorny, B., Jong, W. de. 2009. How successful is tree growing for smallholders in the Amazon? International Forestry Review. 11: 3, 299-310
Link S.O., et al. 2009. Rare Plant and Vegetation Survey of Sacajawea State Park. Winthrop, Washington Pacific Biodiversity Institute
Mashooda Begum, Lokesh, S., Raghavendra, V. B. 2009. Role of leaf extracts of some medicinal plants in the management of seed-borne fungal diseases of Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) Phytopathology and Plant Protection 42: 10, 950-955
Mbuvi Dorcas, Boon, Emmanuel. 2009. The livelihood potential of non-wood forest products: the case of Mbooni Division in Makueni District, Kenya Environment, development and sustainability. 11(5) 989-1004
Forestry is a productive sector with significant effects on meeting national socio-economic and environmental functions as well as the improvement of rural livelihoods. NWFPs in particular have been widely advocated by conservation and development organisations as potential alternative livelihood strategies, particularly among vulnerable forest dependant households.
Like in most tropical countries, NWFPs are relevant in the sustainable development of Kenya that is particularly endowed with important forest resources. Kenya hosts about 17 million ha of forested land (about 3.51% of the total Sub-Saharan Africa forest cover by 2000), of which about 16,865,000 ha is under natural forest (EarthTrends: Forests, grasslands and drylands, 2003). Outside the gazetted forests, there are other large tracks of forests in trust lands, including national parks and reserves, hill forest reserves and privately owned lands covering about 0.5 million ha (Kenya's forest resource assessment in the EC-FAO Partnership Programme Report, 2000; The Kenya Forests Act, 2005). Woodlands, bushlands and wooded grasslands, mainly found in the arid and semi-arid lands cover 37.6 million ha, while forest plantations (started in 1946) cover about 170,000 ha of land (The Kenya forestry master plan, 1994–2020, 1994).
In most NWFPs endowed regions of the country however, this socio-economic and environmental potential is still unrealized. We illustrate the latter by a case study of NWFPs use and management in four villages in Mbooni Division of Makueni District, Kenya. The division was chosen because of its relatively high NWFPs availability, particularly from South Mbooni forest that is located at a distance less than 5 km for an estimated 80% of the interviewed households. Data used for the analysis was collected through a fieldwork survey carried out on women (35+ years) in August, 2005. One hundred and sixty (160) NWFPs are harvested (from plant and animal species) and used mainly for food, income generation (supplemental) and medicinal purposes.
A number of challenges limit women's enjoyment of the full benefits from NWFPs exploitation, the overriding problem being their inadequacy (in quantity and/or quality). In this paper we discuss these commonly utilized and managed NWFPs plant species in Mbooni and their potential contribution to improved livelihoods and sustainable development in Mbooni, Kenya and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in general.
For more information, please contact:
Emmanuel Boon
Email: eboon@vub.ac.be
Mukherjee Pulok K. 2007. Quality Control of Herbal Drugs Business Horizons
Paumgarten F, Shackleton C.M. 2009. Wealth differentiation in household use and trade in non-timber forest products in South Africa Ecological economics. 68(12) 2950-2959
Sarah A. Laird, Rebecca McClain and Rachel Wynberg. 2010 (planned). Wild Product Governance: Finding Policies that Work for Non-Timber Forest Products. Earthscan.
Products from the wild, also known as non-timber forest products (NTFPs), are used as medicines, cosmetics, drinks, foods, decorations and for a multitude of other purposes. They contribute substantially to rural livelihoods, generate revenue for companies and governments, and have a range of impacts on biodiversity conservation; yet there is little information available those seeking to develop effective policy frameworks and regulation.
This guide addresses that shortage with technical information on the drafting, content and implementation of NTFP policies, and the broader issues of governance associated with these products. It also develops an analytical framework for understanding the diverse issues and elements that combine to create laws and policies that promote sustainable and equitable management, trade and use of species. Drawing on a wealth of unique case studies that represent many regions of the world, this volume examines experiences with NTFP regulation, including its sometimes unintended consequences. It looks at economic factors, the interface between traditional and scientific knowledge, and relationships between NTFP regulation, land tenure and resource rights, as well as power and equity imbalances.
