United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco)
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO)
Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
International Union of Forestry Research Organizations (IUFRO)
World Bank
International Conventions and Agreements Related to Forests
9 Main references: Batisse 1986, Unesco 1999a, 1999b, 2000Unesco is a UN Specialized Agency based in Paris, France. The Man and the Biosphere Programme, MAB, coordinated by Unesco, includes important research and training aspects related to forest biological diversity. The World Network on Biosphere Reserves, operated within the framework of MAB, was initiated in 1974. The three main objectives of Biosphere Reserves are, (i) in situ conservation of biological diversity; (ii) long-term study of changes in ecosystems; (iii) and the contribution to the sustainable development of local populations.
As of September 2000, 368 Biosphere Reserves had been established, and a total of 91 countries participated in the programme. The goal is to establish Biosphere Reserves in each of the major ecosystems and areas of origin of genetic resources of the world to ensure systematic coverage of biological diversity.
Biosphere Reserves are proposed for international recognition by the countries in which they are located. Countries themselves are responsible for protecting and managing the Reserves under their own national legal and administrative arrangements. An Advisory Committee on Biosphere Reserves, includes representatives from other concerned international organisations, such as FAO, UNEP, IUCN and the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU). Globally, Biosphere Reserves are united to form a World Network of Biosphere Reserves, which facilitates cooperative research and monitoring, and sharing of experience. The Network is formally constituted through a Statutory Framework, and the overall development of the network is guided by the Seville Strategy for Biosphere Reserves, adopted in 1995. Goal 1.2.5 of the Seville Strategy relates to in situ conservation of key species and ecosystems. It is noted that Biosphere Reserves combine areas which are strictly protected with landscapes shaped and used by people, and that they thus have an important role i.a. in the conservation in situ of agricultural diverity. Goal II of the Seville Strategy encourages the use of biosphere reserves for international research and monitoring programmes. One example of such use is action within the “DIVERSITAS” programme, sponsored by the ICSU; the programme aims at increasing scientific knowledge on biological diversity, including ecosystem function and the origins and maintenance of diversity.
The Biosphere Reserve Network provides a basic framework and a tool for implementation of several areas of Agenda 21 of Unced. Biosphere Reserves could also potentially offer a concrete instrument for implementing the “ecosystem approach”, highlighted in the Convention on Biological Diversity.
UNEP was established following the UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden in 1972. The mandate of this programme of the United Nations, lead by an Executive Director and based in Nairobi, Kenya, is to “provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and people imrove their quality of life without compromising that of future generations”. UNEP is charged with creating a basis for comprehensive consideration and coordinated action within the UN on problems of the human environment. “UNEP’s uniqueness lies in its advocacy of environmental concerns within the international system. UNEP nurtures partnerships with other UN bodies and UN Specialized Agencies which possess complementary skills and capabilities, and enhances the participation of the private sector, scientific community, non-Governmental organizations, youth, women and sports organizations in achieving sustainable development”. A recent compendium on philosophy and principles of the conservation of biological diversity was published in UNEP (2000).
UNEP has recently entered into alliance with the World Conservation Monitoring Centre, WCMC, Cambridge (UK), which i.a. maintains a global database on protected areas.
UNEP provides the Secretariat for a number of international conventions and ageements, including i.a. the Convention on Biological Diversity, CBD; the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, CITES, the Framework Convention on Climate Change, FCCC; the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, CCD (see section on conventions, below).
