[MPWG] Fw: NWFP-Digest-L - March 2010
Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov
Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov
Tue Mar 9 08:22:10 CST 2010
Forwarding the current (March) issue of the Non-Wood Forest Products
Digest to the listserve. Check www.fao.org/forestry/site/12980/en for
back issues.Notably, the January and February issues had several items on
medicinal plants. Enjoy! -Patricia
Patricia S. De Angelis, Ph.D.
Botanist - Division of Scientific Authority
Chair - Plant Conservation Alliance - Medicinal Plant Working Group
US Fish & Wildlife Service
4401 N. Fairfax Dr., Suite 110
Arlington, VA 22203
703-358-1708 x1753
FAX: 703-358-2276
Promoting sustainable use and conservation of our native medicinal plants.
<www.nps.gov/plants/medicinal>
----- Forwarded by Patricia De Angelis/ARL/R9/FWS/DOI on 03/09/2010 09:08
AM -----
NWFP-Digest-L
No. 3/10
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 at 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
to Giulia Muir for her help with this issue.
==============================================================
IN THIS ISSUE:
PRODUCTS
1. Bamboo: the ?timber of the 21st century?
2. Bamboo: EU releases GH? 28million to promote bamboo as an
alternative energy in Ghana and Ethiopia
3. Bushmeat: commercial hunting threatening primates
4. Devil?s Claw helping to alleviate poverty in Namibia
5. Edible insects ?snacks? offered at UK Park
6. Maple Syrup: Research reveals impact of climate change
7. Berries: Maqui berry, super berry
8. Medicinal plants: Cancer drug ? the other use for mistletoe
9. Medicinal plants: Exploring Zulu plants in science class
10. Medicinal plants: Vets turn to African herbs as animal drugs stop
working
11. Moringa oleifera: Seeds from the Moringa tree can be used for water
purification
12. Mushrooms show long term effect of climate change
13. Wildlife: how the pet trade's greed is emptying south-east Asia's
forests
14. Wildlife: Jane Goodall, UN Messenger of Peace, speaks about
conservation
COUNTRY INFORMATION
15. Cambodia: Bamboo trains
16. Cameroon regulates trade of bushmeat
17. Guatemala: Revalorization of indigenous knowledge
18. India: Mining project threatens forest livelihoods
19. Indonesia: Government plans forest land giveaway to help the poor
20. Kenya: Law needed to protect community inventions
21. Liberia faces choice between deforestation and REDD
22. Malaysia: Oil palms threaten survival of tribal arts
23. Peru: Two-thirds of Amazon threatened by oil and gas development
24. Zambia: The untapped fruit potential
25. Zimbabwe: Community-based resource management vital
NEWS
26. Big business leaves big forest footprints
27. Climate change's impact on forests being measured via expanding tree
trunks
28. Companies fund projects to preserve Amazon rain forest
29. Keep traditional knowledge open but safe
EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES
30. 2011 Indigenous Fellowship Programme
31. Chief of the Secretariat of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous
Issues, UNDESA, New York
32. Foundation for European Forest Research offers two PhD research
grants
33. Kathmandu Forestry College (KAFCOl) offering courses on NTFPs and
Forestry
34. Center for Sustainable Development online field courses
LITERATURE REVIEW AND WEB SITES
35. Forest Footprint Disclosure
36. REDD Guide for Indigenous Communities
37. Publications of interest
38. Websites
MISCELLANEOUS
39. How animals change due to climate
40. Scientists scathing on coastal tree planting
41. USA: Decline in fog threatens California?s redwoods
BACK TO TOP
PRODUCTS
1. Bamboo: the timber of the 21st century
Source: Cane and Bamboo 2009 Annual Issue, January 2010
Rightly christened as the ?timber of the 21st century,? bamboo is today
poised to replace wood for almost all practical purposes. An invaluable
gift of nature to the people of the Northeastern region of India, bamboo
has come a long way from being treated as the ?poor man?s timber,? where
its uses were confined to household utilities to being considered as the
?green gold? for the value we can derive from this resources through its
umpteen uses.
The application of bamboo in the housing sector and structure making is
not new to the people of the North East. Traditionally it is and always
has been one of the indispensable materials in housing and other
construction. However, the application of bamboo in the modern setting
takes on renewed importance.
Today, when forest cover is fast depleting and availability of wood is
increasingly becoming scarce, research and development undertaken in past
few decades have established and amply demonstrated that bamboo could be a
viable substitute of wood and several other traditional materials for
housing and building construction and other infrastructure work. Its use
through industrial processing has demonstrated a high potential for
production of composite materials and components which are cost-effective
and can be successfully utilized for structural and non-structural
applications in construction.
One of the main characteristics, which makes bamboo a highly potential
building material, is its high tensile strength and very good weight to
strength ratio. This supports
its use as a highly resilient material against forces created by high
velocity winds and earthquakes. Above all bamboo is a renewable raw
material resource and if properly treated and industrially processed,
components made by bamboo can have a highly durable life of 30 to 40
years.
For more information, please see: www.caneandbamboo.org
BACK TO TOP
2. Bamboo: EU releases GH? 28million to promote bamboo as an
alternative energy source in Ghana and Ethiopia
Source: Ghana News Agency, 19 February, 2010
The European Union (EU) has released 28 million Ghana cedis to support a
project that seeks to promote bamboo as a new source of energy in Ghana
and Ethiopia.
The project dubbed: "Bamboo as a Sustainable Biomass Energy: A suitable
Alternative for Charcoal and Firewood Production in Africa," aims at
increasing the use of bamboo as a source of energy for the poor while
providing a more sustainable, environmental friendly and economical option
to firewood and charcoal.
The 48-month project launched in March 2009, is being coordinated by the
International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR) in collaboration with
the Governments of Ghana and Ethiopia.
A statement issued by the EU said it was absolutely critical that the
processes of the project in both Ghana and Ethiopia respect existing
government policies and proactively help in promoting sector governance
issues and raising awareness of environmental aspects and consequences of
the project.
In this respect people should be mindful of the deforestation taking place
in both countries and must understand the causes for this and be aware
that simply introducing a new energy source may not necessarily in itself
solve all the problems.
Mr. Henry Ford Kamal, Ghana's Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural
Resource, said 70 percent of Ghana's energy was obtained from wood
sources, which without proper management was a serious affront to
sustainable energy development in the country.
He said charcoal would continue to play a major role in energy in Ghana
therefore; the idea of an alternative to wood charcoal was welcome,
stressing that Ghana would promote the development of bamboo.
Mr. Yeragal Meskir Ejjigu, Director-General of Federal Micro and Small
Enterprises Development Agency (FEMSEDA) in Ethiopia, in a speech said
from current demographic growth patterns and the slow transition to other
forms of household energy, "it appears that the natural forests and
woodlands remain the main source of fuel wood and the pressure on these
forests will continue until alternative energy sources are supplied to
satisfy needs."
For full story, please see: www.ghananewsagency.org/s_economics/r_12676/
BACK TO TOP
3. Bushmeat: commercial hunting threatening primates
Source: Independent (UK), 18 February 2010
Today a group of the world's leading zoologists reveals the 25 most
endangered members of the primates - the biological order which contains
monkeys, tarsiers, lemurs, gibbons and the great apes, including, of
course, humans.
There are just over 630 species in total, and incredible as it may seem,
more than 300 are now threatened with extinction, from developments such
as the destruction of tropical forests, the illegal wildlife trade and
commercial hunting for bushmeat.
The list includes five primate species from Madagascar, six from Africa,
11 from Asia, and three from Central and South America, all of which are
now in need of urgent help to survive.
Conservationists want to highlight the plight of species such as the
golden headed langur, which is found only on the island of Cat Ba in the
Gulf of Tonkin, north-eastern Vietnam, where just 60 to 70 individuals
remain.
Similarly, there are thought to be fewer than 100 individual northern
sportive lemurs left in Madagascar, and about just 110 eastern black
crested gibbons in north-eastern Vietnam.
"The purpose of our Top 25 list is to highlight those that are most at
risk, to attract the attention of the public, to stimulate national
governments to do more, and especially to find the resources to implement
desperately needed conservation measures," said Dr Russell Mittermeier,
chairman of the Primate Specialist Group of the International Union for
the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
"In particular, we want to encourage governments to commit to desperately
needed biodiversity conservation measures. We have the resources to
address this crisis, but so far, we have failed to act. The results from
the most recent IUCN assessment of the world's mammals indicate that the
primates are among the most endangered vertebrate groups."
For full story, please see:
www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/on-the-brink-of-extinction-ndash-25-of-our-closest-relatives-1902990.html
BACK TO TOP
4. Devil?s Claw helping to alleviate poverty in Namibia
Source: www.newera.com.na, 23 February 2010
Devil?s claw harvesters, mostly women and the elderly, in Namibia?s
Bwabwata National Park receive between N$800 and N$1 000 each.
According to the Minister of Environment and Tourism Netumbo
Nandi-Ndaitwah, her ministry is working hand in hand with local
communities to ensure that biodiversity in protected areas benefits the
rural poor living in or alongside national parks.
The minister said this demonstrates how national parks help to reduce
poverty in some of the most marginalized areas, while stringent measures
are taken to protect Namibia?s precious biodiversity.
Currently, 530 harvesters have been registered and trained and will be
monitored during the harvesting process.
This is also the first year that organic certification has been awarded
for the devil?s claw in a national park, a factor which the minister said
is hoped would achieve a higher market price for the product.
?To ensure the suitable use of our natural resources and to increase the
income communities generate from it, we need to invest in value addition
to devil?s claw so that it cannot only be sent out as a raw product,?
Nandi-Ndaitwah said.
The minister said Namibia calls for an international binding regime to
ensure that Africa benefits from its biodiversity whether processed in
Africa or elsewhere in the world.
Namibia will host the African Ministers? Conference on Access and
Benefit-Sharing in relation to Africa?s biodiversity from 8 to 10 March,
2010.
It is reported that over the last decade, there has been a dramatic
increase in the international demand for devil?s claw (Harpagophytum
procumbens and Harpagophytum zeyheri), a traditional medicinal plant found
in southern African countries such as Namibia, Botswana and South Africa.
The medicinal ingredients, which are used to treat rheumatism and other
degenerative ailments, are found in the tubers, large quantities of which
are harvested each year and exported, mainly to Germany, where they are
processed into drugs.
Namibia is by far the biggest exporter of devil?s claw, which has provided
opportunities for those involved in harvesting the plant, although concern
for overexploitation has been expressed.