A policy brief with findings from this study: Wild Product Governance: laws and policies for sustainable and equitable non-timber forest product use is available from the People and Plants website (under new PPI resources).
http://peopleandplants.squarespace.com/
Tabuti John R.S. , Ticktina T. , Arinaitwe M.Z., Muwanika V.B. 2009. Community attitudes and preferences towards woody species: implications for conservation in Nawaikoke, Uganda Oryx 43:393-402
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34. Birth of new species witnessed by scientists
Source: Environmental News Network, 17 November
On one of the Galapagos Islands whose finches shaped the theories of a young Charles Darwin, biologists have witnessed that elusive moment when a single species splits in two.
This miniature evolutionary saga is described in a paper published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It's authored by Peter and Rosemary Grant, a husband-and-wife team who have spent much of the last 36 years studying a group of bird species known collectively as Darwin's finches.
The finches — technically, tanagers — have adapted to the conditions of each island in the Galapagos, and they provided Darwin with a clear snapshot of evolutionary divergence. In the PNAS paper, they describe something Darwin could only have dreamed of watching: the birth of a new species.
The species' forefather was a medium ground finch, (Geospiza fortis), who flew from a neighbouring island to the island of Daphne Major in 1981. He was unusually large, especially in beak width, sang an unusual song and had a few gene variants that could be traced to another finch species. This exotic stranger soon found a mate, who also happened to have a few hybrid genes. The happy couple had five sons.
For full story, please see: www.enn.com/top_stories/article/40718
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35. First neotropical rainforest was home of the Titanoboa world's biggest snake
Source: ScienceDaily, 13 October 2009
Smithsonian researchers working in Colombia's Cerrejón coal mine have unearthed the first megafossil evidence of a neotropical rainforest. Titanoboa, the world's biggest snake, lived in this forest 58 million years ago at temperatures 3-5 C warmer than in rainforests today, indicating that rainforests flourished during warm periods.
"Modern neotropical rainforests, with their palms and spectacular flowering-plant diversity, seem to have come into existence in the Paleocene epoch, shortly after the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago," said Carlos Jaramillo, staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. "Pollen evidence tells us that forests before the mass extinction were quite different from our fossil rainforest at Cerrejón. We find new plant families, large, smooth-margined leaves and a three-tiered structure of forest floor, under story shrubs and high canopy."
Historically, good rock exposures and concentrated efforts by palaeontologists to understand the evolution of neotropical rainforests—one of the most awe-inspiring assemblages of plant and animal life on the planet—have been lacking. "The Cerrejón mining operation is the first clear window we have to see back in time to the Paleocene, when the neotropical rainforest was first developing," said Scott Wing, a palaeontologist from the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.
Some of the more than 2,000 fossil leaves, including the compound leaves and pods of plants in the bean family and leaves of the hibiscus family are among the oldest, reliable evidence of these groups. This was the first time that the plant families Araceae, Arecaceae, Fabaceae, Lauraceae, Malvaceae and Menispermaceae, which are still among the most common neotropical rainforest families, all occurred together.
Many newcomers to modern rainforests remark that the leaves all look the same, a reasonable observation given that most have smooth margins and long "drip-tips" thought to prevent water from accumulating on the leaf surface.
S. Joseph Wright, senior scientist at STRI, has noted that all of the areas in the world today with average yearly temperatures greater than 28 C are too dry to support tropical rainforests. If tropical temperatures increase by 3 C by the end of this century as predicted in the 2007 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, "We're going to have a novel climate where it is very hot and very wet. How tropical forest species will respond to this novel climate, we don't know," said Wright.