Studies are however expected to help the Namibian government to put into
place mechanisms to ensure that the trade in devil?s claw is sustainable
and justly compensated. For full story, please see:
www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=9696&sid=09dec0097ceb7e4eb43ae96153ae1731
BACK TO TOP
5. Edible 'insect snacks' offered at UK Park
Source: Press Association, 16 February 2010
With chocolate ant wafer biscuits, cheese and bacon flavoured crickets and
chocolate coated larvae, it is not your average pick 'n' mix. But the
snacks, which contain real dried insects, are being offered to children in
traditional pink and white paper bags as part of a trial at a Surrey theme
park.
Chessington World of Adventures will be asking guests to taste the creepy
crawly goodies on Friday when they will be dished out free of charge. If
the feedback proves positive, the edible insects will go on sale in a new
Asian-themed area of the park which is due to open in March.
General Manager David Smith, said: "I have tried the sample snacks and I
think if you can exercise mind over matter you will find that they are
actually quite tasty.?
"If you are one of many parents who have found themselves pouncing on a
child as the worm they discovered in the back garden is about to disappear
into their mouth, maybe this new line of ethically sourced insect fare
administered in a controlled environment is just what you need."
For full story, please see:
www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5g5yRXXcGbF0Z2z8FIez48zRIvvkw
BACK TO TOP
6. Maple Syrup: Research reveals impact of climate change
Source: Ascribe Newswire, 18 February 2010
Even though the maple syrup you drizzle on your stack of pancakes may
taste as sweet as ever, the tasty condiment is actually undergoing changes
that may shed light on the impact of climate change.
According to a new study by William Peck, Colgate University associate
professor of geology, and student co-author Stephanie Tubman, the burning
of fossil fuels is altering the chemical composition of syrup as well as
other foods. Their research, funded by Colgate's Upstate Institute, was
published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry and reported
about recently in Nature.
What began as a laboratory demonstration to teach Colgate students about
isotope analysis led to the findings, which could have implications for
food-quality control.
The students got a surprise when they compared the samples against isotope
values of maple syrup from the late 1970s and early 1980s. Their research
revealed a change in the chemical composition of the syrups, which Peck
suspected could be attributed to environmental factors.
Upon further analyses of samples from a 36-year time period, Peck's
suspicion was confirmed. The research team found increased amounts of
Carbon-12, the isotopic form of carbon that is released through burning
fossil fuels.
The research is significant because isotope analysis plays a key role in
food regulation; regulators use the isotope makeup to determine if fillers
have been added to foods such as maple syrup, honey, and fruit juices.
As a result of environmental change's impact on the chemical composition
of food, it may become more difficult for regulators to determine the
quality of food products. The Nature article noted that "the findings
raise the possibility that producers of foods that are monitored...might
be able to add cheap sweeteners without being caught."
For full story, please see:
http://newswire.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/behold.pl?ascribeid=20100218.074644&time=08%2057%20PST&year=2010&public=0
BACK TO TOP
7. Berries: Maqui berry, super berry
Source: www.liverpool.echo.co.uk, 22 February 2010
Another year, another super berry. It used to be said that acai berries
(from the Euterpe oleracea tree) packed the most powerful antioxidant
punch, but research now suggests that the maqui berry (the fruit from the
?maqui tree? or Aristotelia chilensis), which grows in Chile and
Argentina, is even more potent.
The deep purple colour of the fruit suggests incredibly high level of
antioxidants and it also boasts an ability to prevent premature ageing,
aid weight loss and boost your immune system.
The maqui has long been used by the Mapuche Indians for its amazing health
benefits. It is also believed to have powerful anti-inflammatory
properties that can help to alleviate the pain of sore joints, aching
muscles and swelling.
Maqui extract is also widely used as a colouring for Chilean wines.
For full story, please see:
www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-life/liverpool-lifestyle/2010/02/22/go-eat-maqui-berries-100252-25883924/
BACK TO TOP
8. Medicinal plants: Cancer drug ? the other use for mistletoe
Source: Ecologist, 18 December, 2009
The history of using mistletoe as a medicinal plant goes back to ancient
times, but it was mystic philosopher Rudolf Steiner (PhD) who, in the
1920s, first identified it as a species that could help with cancer
treatment.
His ?science of the spirit? (anthroposophic) approach to medicine, which
he developed with doctors, linked plant species to specific ailments.
Steiner's suggestions for mistletoe treatments have been developed over
the years and preparations derived from the European mistletoe (Viscum
album L.) are among the most prescribed drugs in cancer patients in
several European countries, including Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
More than 50 percent of cancer patients in Germany are given ?mistletoe
therapy? during their treatment and it is often considered a part of the
oncologist's repertoire.
In Germany, a total of eight different mistletoe preparations are
available, five developed by Anthroposophic Medicine and three that have
evolved from research into plant therapy (phytotherapy). All preparations
are made with extracts from the stem, leaves and berries.
So how does it work? Proponents claim that mistletoe extracts stimulate
the immune system, improve survival rates, enhance quality of life and
reduce adverse effects of chemo- and radiotherapy in cancer patients.
?Mistletoe has unique properties,? says Dr Maurice Orange, a GP who has
treated hundreds of patients with mistletoe therapy over the last ten
years. He works at Park Attwood, an anthroposophic clinic in
Worcestershire where patients are drawn from all round the UK for
mistletoe therapy.
?It has been shown in labs and with patients to both have anti-cancer
properties and a powerful stimulating effect on the immune system. This is
quite unusual,? he says. In some instances it can be used to have more
effect on the tumour, in others it's used more to help the immune system.
This boost to the immune system and general health is particularly helpful
for patients on chemotherapy, which kills the cancer cells at the expense
of healthy tissues.'?A lot of modern treatments are damaging to health,?
he says.
Mistletoe is mostly used alongside conventional treatments (chemotherapy,
radiotherapy and hormone treatment) although some patients decide to use
mistletoe alone. ?Occasionally tumours go into remission with mistletoe
alone,? says Orange, '?but these are exceptions.?
There are over 120 clinical studies to date, according to the independent
German website www.mistel-therapie.de, which focuses on mistletoe in
cancer treatment.
For full story, please see:
www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/health_and_beauty/383035/cancer_drug_the_other_use_for_mistletoe.html
BACK TO TOP
9. Medicinal plants: Exploring Zulu plants in science class
Source: Independent Online, 17 February 2010
Integrating the knowledge of indigenous Zulu medicinal plants into the
teaching of chemistry is under investigation by Fulbright scholar Deshi
Moodley, now a science education lecturer at the faculty of education at
the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Moodley's study, which she says will take three years, integrates
indigenous knowledge of Zulu medicinal plants into the teaching of
school-level chemistry and was discussed during the Southern African
Association for Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education
annual meeting on the Edgewood campus in Pinetwon, South Africa, last
month.
Focusing on the Waterberry (Sygizium cordatum), or uMdoni tree, as it is
known in Zulu, Moodley aims to establish the effectiveness of adopting a
new strategy in the teaching of chemistry to increase interest in a
subject some schoolchildren consider "foreign" in its present format.
Twenty Zulu-speaking chemistry students at the School of Mathematics,
Science and Technology Education are participating in the study, which is
in its preliminary stages.
"I am using the uMdoni tree as it has a lot of cultural relevance. The
leaves and bark are used by traditional healers to treat wounds and
infections - it has anti-bacterial properties," she said.
Moodley said the research was being done because 90 percent of the African
population relied on traditional medicine and children studying science in
African countries performed badly, according to the Trends in
International Mathematics and Science Study (Timss).
"A number of studies have revealed that pupils from indigenous backgrounds
have shown disinterest in conventional schooling because it was believed
to be culturally foreign to them, and this could be one factor that has
contributed to the low scores attained by South African pupils in Timss.?
"The integration of indigenous African knowledge of plants in the FET
(Further Education and Training) syllabus will allow pupils to relate to
the subject's science content more readily as they have relevant
experiences of the everyday lives of their communities," she said.
"Many science teachers at schools do not know how to tackle indigenous
knowledge in the teaching of chemistry, so they focus on textbook-bound
information, which is generally based on Western modern science. There is
a lot not only in the chemistry of indigenous plants but also about
pupils' cultural beliefs of plants that school science teachers could
address," said Moodley.
For full story, please see:
www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=31&art_id=vn20100217062106885C807331
BACK TO TOP
10. Medicinal plants: Vets turn to African herbs as animal drugs
stop working
Source: Ecologist, 19 February, 2010
The West's veterinary drug drive is not working, say animal disease
scientists who have started researching the effectiveness of plant-based
treatments used in Ethiopia.
Researchers from the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) will visit the
East African country and select 30 plants used by native herdsman to
control parasites in their animals. These will then be taken to
laboratories in Ethiopia and Scotland to test for their effectiveness.
?Like farmers across the world they often do things because their fathers
and grandfathers did. Our idea is to find out if and how they work and to
feed that information back to the farmers,? said project leader Dr Jos
Houdijk.
Dr Houdijk said the project was a recognition that it was time to look for
alternatives to the veterinary drugs on which farmers in industrialized
countries had become reliant to control animal diseases.
'?When these drugs were introduced in the west in the 1960s we thought
they would solve all our problems but we couldn't have been more wrong.?
'?Nowadays the parasites are becoming resistant and the consumer is
becoming more aware about having products that have a minimum use of
drugs. Alternative medicines are coming into fashion again.?
The project is one of 16 others given funding by the SAC to look into
helping Sub-Saharan and South Asian farmers tackle the spread of livestock
diseases.
For full story, please see:
www.theecologist.org/News/news_round_up/419514/vets_turn_to_african_herbs_as_animal_drugs_stop_working.html
BACK TO TOP
11. Moringa oleifera: Seeds from the Moringa tree can be used
for water purification
Source: Uppsala University News (Sweden), 18 February 2010
Pure water is a key requirement for good health and alternative cheap,
safe methods are required in many countries. In a paper that has just been
published in the leading American Chemical Society journal on interfaces,
Langmuir, researchers from Uppsala University in co-operation with The
University of Botswana describe how extracts from seeds of the Moringa
oleifera tree can be used for water purification.
Flocculation of particulate impurities is a common first stage in
purification of water. This often uses addition of either aluminium or
iron salts. Aluminium, particularly, has undesirable health implications.
An alternative procedure that uses a natural extract from seeds of the
Moringa oleifera tree is used in Africa.
A cooperation with the University of Botswana, where there is a long
interest in exploiting natural products, has led to a research project
that provides important insight into the way that protein molecules from
the Moringa oleifera seeds interact, binding strongly both to each other
and surfaces so as to cause aggregation into large lumps that are readily
removed from the water.
?It is nice to see how the basic interactions of molecules can play a role
in solving practical problems,? says Adrian Rennie, Professor at the
Department of Physics and Astronomy at Uppsala University. ?Understanding
of the process may lead to further development in water purification with
materials that are locally available and environmentally friendly.?
For full story, please see:www.uu.se/news/news_item.php?typ=pm&id=935
BACK TO TOP
12. Mushrooms show long term effect of climate change
Source: Ecologist, 9 December, 2009
Spring mushrooms are popping up around three weeks earlier than 50 years
ago due to global warming, according to fungi experts.
An analysis conducted by a team of scientists from the UK and Norway has
looked at changes in the time of spring fruiting from data collected by
mushroom experts and amateur enthusiasts between 1960 and 2007.
Their findings, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society
today, found that climatic changes can have significant impact on both the
fruiting and growth of fungi.
'It is well known that organisms such as birds or plants are laying or
flowering earlier, due to higher prevailing temperatures in the spring.
However, we found that higher temperatures as long ago as the previous
summer cause fungi to fruit earlier in the following spring,' said
Professor Alan Gange, Professor of Microbial Ecology at Royal Holloway and
one of the study authors.
Professor Gange said warmer temperatures and fewer ground frosts enable
the fungal body of the mushroom, which is normally invisible to the naked
eye, to grow throughout the winter.
?It won?t necessarily mean there are bigger mushrooms but it will
certainly mean there are more of them, and they?re appearing earlier in
the year,' he said.
An additional consequence of fungi staying more active over the winter is
that decomposition and the nutrient cycle become more rapid. For gardeners
this means faster rotting compost and faster growing lawns and plants.
'The entire pattern of fungal growth has changed, meaning that the vital
ecosystem functions of decomposition and nutrient cycling must have
speeded up considerably, as our autumns and winters have become warmer,'
said Professor Gange.
'This means the disappearance of leaf litter and rotting of things like
compost heaps happen more quickly than they used to. In woodlands tree
growth is likely to be quicker because of greater availability of
nutrients.'
For full story, please see:
www.theecologist.org/News/news_round_up/377677/spring_mushrooms_show_long_term_effect_of_climate_change.html
BACK TO TOP
13. Wildlife: how the pet trade's greed is emptying south-east
Asia's forests
Source: Guardian (UK), 21 February 2010
Countries across south-east Asia are being systematically drained of
wildlife to meet a booming demand for exotic pets in Europe and Japan and
traditional medicine in China ? posing a greater threat to many species
than habitat loss or global warming.
More than 35 million animals were legally exported from the region over
the past decade, official figures show, and hundreds of millions more
could have been taken illegally. Almost half of those traded were
seahorses and more than 17 million were reptiles. About 1 million birds
and 400,000 mammals were traded, along with 18 million pieces of coral.
The situation is so serious that experts have invented a new term ? empty
forest syndrome ? to describe the gaping holes in biodiversity left
behind.
?There's lots of forest where there are just no big animals left," says
Chris Shepherd of Traffic, the wildlife trade monitoring network. "There
are some forests where you don't even hear birds."
Vincent Nijman, a researcher at Oxford Brookes University who has
investigated the trade, said: "In Asia, everybody knows the value of
wildlife, so people go into the forest and, whatever they encounter, they
know it has a value and that there is someone they can sell it to."
Nijman's research offers the first glimpse of the size of this widespread
trade. While most people are aware of illegal sales of rhino horn and
ivory, he says it is the scale of the movement of lesser-known species
that is most disturbing.
The bulk of seahorses traded were in the form of dried specimens for
Chinese medicine. "The moment you look into the wildlife trade in
south-east Asia, China is the biggest challenge, because they can use
everything and they will use everything."
For full story, please see:
www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/feb/21/illegal-wildlife-trade
BACK TO TOP
14. Wildlife: Jane Goodall, UN Messenger of Peace, speaks about
conservation
Source: New Scientist, 24 February 2010
"Everybody studying animals in the wild today needs to be aware of the
need for conservation and involving local people. It's rather unfair
because when I began my study there were probably over a million wild
chimps and the equatorial forest belt stretched across Africa - I was very
lucky to be able to concentrate purely on research."
Goodall's research has become one of the longest continuous field studies
of any animal, producing startling revelations about wild chimpanzees'
behaviour, such as meat-eating and their manufacture and use of tools. In
a sense, if we lose chimps we lose a part of our own history.
It was at a conference in Chicago in 1986 that the crisis was first
brought to light. Researchers from field sites across Africa ended their
presentations with the same worrying message - the chimps in a given area
were in trouble from deforestation or poaching. It rapidly became apparent
that chimps were facing a dramatic decline across their entire range.
Since then the situation has become considerably worse. There are now
perhaps as few as 150 000 chimps remaining in the wild.
"I feel more determined than ever and take inspiration from how well our
forestry programme is doing around Gombe," she says.
Gombe National Park is just 60 km?. When I was doing my research there in
the mid-1990s, the forest ended abruptly at the edge of a rift escarpment
and the hills beyond were completely bare, forcing local people to come
into the park to collect firewood. "Now there are trees that are about so
high," says Goodall, gesturing just above the height of the table,
"running for about 100 km from south of Kigoma in Tanzania to Burundi. The
really exciting thing is that the villagers have been trained to monitor
their forest using Google Earth. Using a cellphone that takes photographs
and video, information is sent straight up to a satellite and villagers
can see for themselves where trees have been cut, where there's been a
fire, or erosion."
Promoting the kind of initiative that empowers local people is one of
Goodall's strengths. By using local people with no more than primary
school education to collect the long-term data in Gombe, she has created a
community that benefits from, and are proud of, the chimps. "They are
their chimps," she says. Although the situation is improving at Gombe,
"the real tough issue is the commercial bushmeat trade in central and west
Africa. It's so terribly unsustainable."
Goodall's work has gone well beyond protecting chimps and their habitat.
She has a holistic view of conservation and feels that saving the natural
world has to be done on all fronts simultaneously.
An organization she founded called Roots & Shoots now operates in over 100
countries and is designed to encourage young people to roll up their
sleeves and take action. Her latest book, Hope for Animals and Their
World: How endangered species are being rescued from the brink, is not, as
one might expect, about chimpanzees, but the efforts made to save a wide
variety of animals from extinction.
It reflects Goodall's current role as a spokeswoman for wildlife
conservation and as a reminder that we are capable of turning things
around if we put our minds to it. "We could all kill ourselves trying to
conserve what's left of this planet but if new generations aren't raised
to be better stewards then there's very little point."
For full story, please see:
www.newscientist.com/article/mg20527481.100-jane-goodall-there-is-no-problem-in-having-empathy.html?full=true&print=true
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COUNTRY INFORMATION
15. Cambodia: Bamboo trains
Source: www.greenearthnews.com, 25 January 2010
Transportation plays a key role in the advancement of societies. In
Cambodia, a country destroyed by years of civil war, transportation is a
struggle. The French colonists created an intricate system of railroad
lines to connect the plantations with their lucrative coffee and bananas
to marketplaces. But these lines and trains fell to waste after the Khmer
Rouge banned the ?ordinary? people from using them. Now trains run
infrequently in between the villages and the trips are long as break-downs
and derailments are common. So, Cambodian villagers long ago took matters
into their own hands and built the Bamboo Train.
Their choice of materials is an unusual combination of the strong and
abundant bamboo that surrounds them and parts from abandoned military
tanks. Described as a ?bamboo slab on wheels,? these trains sprung up in
the late 70s where they were controlled by a series of levers and
hand-cast controls. They have since upgraded to wooden footbrakes and
small motors that poured into the country, courtesy of the United Nations
relief effort in the 1980s.
Simplicity is key for this train system. They use the existing railroad
tracks and spurs to travel. When they meet another bamboo train on the
tracks, whoever has the least passengers merely lifts their train off the
track to let the other one by. They keep a sharp ear out for the
infrequent freight trains that come through and when they reach their
destination, they simply pick the train up and turn it around to head
back.
These bamboo trains, or ?Norries? as they are called by locals, provide a
link between villages, a way to get produce and animals to the market, a
way to get lumber to building sites and a means of income for many as rich
tourists pay up to US$2/day to ride them. In Cambodia, that can equal two
months wages to most citizens. A local village has even turned into a
?little Detroit? and builds up to 10 trains a month for sale and use. Not
only are they building them, but they want to make them more beautiful to
help encourage the tourists to ride them.
Necessity is the mother of invention and in a country that desperately
needs (and wants) to rebuild itself, these bamboo trains are an ingenious
solution.
For more information, please see:
http://blog.greenearthbamboo.com/20100125/bamboo-marvels/travel-by-bamboo-trains-in-cambodia-true-ingenuity/
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16. Cameroon regulates trade of bushmeat
Source: Epoch Times (USA), 17 February 2010
In an attempt to preserve endangered animal species in Cameroon, the
Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife has authorized the sale of wildlife
meat, or "bushmeat," on designated markets.
The government hopes to get a grip on the rampant selling, trading, and
trafficking of bushmeat in Cameroon.
The authorization of the bushmeat sales on designated markets will allow
sellers to distinguish themselves from those that are illegally trading in
seriously endangered wildlife species.
"Wildlife species such as apes and elephants have become a consumers item
whereby men with guns scour the forest in search of commercial gains
through indiscriminate killing of game for the bushmeat trade," said Davis
S. Wilkie, a renowned conservationist.
He adds, "The bushmeat consumed across the Congo Basin may exceed 1
million metric tons per year, the equivalent of almost four million
cattle."
The unregulated sale of meat has made it difficult for the government to
keep track of its reach. ?All along wildlife traders have been going about
selling bushmeat illegally along the highways and in hidden commercial
corners, thus making control by government agents almost impossible,? said
Cameroon Forestry and Wildlife Minister Elvis Ngolle Ngolle in a press
release.
?Those who have bushmeat to sell, should sell the meat within the bounds
or limits of markets which have been designated by the authorities
concerned," said Ngolle. "That way, our delegates, our control teams will
go to those markets, control the meat that is there and at the same time
ensure its health conditions."
The Last Great Ape (LAGA), a wildlife law enforcement organization which
fights ?the commercial poaching with its related trade of protected
species,? applauds the decision to regulate the bushmeat trade.