For full story, please see: www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091012230441.htm
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36. Orangutans unique in movement through tree tops
Source: Oranutans.com.au, 13 October 2009
Movement through a complex meshwork of small branches at the heights of tropical forests presents a unique challenge to animals wanting to forage for food safely. It can be particularly dangerous for large animals where a fall of up to 30m could be fatal. Scientists found that dangerous tree vibrations can be countered by the orangutan's ability to move with an irregular rhythm.
Professor Robin Crompton, from the University of Liverpool's School of Biomedical Sciences, explained that these challenges were similar to the difficulties engineers encountered with London's 'wobbly' Millennium Bridge: "The problems with the Millennium Bridge were caused by large numbers of people walking in sync with the slight sideways motion of the bridge. This regular pattern of movement made the swaying motion of the bridge even worse. We see a similar problem in the movement of animals through the canopy of tropical forests, where there are highly flexible branches.
"Most animals, such as the chimpanzee, respond to these challenges by flexing their limbs to bring their body closer to the branch. Orangutans, however, are the largest arboreal mammal and so they are likely to face more severe difficulties due to weight. If they move in a regular fashion, like their smaller relatives, we get a 'wobbly bridge' situation, whereby the movement of the branches increases."
Dr Susannah Thorpe, from the University of Birmingham's School of Biosciences, added: "Orangutans have developed a unique way of coping with these problems; they move in an irregular way which includes upright walking, four-limbed suspension from branches and tree-swaying, whereby they move branches backwards and forwards, with increasing magnitude, until they are able to cross large gaps between trees."
The team studied orangutans in Sumatra, where the animal is predicted to be the first great ape to become extinct. This new research could further understanding into the way orangutans use their habitat, which could support new conservation programmes.
Dr Thorpe continued: "If the destruction of forest land does not slow down, the Sumatran orangutan could be extinct within the next decade. Now that we know more about how they move through the trees and the unique way that they adapt to challenges in their environment we can better understand their needs. This could help with reintroducing rescued animals to the forests and efforts to conserve their environment." The research is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
For full story, please see: www.orangutans.com.au/Orangutans-Survival-Information/Orangutans-unique-in-movement-through-tree-tops.aspx
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37. Training opportunity: Centre for Sustainable Development launch online field course
Source: The Centre for Sustainable Development, 29 October 2009
In an effort to make its impact training courses accessible to a larger international audience, the Centre for Sustainable Development has launched an Online Learning program. Key courses on project impact, design, and funding are now available inexpensively online. A module of two courses is being offered online in January, 2010.
OL 2.1. From the Ground Up: Designing Community-Centred Projects with Sustainable Solutions January 12 - February 22, 2010: 6 Weeks. From the Ground Up will provide an insight into contemporary methods of developing community-centred, impact-oriented projects. Participants will leave the course with practical field tools and develop a range of skills: needs assessments, project design, community workshops, and discovering evidence-based activities. The course is designed to be used as a vehicle to develop a real project, in real time, during the course.
OL 2.2. Project Architecture: Planning for Impact March 9 – April 26, 2010: 6 Weeks This course will take the project concept developed in OL 2.1 and transform it with a powerful set of management tools into a project for presenting to donors. Logframes, detailed budgets, schedules and compelling fact sheets: these tools will communicate to donors, staff, and stakeholders exactly what you are going to accomplish, and lead the effective management of the project once funded.
For full story, please see: www.csd-i.org/online-learning/
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00100 Rome, Italy
Fax: +39-06-570-55618
Web site NWFP programme: www.fao.org/forestry/foris/webview/fop/index.jsp?siteId=2301&langId=1
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Biological Science Club
Pusat Laboratorium Universitas Nasional,
Jl Harsono RM, No. 4
Ragunan, Jakarta Selatan 12550
telp/fax 021 98119872
Hp: Bambang Ryadi 081802749565
Hp: Agus Supriono 0811343147
HP: Lukman Hakim 08128111123
http://bscc-unas.blogspot.com/
email:
bscc@ymail.com
ryadi.bambang@gmail.com
spirit_outdoor@yahoo.com