?I believe that it will go a long way to start better enforcement of the
wildlife law for the benefit of all; the benefit of wildlife in the
country and the benefit of the sellers themselves,? said Ofir Drori,
director of LAGA, which has been in operation since December 2002.
The hunting and trading of bushmeat is ingrained in the society to the
extent that it has become the sole source of income for many local
residents. The government has set up projects to offer alternative ways to
make a living. Drori says that it is in fact the rich people that benefit
from the illegal trade, whereas the poor are exploited.
For full story, please see: www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/29944/
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17. Guatemala: Revalorization of indigenous knowledge
Source: The Guatemala Times in the Traditional Knowledge Bulletin, 17
February 2010
Wildlife hunting for domestic consumption (subsistence hunting) is a very
common activity that is part of the cultural identity of many indigenous
communities of Guatemala's rural area, but it has been poorly studied in
our country. However, unmanaged subsistence hunting is a serious threat
for wild animal populations and can cause drastic effects and negative
alterations in the natural dynamics of ecosystem.
The Ecoregi?n Lachua is home to 55 Maya-Q?eqchi? communities that still
have agriculture and forest use practices, such as wildlife hunting, that
are traditionally carried out in a way that contributes to the
sustainability of these natural resources. Maya-Q?eqchi? cosmovision has
many traditional elements that promote and favour a responsible and
respectful use of nature.
In 2000, the School of Biology of the University of San Carlos of
Guatemala started a subsistence hunting characterization project in
communities neighbouring the Laguna Lachua National Park to determine its
local tendencies. This study initially started with nine local hunters
from five communities that collaborated with the project filling out
registry forms with the biological information about the animals they
hunted.
In 2002, Marleny Rosales-Meda became a member of the research team and
worked collecting part of the registry forms, carrying out training
workshops for local hunters and analyzing the information gathered until
that date. The result of these analyses showed that subsistence hunting is
a very important activity for Maya-Q?eqchi? communities of the study area,
because it provides economic and social benefits. As main products of the
analysis of these hunting tendencies, a "Wildlife reproduction calendar"
and a "Preliminary proposal for subsistence hunting management in local
communities of the Ecoregion Lachua" were formulated.
The research team began promoting and carrying out participative efforts
guided towards establishing a communitarian subsistence hunting management
system. These efforts allowed us to achieve the consensus and validation
of the "First Communitarian Agreements for Subsistence Hunting
Management," which were proposed and signed by leaders/authorities of 15
local communities.
Currently, the staff are carrying out a long-term Participative Bilingual
Environmental Education Program ? PBEEP ? that emerged from a local
initiative. Our PBEEP is aimed to give continuance to the previous
research and management phases through an education, awareness and
dissemination phase of the efforts carried out until today regarding
conservation, communitarian management and sustainable use of wildlife.
A main cornerstone of the Participative Bilingual Environmental Education
Program (PBEEP) that biologists Marleny Rosales-Meda and Maria Susana
Hermes carry out with Maya-Q?eqchi? communities that neighbour Laguna
Lachua National Park (LLNP) is linking scientific and traditional
knowledge to favour the long-term conservation and sustainable use of
natural resources in the Ecoregion Lachua. A key objective of this
innovative Program is to promote the rescue and revalorization of
ancestral Q?eqchi? knowledge that is strongly related with the respectful
and responsible use of nature.
Rosales and Hermes, coordinators of the PBEEP, proposed to elders and LLNP
managers a proposal to carry out a different kind of reforestation
activity guided towards rescuing and transmitting traditional trees
planting values and wisdom to children and teenagers from five communities
of the Ecoregion Lachua. For this purpose, park rangers from LLNP
previously constructed a plant nursery with 1 800 native trees that have
important uses (wood, food, medicine) and special meaning for Q?eqchi?
people.
This activity is a pioneer reforestation effort where biologists, park
managers, elders and the youth of the Ecoregion Lachua work hand in hand
in favour of the conservation and good use of tree, considering ancestral
respect towards Mother Nature as a cross cutting topic.
For full story, please see:
www.guatemala-times.com/science-environment/environment/1379-good-news-from-ecoregion-lachua-guatemala.html
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18. India: Mining project threatening forest livelihoods
Source: IPS, 23 February 2010
When 5 000 indigenous Dongria Kondhs trekked Sunday to Niyam Dongar hill,
the abode of their presiding deity Niyam Raja, and designated it as
inviolate, it meant they were stepping up their resistance to a
controversial alumina refinery and bauxite mine project here. Alumina is
used in the production of aluminium metal.
This was the latest act of defiance here against the backdrop of unrest
since 1997 among communities, environmental and rights activists over the
US$2.13 billon mining project by Vedanta Aluminium Ltd, the Indian arm of
London-based Vedanta Resources Plc.
The alumina refinery, capable of producing one million tonnes of alumina
from bauxite per annum, has been operating for over a year now at the
foothills of Niyamgiri.
Since 2007, Vedanta has been seeking clearance for a six-fold expansion of
its refinery and 721-hectare bauxite mining project. The bauxite project
however has been stalled by a forest law.
The mining operations would affect some 8,000 Dongria, Kutia and Jharania
Kondh in 112 tribal and dalit villages in Kalahandi and adjacent Rayagada
district, two of the most underdeveloped areas in Orissa.
For the forest-dwelling locals, Vedanta?s mining project would result in
the demolition of the Dongria?s centuries-old sacred grove on Niyamgiri,
threatening their ancient way of life, right to water, food, livelihood
and cultural identity.
Green activists say the gravest concern pertains to water. Hilltop mining
will dry up perennial water sources, while possible poor management of
refinery wastewater could degrade surface water and pollute groundwater
too. There is also concern about the huge quantities of water that the
expanded refinery will consume daily.
Flash floods, which are common here, will be aggravated by hilltop
deforestation. A flash flood in Vamsadhara can breach the red mud pond,
causing disastrous wastewater spills into the river.
Three-quarters of the targeted hill have thick forests. The 300 species of
plants in them include 50 species of medicinal plants and trees, six of
which are in the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List
of threatened species. An elephant reserve, the forests are home to
tigers, leopards and barking deer.
A tribal woman from Sindhabahal said, "The forest gives leaves, bamboo,
roots, medicinal herbs, fruits and juice from the giant palm trees (to
make liquor). These we sell or use for food. Hill slopes, known as
?dongar?, are our cultivation fields."
For full story, please see: www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50429
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19. Indonesia: Government plans forest land giveaway to help the
poor
Source: Community Forestry E-News, 16 February 2010
The Government on Friday said it would allocate 100 000 hectares of forest
land to be declared Hutan Tanaman Rakyat , or ?People?s Plantations,? as
part of efforts to reduce poverty and cut greenhouse gas emissions through
sustainable forestry practices.
?We?ve decided to give away 100 000 hectares of forest land to 10 000
households,? Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said at the vice
presidential palace after Friday was declared National Day of Nature
Conservation.
?In addition, we?re also going to give 40 000 hectares of forest land to
20 000 households for community-based forest management and 30,000
hectares to 11 000 households for village-managed forests.?
Based on a report by the Nairobi-based World Agroforestry Center, poverty
figures tend to be high in and around forests. The country?s forestry
policy has been criticized for failing to safeguard resources, while
communities were frequently omitted from conservation programs. Zulkifli
said that the program could result in livelihoods for at least six people
per household.
?If one hectare could result in Rp 200 million (US$21 500), 10 hectares
equal Rp 2 billion ? it could increase our people?s welfare. We don?t
want them to be only workers, instead they should be masters of their own
areas,? he said.
The plantations will be developed in ten districts, including Jeneponto,
South Sulawesi and Musi Banyuasin, South Sumatra.
Wandojo Siswanto, head of the climate change working group at the
ministry, added that the project was also part of the government?s efforts
to reduce carbon emissions by 26 percent by 2020.
?It is related to how we can achieve the 26 percent emission cuts and was
already set out in the ministry?s contract with the president [in the 100
days program],? Wandojo said, adding that a total of 500,000 hectares were
targeted to become ?People?s Plantations.?
?It would also be a way to improve welfare,? he said. ?Because people can
enjoy the benefits of the forest without damaging it.?
For full story, please see:
http://thejakartaglobe.com/news/indonesian-government-plans-forest-land-giveaway-to-help-the-poor/354338
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20. Kenya: Law needed to protect community inventions
Source: Traditional Knowledge Bulletin, 23 February 2010
In Kenya, many communities are well known for their cultural practices.
The Maasai moran ensemble which includes swords, shukas and sandals is one
example. Others include Lamu art, Kisii soapstone sculptures, the coastal
marimba and nzumari (traditional musical instruments).
In the area of medicine, it is documented that some traditional methods of
treatment have been patented by foreign entities to the exclusion of the
local community from where the knowledge originated. An increased
intellectual property rights law in the area of patenting genetic material
has increased bio-prospecting activities by foreign corporations.
This has brought out a whole new debate on Bioprospecting vis-?-vis
community rights. Most of the time the bioprospector heavily relies on the
locals to provide knowledge about the ecosystem and the bio-matter in
question.
The 1992 UN Convention on Biodiversity requires prospectors to compensate
developing countries in exchange for access to bio resources. Not many
agree with this position.
When it comes to indigenous rights in the area of culture and bio-matter
the question remains, does the local community have an exclusive right to
the knowledge and if so how can they protect it.
Protection of indigenous rights has remained challenging due to the fact
that the knowledge is not owned by one person but rather by a community.
To qualify for protection under existing intellectual property laws, the
main requirement is that there should be an original author of the
creation.
The nature of cultural knowledge is that it is handed down from generation
to generation such that identifying the original creator is difficult.
Another requirement before one can be accorded intellectual property
rights is that the creation must be new, original, innovative and
distinctive. Usually most cultural knowledge is distinct to a certain
community but fails the tests of novelty and originality.
Another legal issue is whether a community has legal capacity to own any
property. Communities have no legal capacity to own property unless they
form themselves into an artificial person like a trust. Formation of a
trust requires consensus of most of the community members which would be
difficult as there will always be some opposition.
It remains that unless a specific legislation is enacted protecting
indigenous rights then it is almost impossible to accord protection under
existing intellectual property laws. Therefore unless a similar law is
enacted in Kenya it would remain challenging to accord intellectual
property rights to a particular community.
Giving one community indigenous rights to the exclusion of all others is
arguable.
It might promote tribalism and might increase marginalisation of the
smaller communities especially those with little existing traditional
knowledge. However it also serves to preserve culture and enhances
national heritage.
For full story, please see:
www.businessdailyafrica.com/-/539444/866256/-/item/2/-/psi65az/-/index.html
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21. Liberia faces choice between deforestation and REDD
Source: Ecologist, 11 January, 2010
If alternatives to deforestation like REDD do not arrive soon Liberia's
remaining rainforest cover is likely to go the same way as its neighbours
in Cote d'Ivoire
Liberia is in a quandary over its forests: should it pursue a low carbon
economy or develop commercial forestry?
With deforestation contributing about 18 percent to global greenhouse gas
emissions and the global community committed to cutting deforestation by
half by 2020, this is a dilemma of more than local concern.
Historically, there has been a low deforestation rate in Liberia and today
40 percent of the country is covered by rainforest. This marks it out from
its neighbours: Sierra Leone, where only 5 percent of the original forest
remains, and Cote d?Ivoire, which exported hardwoods on a level with
Brazil in 2002.
Part of the reason for the low deforestation rate is because the UN placed
timber sanctions on Liberia in 2003. This occurred in reaction to the
Charles Taylor regime which used exports of blood timber (as well as
diamonds) to fuel arms trafficking and sponsor the Revolutionary United
Front, in its struggle in Sierra Leone.
With a return to relative stability UN sanctions were lifted in 2006 and
all timber contracts were declared null and void.
Today government policy suggests Liberia is moving towards high levels of
timber extraction. Their Poverty Reduction Strategy forecasts forestry
revenues to grow from US$500,000 in 2008 to US$24million in 2010.
Despite this, Liberia has entered the REDD scheme ? Reducing Emissions
from Deforestation and Degradation ? which uses financial incentives to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But it is a long and complicated process.
Although Liberia has completed the first step drawing a US$200,000 grant,
there are concerns that it lacks the capability to handle complex carbon
accounting and the institutions to manage the financial flows. So it is
possible that Liberia will not be deemed ready and REDD investments
diverted to better functioning, but less needy, economies.
This may all be academic. REDD remains incomplete in the aftermath of
Copenhagen, and a deal on hold until the UNFCCC meets in Mexico in
December 2010.
For full story, please see:
www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/bloggers/atlantic_rising/395849/atlantic_rising_liberia_faces_choice_between_deforestation_and_redd.html
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22. Malaysia: Oil palms threaten survival of tribal arts
Source: Reuters Online, 5 February 2010
Their artworks have been recognized as part of the world's heritage and
can fetch thousands of dollars in auctions, but the Mah Meri tribe, and
their wood carving tradition, are increasingly falling victim to
Malaysia's lucrative palm oil industry.
Any hope for the Mah Meri, who are known as the "people of the forest", to
create their prized wood carvings lies with them getting access to a few
mangrove swamps that still stand within the oil palm estates on the
32,000-acre Carey island in central Malaysia -- an area twice the size of
Manhattan.
But guards patrolling the estates do not always let them in, threatening a
tradition that the United Nation's Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization has lauded as well as stemming the development of larger
works that can fetch up to US$100,000 at art auctions.
"Palm oil has given us development but it should not change our way of
life," woodcarver Gali Adam said as he etched out an elaborate figurine
from a block of the rare nyireh batu wood at his small workshop on the
island.
"In the past, we would go in to the mangroves and make offerings to the
spirits and get their permission to cut down just one tree. Now we have to
get written permission from the estate manager before we can do anything."
One of 18 tribes collectively referred to as "Orang Asli" or Original
Peoples in mainland Malaysia, the Mah Meri have lived on the island for
more than 400 years, long before plantations came in the late 19th
century.
The tribe amounts to about 3,000 of Malaysia's 28 million population. Of
that, just 30 Mah Meri woodcarvers in a rustic village of thatched houses
ply their trade in figurines, which are modelled after ancestral spirits.
Art collectors prize the larger wooden statues that show off the rich
reddish-brown colouring and fine grain of the batu nyireh, a species of
mahogany tree that is already listed as endangered in Singapore.
One plantation firm on the island, Sime Darby has stepped up to conserve
the tree species that takes more than 15 years to mature. The firm has
tried to replant seedlings grown by tissue culture, officials say.
"We are not an evil palm oil company. There are some plantations that have
not been sustainable but we do believe in helping to keep these traditions
alive," a Sime Darby official who declined to be named due to company
policy, said.
For full story, please see:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE6140IP20100205
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23. Peru: Two-thirds of Amazon threatened by oil and gas
development
Source: Yale Environment News 360, 19 February 2010
Petroleum companies have leased 41 percent of the Peruvian Amazon for oil
and gas drilling and could soon hold drilling concessions on 70 percent of
the highly diverse rainforest, according to a new study.
Conducted by researchers from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and
the conservation group Save America?s Forests, the study said that a
second wave of oil and gas drilling is spreading so rapidly through the
Peruvian Amazon that roughly 20 percent of officially protected areas, as
well as more than half of reserves set aside for indigenous people, are
now leased for drilling.
The oil and gas boom is so intensive that it now extends to many of the
remotest corners of the Peruvian Amazon, including an area deep in the
rainforest ? known as Block 67 ? that may sit atop 300 million barrels of
oil. The study was conducted by amassing official drilling information
from the Peruvian government and using Geographical Information Systems
data to overlay the concessions on detailed maps.
The study said that the drilling boom poses a major threat to the
well-documented biodiversity of the Peruvian Amazon, which contains the
second largest area of rainforest in the Amazon outside of Brazil. The
current oil and gas exploration boom is the second major one to hit the
Peruvian Amazon, following an initial surge of exploration in the 1970s
and 1980s.
For full story, please see:
http://e360.yale.edu/content/digest.msp?id=2282
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24. Zambia: The untapped fruit potential
Source: allafrica.com, 20 February 2010
Fruit is an important food security commodity. Not only does it provide
the necessary nutrients for both rural and urban households, it also is a
source of extra income through sales conducted almost all year round.
Zambia is endowed with different varieties of fruit trees, both exotic and
indigenous. The tropical climatic conditions in Zambia provide
opportunities for the cultivation of various types of fruit species such
as mango, papaya, bananas, guava, passion fruit, loquat, pineapple,
avocado, citrus, apple, pear, peach, pomegranate, apricot, plum and
grapes.
Beyond the cultivated species, there are a large number of indigenous
fruit species like masuku, mabungo, monsoso, cashew nuts, masau and mpundu
which if exploited could contribute to the economic development of the
country and reduce poverty mainly in rural areas.
These fruits, especially indigenous species are well adapted and can
ensure household food security during periods of natural disasters such as
droughts.
The production and processing of fruits are labour intensive and therefore
provide employment to a large segment of the population.
According to the FAO paper on Non-Wood Forest Products in Zambia, exotic
fruit trees such as mangoes, guavas, papaya, avocado and mulberry have
been a permanent feature in homesteads and some even grow naturally in
open areas without any human interference.
These, together with a number of wild fruits form a nutritious
supplementary food in seasons when agricultural crops become scarce.
Species like Anisophyllea and Uapaca are common features along main roads
and at markets between October to January, when they are offered for sale.
The other species that are offered for sale include Annona senegalensis,
Azanza garckeana, Diosphyros mesipiliformis, Flacourtia indica, Strychnos
cocculoides, Strychnos spinosa, Tamarindus indica and syzygiums.
Almost all exotic fruits have been on the market and still continue to
command a place in almost every market countrywide.
With the present harsh economic conditions, many more fruits are entering
into the trade market and are gaining importance as major household income
and food security commodities.
Trade in fruits and fruit trees could, therefore, create employment for
many Zambians and offering a potential commodity that could break into
international markets if well-researched on.
Many of these are highly consumed in many rural and some urban settings
but have not been offered for sale previously because of the great
abundance in the past years when they could not fetch a good price.
However, most fruit trees are becoming significant trade commodities as
many species continue to become scarce at the local level due to
deforestation brought about by the demand for wood fuel and agricultural
expansion.
The future trend is, therefore, expected to be an upward trend in sales of
many fruit trees both exotic and indigenous as the population rises and
alternative income sources become scarce.
The Government does not have a specific policy on the promotion of the
horticulture in any of its programme but it is adequately covered in the
national agriculture policy under the vision for the agriculture sector up
to 2015. The policy states that the Government will promote horticultural
products and expected that the products will double by 2015.
For full story, please see: http://allafrica.com/stories/201002220350.html
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25. Zimbabwe: Community-based resource management vital
Source: allafrica.com 18 February 2010
The declining momentum of community-based natural resource management
(CBNRM) in southern Africa is threatening to erode major gains registered
over the past two decades unless urgent steps are taken to revive this
critical livelihood strategy for poverty alleviation and a sustainable
environment.
Environmental experts who met in Harare recently to review community-based
natural resources management programmes, said the decline in the momentum
of the implementation of the CBNRM programmes is accelerating the rapid
loss of biodiversity and wildlife.
They expressed concern over the rapid loss of biodiversity; wildlife and
other natural resources as rural communities are increasingly being
sidelined by the rural district councils from benefiting from the natural
resources.
Dr David Mazambani, a consultant for the Zimbabwe CBNRM stock taking
exercise and community development expert told participants that the
extent and quality of community participation has declined sharply in
recent years in most Campfire sites as powerful local elites and Rural
District Councils (RDCs) capture all the benefits at the expense of local
communities.
This, he said, has contributed significantly to the decline in community
participation in CBNRM activities in Zimbabwe and in other countries
within the South African Development Community (SADC).
In Zimbabwe, for example, he said, rural district councils who retained
authority to make and break contracts with hunting and tourism operators
tended to siphon off a huge chunk of the proceeds through various taxes
and levies.
Lack of full devolution and continuing interference by RDCs made it
difficult for local communities to actively participate in CBNRM
activities. As a result, Dr Mazambani said, poaching and the unsustainable
exploitation of natural resources were now rampant, as communities saw no
benefit from engaging in CBNRM activities.
The rationale for community involvement in the management of natural
resources stems from the fact that local communities that derive direct
benefits from managing natural resources are better motivated to protect
those resources.
For full story, please see: http://allafrica.com/stories/201002180025.html
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NEWS
26. Big business leaves big forest footprints
Source: BBC News Online, 16 February 2010
Consumers around the globe are not aware that they are "eating"
rainforests, says Andrew Mitchell. In this week's Green Room, he explains
how many everyday purchases are driving the destruction of the vital
tropical ecosystems.
?Burning tropical forests drives global warming faster than the world's
entire transport sector; there will be no solution to climate change
without stopping deforestation.?
Next time you are in a supermarket picking up a chicken sandwich for
lunch, or fancy tucking in to a hearty breakfast of eggs, sausage and
bacon before setting off for work, spare a thought for the Amazon.
A new report by Forest Footprint Disclosure reveals for the first time how
global business is driving rainforests to destruction in order to provide
things for you and me to eat.
But it does also reveal what companies are doing to try to lighten their
forest footprint. Sadly, however, the answer is: not much, at least not
yet.
Consumers "eat" rainforests each day - in the form of beef-burgers, bacon
and beauty products - but without knowing it. The delivery mechanism is a
global supply chain with its feet in the forests and its hands in the
till. Because of growing demand for beef, soy and palm oil, which are in
much of what we consume, as well as timber and biofuels, rainforests are
worth more cut down than standing up.
The report shows that the EU is the largest importer of soy in the world,
much of it coming from Brazil. It also shows that after China, the EU is
the biggest importer of palm oil in the world. Soy provides cheap food to
fatten our pigs and chickens, while palm oil is in everything from cakes
and cookies, to that fine moisturiser you gently rubbed into your cheeks
this morning.
The gargantuan farms of Brazil's Mato Grosso State can boast 50 combines
abreast at harvest time, marching across monoculture prairies where once
the most diverse ecosystem on Earth stood, albeit in some cases many years
ago.
Further north, thousands of square miles of rainforest natural capital is
going up in smoke each year, often illegally, to provide pastureland for
just one cow per hectare to supply beef hungry Brazilians or more
prosperous mouths in China and India.
Losing forests may undermine food, energy and climate security. Yet saving
them could, according to UN special adviser Pavan Sukhdev's forthcoming
review on The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), reduce
environmental costs by US$3-5 trillion per year.
Oh yes, let us not forget the 1.4bn people, many of them the world's
poorest, who depend on these forests for their survival and who cannot
afford to lose them, even if we can.
So what can be done? The first thing is to encourage business to mind its
"forest footprint." The impact global business has on deforestation will
be a key factor in halting deforestation in the future. No amount of
hand-wringing in the UN climate talks will alter action on the ground
unless the drivers of global deforestation are also tackled.
Whilst poverty is possibly the largest of these drivers, so is the way in
which business drives the conversion of cheap forest land to feed their
global commodity supply chains - all the way to you and me.
For full story, please see:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/8516931.stm
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27. Climate change's impact on forests being measured via expanding
tree trunks
Source: Washington Post, 20 February, 2010
In the woods of Anne Arundel County (USA), Parker, a forest ecologist at
the Smithsonian Institution, throws his arms around tulip poplars, oaks
and American beeches, and holds them so tightly that his cheek presses
into their bark. This is not some hiker on a lark: anybody, hopped up on
campfire coffee and exercise endorphins, might hug a tree once. This is
science. Parker has done it about 50,000 times.
Parker has spent the past 22 years on a research project so repetitive, so
time-consuming, that it impresses even researchers with the patience to
count tree rings.
This year, after about 250,000 hugs between them, the work paid off.
Parker's data, which showed the trunks gradually fattening over time,
indicated that many of the trees were growing two to four times faster
than expected. That raised questions about climate change's impact on the
age-old rhythms of U.S. forests.
This month, when Parker and his team published a paper on their work, it
was received as a key piece of evidence about the ways that climate change
could be having subtle but important effects on forests. Others have found
similar growth in different parts of the world, as warmer weather and more
carbon dioxide fuel tree growth.
In the tropics, however, some studies have seemed to show trees growing
more slowly: It might now be too hot for some trees there.
Last year, when Parker analyzed the mountain of data his team had
collected, he found something surprising: Their trees were adding bulk at
a surprisingly fast rate.
Parker said the best explanations for this all seemed to relate to climate
change. Temperatures in the area have risen by three-tenths of a degree;
the growing season has lengthened by 7.8 days; and the amount of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere has risen. All of those might speed up
photosynthesis, the engine of tree growth.
"The danger of that, of course, is that this can't go on forever," said
Kenneth Feeley, a professor at Florida International University. He meant
that, even if there was enough carbon dioxide to support more fast growth,
the trees would eventually run out of water or plant food. Their growth
would slow down, and they would stop absorbing so much carbon.
For full story, please see:
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/19/AR2010021905405.html
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28. Companies fund projects to preserve Amazon rain forest
Source: latimes.com, 21 February, 2010
Deep in the Amazon, in a village accessible only by boat, river dwellers
for generations have survived off fish, sparse crops and nuts from the
forest. Now they have a new resource: debit cards.
Families in Boa Frente receive US$29 a month to spend in a town upriver.
The village also has a new brick walkway, rainwater cisterns and a new
school with solar panels and Internet access. In exchange, residents agree
to protect the forest surrounding their plots instead of clearing more
trees for farming or fuel.
The windfall comes courtesy of Marriott International Inc., the
US$12-billion hotel chain. It is part of a complex ? and controversial ?
plan to save the world's rain forests with the help of big business.
Rules for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation ?or REDD
? are being designed under the auspices of the United Nations as part of
a global effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Around the world, dozens of REDD projects, sponsored by environmental
groups and funded by firms including Merrill Lynch & Co., Walt Disney Co.,
American Electric Power Co., BP and United Parcel Service Inc., are
underway.
So far, these REDD projects are voluntary, often funded by firms that want
to burnish their green credentials. But eventually these "avoided
deforestation" efforts could be included in mandatory carbon cap-and-trade
systems, such as one already in place in Europe.
But nowhere has the idea been embraced more keenly than in Brazil, home to
27 percent of the world's tropical rain forests and 18 REDD projects,
including the one in Boa Frente. Although 98 percent of the surrounding
state of Amazonas remains forested, ranchers, farmers, loggers and miners
are rapidly moving in. The state calculates that it could lose a third of
its trees by 2050.
Viana now runs a public-private effort known as the Amazonas Sustainable
Foundation, funded in part by Coca-Cola Co. and Brazil's Bradesco Bank.
The first project is in the Juma Reserve, located 125 miles south of the
state capital, Manaus. It is home to 380 families in 43 villages,
including Boa Frente.
In exchange for their bolsa floresta ?or forest allowance ?villagers
also attend two-day workshops on global warming. Their promise not to
expand their plots is enforced: The land is mapped and the forest
monitored by satellite. If a family reneges, its debit card is cancelled.
Forest dwellers are also trained in sustainable livelihoods, including
harvesting seeds, berries, rubber and other products needed by researchers
and industry.
So far, 14 villagers have been trained. In coming months, 70 more will
learn to gather seeds from dozens of species, including varieties used in
medicines and cosmetics.
Downriver, in the village of Fleixal, eight families occupy thatched-roof
shacks shaded by 200-foot Brazil nut trees. Villagers attended workshops
on how to build wire-mesh, plastic-covered nut dryers. A distributor now
pays US$7 for a five-gallon can ? up from US$3 ? because quality has
improved.
"The forest has riches," village leader Aderbal de Oliveira said,
thwacking dry leaves with his machete to uncover fallen nuts. "We must be
its guardians."
For full story, please see:
www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cover-side21-2010feb21,0,6529632,print.story
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29. Keep traditional knowledge open but safe
Source Scidev.net, 24 February 2010
Traditional biological knowledge tends to be uncomfortably juxtaposed
between two worlds ? the ancient, where knowledge was freely shared by
all, and the modern, where it is jealously protected through patents.
Last month, the European Patent Office (EPO) revoked a patent for a
traditional remedy extracted from the roots of endemic South African
plants.
There is a growing trend to incorporate traditional knowledge into modern
patent applications. They follow agreements ? signed last year by the
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the EPO ? with India
to consult its Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) before
granting patents.
India's TKDL is a 24 million page, multilingual database on traditional
remedies and medicinal plants.
According to Samir Brahmachari, Director-General of the Council of
Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Delhi, it was set up partly
in response to two expensive and protracted legal battles in the 1990s
over widely used traditional medicines.
Raghunath Mashelkar, who led the fight against the EPO patent as
Brahmachari's predecessor, was a key player in setting up the TKDL and
explains its significance.
"For the first time, traditional knowledge started to be codified in a
language and in systems that the patent offices coulduse," he says.
China has a similar database on traditional Chinese medicines that is in
use by the EPO.
The availability of such databases, and the willingness of developed
nations to consult them during patent applications, are vital to protect
the traditional knowledge of countries like China and India.
Not all developing countries have the resources to fight such wars. And
doing so eats into budgets that could otherwise be spent using traditional
knowledge to develop new and urgently needed treatments for diseases such
as malaria.
But by providing access to traditional medicine compounds, they could also
open the doors for a new wave of drug discovery.
For full story, please see:
www.scidev.net/en/opinions/biomed-analysis-keep-traditional-knowledge-open-but-safe.html
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EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES
30. 2011 Indigenous Fellowship Programme
Source: Traditional Knowledge Bulletin, 17 February 2010
The Indigenous Fellowship Programme was launched in 1997 by the Office of
the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the context of the first
International Decade of the World?s Indigenous People. The aim of the
programme is to give indigenous persons the opportunity to gain knowledge
on the UN system and mechanisms dealing with human rights issues in
general and indigenous issues in particular.
This training programme is available in four languages:
English, Spanish, French and Russian.
The deadlines to receive applications for the 2011 Indigenous
Fellowship Programme are: English speaking programme, 31 May 2010; Spanish
speaking programme, 30 June 2010; French speaking programme, 1 October
2010; and Russian speaking programme, 29 October 2010.
For more information, please see:
www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/indigenous/fellowshiprogramme.htm
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31. Chief of the Secretariat of the UN Permanent Forum on
Indigenous Issues, UNDESA, New York
From: Traditional Knowledge Bulletin, 24 February 2010
The vacancy for the post of Chief of the Secretariat of the UN Permanent
Forum on Indigenous Issues has been posted on the UN website. Under the
guidance of the Director of the Division for Social Policy and
Development, within the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the
incumbent will provide overall coordination of assistance and support to
the mandate and programme of work of the United Nations Secretariat of the
Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNSPFII). He/she will also be
responsible for overall direction and management of the Permanent Forum's
Secretariat and its programme of work, as well as the promotion of the UN
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIPs).
The deadline for applications is 18 April 2010.
For more information, please see:
https://jobs.un.org/Galaxy/Release3/vacancy/Display_Vac.aspx?lang=1200&VACID=%7b053e9d07-4266-476f-b2b6-4c02821b6274%7d
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32. Foundation for European Forest Research offers two PhD research
grants
Source: European Forest Institute, 24 February 2010
The Foundation for European Forest Research is offering two PhD
scholarships up to 19 000 euros per annum with a travel allowance of 1 000
euros a year. The opportunities are open to all interested persons
qualified to proceed with PhD studies at an internationally recognized
university.
The grants are the Mets?hallitus-Grant 2010 for PhD studies on the topic
of ?Sustainable use of forests for different purposes, including
economical and recreational forest functions and biodiversity values?, and
the Ponsse- Grant 2010 for PhD studies on the topic of ?Contribution of
modern forest management technologies to sustainable and competitive
forestry in Europe?.
For more information, please see:
www.efi.int/portal/newsevents/press_releases/?id=236
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33. Kathmandu Forestry College (KAFCOl) offering courses on NTFPs
and Forestry
Source: Nepalese Foresters, 23 January 2010
Responding to current needs of Nepal on bio-diversity conservation and
livelihood improvement, Kathmandu Forestry College (KAFCOl) in
collaboration with Nepal Agroforestry Foundation is organizing various
training courses during the year 2010. These include: (1) Agroforestry
promotion for sustainable rural livelihood, (2) Inventory and management
of NTFPs, (3) Alternative energy: Jatropha cultivation and processing for
bio diesel production, (4) Introduction to GIS application in natural
resource management in Nepal, (5) Access and benefit sharing from genetic
resources and traditional knowledge, (6) Livelihood improvement planning
and capacity building, (7) Community forestry operational plan preparation
and implementation for addressing second generation issues, (8)
Introducing community based participatory action research approaches to
natural resource management, (9) Advanced GIS application in Nepal (10)
Gender and social inclusion; and (11) Climate change.
The overall objective of these training courses is to help NRM
professionals and practitioners (i.e. field staff, animators,
facilitators, etc), KAFCOL members, students, and CFUG members in the
related discipline that ultimately increases the effectiveness and equity
of their process and institutions so that they can even better meet the
goals of sustainable forests and livelihoods.
For more information, please contact:
Him Lal Shrestha and Shiva Shankar Neupane
Kathmandu Forestry College (KAFCOL)
Tel: 01-4600343
E-mail: kafcol at wlink.com.np
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34. Center for Sustainable Development online field courses
Source: www.csd-i.org, 11 February 2010
A module of two courses is being offered online in March, 2010.
(1) From the Ground Up: Designing Community-Centred Projects with
Sustainable Solutions.
2 March ?3 May, 2010:
This course will give you an insight into contemporary methods of
developing community-centred, impact-oriented projects. You 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
for you to develop a real project, in real time, during the course.
(2) Project Architecture: Planning for Impact
18 May?28 June, 2010
This course involves developing a powerful set of management tools
including: 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 more information, please contact:
E-mail: Online.Learning at csd-i.org .
Website: www.csd-i.org/online-learning/ .
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LITERATURE REVIEW AND WEB SITES
35. Forest Footprint Disclosure Annual Review
Source: www.amazonia.org.br, 10 February 2010
Forest Footprint Disclosure (FFD) is a special project of the Global
Canopy Foundation. Initiated in 2008 the project is designed to improve
corporate understanding of a ?forest footprint? generated by the use of
forest risk commodities: soy, palm oil, timber, cattle products and
biofuels.
FFD designed a disclosure request asking about company policy on
sustainable supply chains for these products and sent it out to 217
international companies in July 2009. This Annual Review describes the
findings of that disclosure request and provides some context on the
subject.
For more information, please see: www.forestdisclosure.com/
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36. REDD Guide for Indigenous Communities
Source: Traditional Knowledge Bulletin, 17 February 2010
This book provides information material on REDD (Reducing Emissions from
Deforestation and Forest Degradation in developing countries) and its
implications for indigenous peoples. It is intended primarily for
indigenous peoples as a guide in understanding climate change, REDD and
how they relate to the recognition and exercise of the collective rights
of indigenous peoples. It includes parts on climate change, REDD, and the
UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and how indigenous
peoples can use it in relation to REDD programmes. The book addresses
several issues of relevance to TK, including: the adverse impacts of
climate change on traditional livelihoods, which would also mean loss of
traditional knowledge and would undermine the capacity of indigenous women
to perform their roles as seed keepers and transmitters of culture and
language; adaptation measures based on TK; UN REDD Programme?s plans to
raise awareness on TK and to develop tools for assessing co-benefits;
REDD?s potential to provide national-level recognition that TK is critical
to forest conservation; and using UNDRIP to enhance indigenous peoples?
capacities to mitigate and adopt to climate change by using TK and
sustainable forest management practices and by implementing
self-determined development.
For more information, please see: www.iwgia.org/sw40375.asp#516_31980
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37. Publications of Interest
From: NWFP Programme
Bcerner, J., Mburu, J., Guthiga, P. and Wambua, S. 2009. Assessing
opportunity costs of conservation: Ingredients for protected area
management in the Kakamega Forest, Western Kenya. Forest policy and
economics. 11(7): 459-467.
Bhattacharyya, R., Asokan, A., Bhattacharya, P., and Prasad, R. 2009. The
potential of certification for conservation and management of wild MAP
resources. Biodivers. Conserv. 18(13):3441-3451. Abstract:
www.springerlink.com/content/w7168172v0l541k1/
Brooks, T.M., Wright, S.J., and Sheil, D. 2009. Evaluating the success of
conservation actions in safeguarding tropical forest biodiversity.
Conserv. Biol. 23(6):1448-1457. Abstract.
www3.wileyinterscience.com/journal/123190981/abstract
Coulibaly-Lingani, P., Tigabu, M., Savadogo, P., Oden, P., and Ouadba, J.
2009. Determinants of access to forest products in southern Burkina Faso.
Forest policy and economics. 11(7): 516-524.
Dilys, R. and Elliott, J. 2010.The Earthscan Reader in Poverty and
Biodiversity Conservation. UK: Earthscan.
Frederich, M., Marcowycz, A., Cieckiewicz, E., Megalizzi, V., Angenot, L.,
and Kiss, R. 2009. Anticancer potential of tree extracts from the Walloon
Region forest. Planta Medica. 75 (15): 1634-1637.
German, L., Karsenty, A., and Tiani, A. (eds). 2009. Governing Africa's
Forests in a Globalized World. UK: Earthscan.
Guariguata, M. R., Garcia-Fernandez, C., Sheil, D., Nasi, R.,
Herrero-Jauregui, C., Cronkleton, P., and Ingram, V. 2010. Compatibility
of timber and non-timber forest product management in natural tropical
forests: perspectives, challenges, and opportunities. Forest Ecology and
Management. 259(3): 237-245.
Abstract: Tropical forests could satisfy multiple demands for goods and
services both for present and future generations. Yet integrated
approaches to natural forest management remain elusive across the tropics.
In this paper we examine one combination of uses: selective harvesting of
timber and non-timber forest product (NTFP) extraction. We analyze the
current status of this combination and speculate on prospects and
challenges regarding: (i) resource inventory, (ii) ecology and
silviculture, (iii) conflict in the use of multipurpose tree species, (iv)
wildlife conservation and use, (v) tenure, and (vi) product certification.
Our conclusions remain preliminary due to the relative paucity of
published studies and lessons learned on what has worked and what has not
in the context of integrated management for timber and NTFPs. We propose
at least three ways where further research is merited. One, in improving
'opportunistic' situations driven by selective timber harvesting that also
enhance NTFP values. Two, to explicitly enhance both timber and NTFP
values through targeted management interventions. Three, to explicitly
assess biophysical, social, regulatory and institutional aspects so that
combined benefits are maximized. Interventions for enhancing the
compatibility of timber and NTFP extraction must be scaled in relation to
the size of the area being managed, applied timber harvesting intensities,
and the dynamics of multi-actor, forest partnerships (e.g., between the
private sector and local communities). In addition, training and education
issues may have to be re-crafted with multiple-use management approaches
inserted into tropical forestry curricula.
Herrmann, T.M., and Torri, M.C. 2009. Changing forest conservation and
management paradigms: traditional ecological knowledge systems and
sustainable forestry: Perspectives from Chile and India. International
Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology. 16(6).
Laizuman N.,Ripa, F.A., Rokonuzzaman, A., Al-Bari, M. 2009. Investigation
on antioxidant activities of six indigenous plants of Bangladesh. Journal
of Applied Sciences Research. 2285-2288.
Langeveld, H., Sanders J., and Meeusen, M. 2010. The Biobased Economy:
Biofuels, Materials and Chemicals in the Post-oil Era. UK: Earthscan.
Larson, A.M., Barry, D., Ram Dahal, G., and Colfer, C.J. 2010. Forests for
People: Community Rights and Forest Tenure Reform. UK: Earthscan.
Abstract: Who has rights to forests and forest resources? In recent years
governments in the South have transferred at least 200 million hectares of
forests to communities living in and around them. This book assesses the
experience of what appears to be a new international trend that has
substantially increased the share of the world's forests under community
administration. Based on research in over 30 communities in selected
countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, it examines the process and
outcomes of granting new rights, assessing a variety of governance issues
in implementation, access to forest products and markets and outcomes for
people and forests.Forest tenure reforms have been highly varied, ranging
from the titling of indigenous territories to the granting of small land
areas for forest regeneration or the right to a share in timber revenues.
While in many cases these rights have been significant, new statutory
rights do not automatically result in rights in practice, and a variety of
institutional weaknesses and policy distortions have limited the impacts
of change. Through the comparison of selected cases, the chapters explore
the nature of forest reform, the extent and meaning of rights transferred
or recognized, and the role of authority and citizens' networks in forest
governance. They also assess opportunities and obstacles associated with
government regulations and markets for forest products and the effects
across the cases on livelihoods, forest condition and equity.
Lizcano, L. J., Bakkali, F., Ruiz-Larrea, M. B., and Ruiz-Sanz, J. I.
2010. Antioxidant activity and polyphenol content of aqueous extracts from
Colombian Amazonian plants with medicinal use. Food Chemistry. 119: 4:
1566-1570.
Mishra, M. 2008. Marketing of non timber forest products: a case study of
Tumrakheda village in Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh. Bioscience
Biotechnology Research Communications. 1(2): 132-139.
Mishra, M. and Kotwal, P.C. 2009. Premature harvesting of wild musli (
Chlorophytum borivilianum,Baker) and its impact on raw material quality: a
case of Katni forest division, Madhya Pradesh. Journal of Applied and
Natural Science. 1(1): 66-70.
Mishra, M. and Kotwal, P.C. 2009. Current harvesting practices of Bach (
Acorus calamus) L. rhizomes traded in the market of Dhamtari,
Chattisgarh,India. Asian Journal of Environmental Sciences. 4(1): 4-11.
Mishra, M. and Kotwal, P.C.. 2009. Traditional harvesting and processing
methods of Dioscorea daemona (Baichandi) tubers in the forests of Madhya
Pradesh, India. Journal of Tropical Medicinal Plants (Malaysia).
10(1):113-118.
Mishra,M. and Kotwal, P.C. 2009. Unripe harvesting of Aonla fruits (
Emblica officinalis) and its impact on raw material quality: a case of
Katni market, Madhya Pradesh. Indian Journal of Arecanut, spices &
Medicinal Plants. 11(2): 69-76.
Mishra, M., Kotwal, P.C. and Prasad, C. 2009. Unsustainable harvesting of
some medicinal plants and its impact on raw material quality. Flora &
Fauna. 15 (1): 66-72.
Mishra, M., Singh, S.P. and Prasad, C. 2009. Protection of consumers from
inferior NTFPs products and changing consumer behavior in local market of
Mahakaushal region. International Journal of Rural Development and
Management Studies. 3(2): 325-332.
Mishra, M. and Singh, S.P. 2009. Indigenous community participation in
India. European Tropical Forest Research Network. 50:84-90.
Mishra, M. and Kotwal, P.C. 2009. Unripe fruit collection of Baibirang (
Embelia ribes) fruits and its impact on raw material quality: a case of
Dhamtari forest division, Chattisgarh, India. International Journal for
Forest Usufructs Management. 10 (2): 45-52.
Mitchell, J. and Ashley, C. 2009. Tourism and Poverty Reduction: Pathways
to Prosperity.UK: Earthscan.
Mustalahti, I., and Lund, J. 2010. Where and How Can Participatory Forest
Management Succeed? Learning From Tanzania, Mozambique, and Laos. Society
& natural resources. 23(1): 31-44.
Osemeobo, G.J. 2009. Economic assessment of medicinal plant trade in the
rainforest of Nigeria. Zeitschrift fur Arznei- & Gewurzpflanzen. 14(4):
171-176.
Phimmavong, S., Ozarska, B., Midgley, S., and Keenan, R. 2009. Forest and
plantation development in Laos: history, development and impact for rural
communities. International Forestry Review. 11:4: 501-513.
Robinson, Daniel F. 2010. Confronting Biopiracy: Challenges, Cases and
international Debates. UK: Earthscan.
The aim of this new book is to provide the most detailed, coherent
analysis of the issue of biopiracy to date, biopiracy referring either to
the unauthorized extraction of biological resources, such as plants with
medicinal properties, and associated traditional knowledge from indigenous
peoples and local communities, or to the patenting of spurious
?inventions? based on such knowledge or resources without compensation.
The book synthesizes the rise of the issue and increasing use of the term
by activists and negotiators in the WTO and the CBD, to form a critical
understanding of the themes, implications and politics of biopiracy.
Taking a case-study based approach, derived from interviews and fieldwork,
the author documents events that have occurred in biopiracy and
bioprospecting controversies; explores implications and ethical dilemmas,
particularly relating to work with local communities; and details
international debates from the WTO, CBD and other fora, providing an
overview of current institutional limitations and suggesting ways
Shiva, A. 2009. Methods of sustainable harvesting and value addition for
economic uplift and biodiversity conservation. MFP News.19(4): 13-16.
Singh, S.P., Mishra. M., and Tripathi, D. 2009. Sustainable
desertification management through ecological indicators: a study of
Gwalior Division. International Journal of Rural Development and
Management Studies. 3 (1): 65 -93.
Thapa, S. and Chapman, D. S. 2010. Impacts of resource extraction on
forest structure and diversity in Bardia National Park, Nepal. Forest
Ecology and Management. 259(3):641-649.
Wu, J. and Zhang, Y. 2009. Status and trend of international trade of
bamboo and rattan commodities. World Forestry Research. 22(3): 69-71.
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38. Websites
From: NWFP Programme
Bamboo Websites
Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre
www.caneandbamboo.org; www.bamboobazar.com
World Bamboo Organization
www.worldbamboo.net
E-discussion: CSD-17
As the international community gears up for a conference marking the
twentieth anniversary of the historic Earth Summit and Agenda 21, the
world's blueprint on Sustainable Development, the CSD is taking a fresh
look on how it can accelerate the pace by which its decisions are turned
into action ? ensuring a more effective and coordinated approach to global
policy on sustainable development. More specifically, it is focusing on
the implementation of CSD-17 decisions on agriculture, which are vital to
achieving many of the internationally agreed development goals. This
e-discussion will serve as one of the many inputs into this process,
helping to garner important ideas -- and even solutions-- from all
stakeholders, including you.
Website: http://bit.ly/aThmeT,
E-zine: The Ecologist
www.theecologist.org
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MISCELLANEOUS
39. How animals change due to climate
Source: ENN Daily Newsletter, 17 February 2010
What makes an animal large or small? Part of it may be due to climate
change. It may be that these are reactions to rapidly rising temperatures
due to global climate change according to Professor Yoram Yom-Tov of Tel
Aviv University, who has been measuring the evolving body sizes of birds
and animals in areas where climate change is most extreme.
Changes that the professor has identified are happening primarily in
higher latitudes, where Prof. Yom-Tov has identified a pattern of birds
getting smaller and mammals getting bigger. The change, he hypothesizes,
is likely a strategy for survival. Prof. Yom-Tov, who has spent decades
measuring and monitoring the body sizes of mammals and small birds, says
that these changes have been happening more rapidly recently.
His most recent paper on the topic, focused on the declining body sizes of
arctic foxes in Iceland, appeared in Global Change Biology.
Animal populations in a wide variety of geographical areas (such as birds
in the UK, small mammals in the arctic, and most recently foxes, lynx and
otters in cold Scandinavian regions) are adapting to a shift in rising
temperatures. Where temperature changes are most radical, such as those at
higher latitudes, Prof. Yom-Tov has measured the most radical changes of
these animals? body size over time.
In his most recent paper, Prof. Yom-Tov and his Tel Aviv University
colleague Prof. Eli Geffen report that arctic foxes are being influenced
by changing water currents in the oceans. These changes, likely a result
of climate change, affect the foxes? food supplies. Hydrologists may be
unsure as to why the shifts in currents are happening, but the effect in
foxes is evident: their bodies are changing along with the changing
currents.
Scientists are finding changes in animals? bodies across the whole animal
kingdom. "Climate change is affecting migration patterns and the behavior
and growth of birds, mammals, insects, flowers, you name it," says Prof.
Yom-Tov.
Smaller bodies allow mammals, for example, to cope with warmer
temperatures, since a smaller body size gives the body a proportionally
increased surface area for the dissipation of heat, he says. While a
larger body may show improved nutrition due to a warmer climate. Though it
may not be clear exactly how animal life may adapt, change it will with a
warmer climate. Studying animals in selected regions where climate change
may be more severe, will give clues to future changes.
"These animals need to adapt themselves to changing temperatures." says
Prof. Yom-Tov. "If they don?t adapt, their numbers may decline. If they
do, their numbers remain stable or even increase."
For full story, please see: www.enn.com/top_stories/article/41020
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40. Scientists scathing on coastal tree planting
Source: scidev.net, 19 February 2010
Natural coastal ecosystems have been widely destroyed by the planting of
alien trees in the mistaken belief that they will work as 'bioshields'
against storms and tsunamis, says an international group of scientists.
The team, writing in the February issue of Conservation Letters, reviewed
more than 30 papers on the planting of belts of trees as bioshields. The
researchers concluded that there is little evidence to show they protect
against storm surges ? temporary increases in sea level associated with
stormy winds ? or tsunamis.
Additionally, using foreign trees for this purpose is doing extraordinary
environmental damage, they said.
The review adds to the debate on bioshields' protective role. Although
there is evidence for the ability of vegetation to help protect coastlines
from erosion caused by conventional waves, the study said, the damage
inflicted by extreme events is actually caused by rising water rather than
waves ? and there has been little rigorous, properly-controlled research
into this.
Planting trees helps stabilise the soil in the short term in most cases,
the researchers said, but this is offset by the ecological instability of
planting foreign species.
In Andra Pradesh in India, for example, international grants have been
used to plant alien Casuarina trees, and while these may provide firewood
for locals, they are also known to invade mangrove ecosystems and have a
negative effect on tropical birds.
Also in India, features such as sand dunes that could offer some natural
protection are being bulldozed to make way for foreign species of trees,
Kartik Shanker, assistant professor in the school of ecological sciences
at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and a co-author of the
study, told SciDev.Net.
"There is a difference between restoring native vegetation such as
mangroves that are naturally adapted to the dynamic conditions on local
coastlines around the world, and introducing alien trees purely for the
purpose of trying to stabilise a coastline," said Rusty Feagin, visiting
associate professor of Forest Science at Texas A & M University in the
United States.
For full story, please see:
www.scidev.net/en/news/scientists-scathing-on-coastal-tree-planting.html
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41. USA: Decline in fog threatens California's redwoods
Source: Environmental News Network, 15 February, 2010
A surprising new study finds that during the past century the frequency of
fog along California's coast has declined by approximately three hours a
day. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the
researchers are concerned that this decrease in fog threatens California's
giant redwoods and the unique ecosystem they inhabit.
"As fog decreases, the mature redwoods along the coast are not likely to
die outright, but there may be less recruitment of new trees; they will
look elsewhere for water, high humidity and cooler temperatures," explains
co-author Todd E. Dawson, professor of integrative biology and University
of California, Berkeley professor of integrative biology with the
Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management (ESPM).
"What does that mean for the current redwood range and that of the plants
and animals with them?" he adds. Evaluating data from airports along the
northern California coast, researchers were able to find a steady link in
the occurrence of coastal fog and large temperature differences between
coast and inland areas. Then by examining temperature data from 114
stations up and down the Pacific Coast, the researchers found that the
temperature contrasts between coast and inland areas had shrunk over the
past century leading to a decline in fog.
Fur full story, please see: www.enn.com/top_stories/article/41016
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