ITTO was established by the International Tropical Timber Agreement (ITTA) of 1983, which was negotiated under the auspices of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and which came into force in 1985. The Organization became operational in 1987, with headquarters in Yokohama, Japan. ITTO has 56 members (2000), including the European Community. These countries, together, represent 95 percent of world trade in tropical timber and 75 percent of the world’s tropical forest area. The objectives of the ITTO include, “facilitatation of discussion, consultation and international co-operation on issues relating to the international trade and utilization of tropical timber and the sustainable management of its resource base” notably through the provision of, “an effective framework for consultation among producer and consumer member countries on all aspects of the world timber economy within its mandate.” Among its multiple objectives is a commitment to assist members to meet ITTO’s Year 2000 Objective which states that by the year 2000 all tropical timber products traded internationally by Member States shall originate from sustainably managed forests. Unlike some other commodity agreements, the ITTA has no price regulation mechanisms or market intervention provisions, and accords equal importance to trade and conservation. ITTO’s underlying concept is to support sustainable development of tropical forests by encouraging and assisting the tropical timber industry and trade to manage and thus conserve the resource base upon which they depend. The successor agreement to the ITTA of 1983 came into force on 1 January 1997. The new agreement continues to focus on the world tropical timber economy. In addition, it contains broader provisions for information sharing, including non-tropical timber trade data, and considers non-tropical timber issues as they relate to tropical timber. The new agreement places emphasis on the policy work of the ITTO. It enshrines the Year 2000 Objective in the new ITTA and establishes the Bali Partnership Fund to assist producing member countries to sustainably manage their tropical timber producing forests. Forest biological diversity considerations are among the criteria developed by the ITTO for sustainable forest management at national and forest management unit levels. Principles of conservation of biological diversity in tropical forest management was discussed specifically in ITTO (1993).
Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)
International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF)
International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI)
CGIAR was established in 1971 under the sponsorship of the World Bank, FAO, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). CGIAR is, “an informal association of fifty-eight public and private sector members”. The sixteen international agricultural research centers which make up the global network of the CGIAR10, conduct research programs in collaboration with a range of partners institutions. The overall mission of the CGIAR is to, “contribute to food security and poverty eradication in developing countries through research, partnership, capacity building, and policy support through promotion of sustainable agricultural development based on the environmentally sound management of natural resources”. The programme of the CGIAR focuses on five major research themes: (i) increasing productivity; (ii) protecting the environment; (iii) saving biodiversity; (iv) improving policies; and (v) strengthening national research.
10 CIAT, CIFOR, CIMMYT, CIP, ICARDA, ICLARM, ICRAF, ICRISAT, IFPRI, IITA, ILRI, IPGRI. IRRI, ISNAR, IWMI, WARDA. See information at: http://www.cgiar.org/centers.htmThe System-Wide Genetic Resources Programme, SGRP, of the CGIAR, was created in 1994, “to focus the CGIAR’s response to dynamic and rapidly evolving practical and policy challenges in the realm of biodiversity”. The SGRP joins together the 16 International Agricultural Research Centres of the CGIAR in a partnership to contribute to the global effort to conserve genetic resources and promote their use in agriculture, forestry and fisheries for the benefit of current and future generations, and provides the mechanism for effective, united approach to the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity and related international plans governing the plant, animal, forestry and fishery sectors, including the Global Plan of Action for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (GPA) and the Global Strategy for the Management of Farm Animal Genetic Resources, both coordinated by FAO. The overall aim of the SGRP is to maximize collaboration, particularly in the five thematic areas of policy, awareness, information, knowledge and technology, and capacity-building, with a focus on issues that are critical to the success of global genetic resources efforts.
Of the sixteen “Future Harvest Centres” of the CGIAR, the Centre of International Agricultural Reserach, CIFOR; The International Centre for Research in Agroforestry, ICRAF; and the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, IPGRI, deal with forest genetic resources. These centres are described below.
11 Main references: CIFOR 1999, 2000CIFOR is headquartered in Bogor, Indonesia. CIFOR’s Mission is to contribute to the sustained well-being of people in developing countries, particularly in the tropics, through collaborative strategic and applied research and related activities in forest systems and forestry, and by promoting the transfer of appropriate new technologies and the adoption of new methods of social organization, for national development. CIFOR’s Medium Term Plan 2000-2003 groups activities under the following major programmes: (i) Underlying Causes of Deforestation; (ii) Sustainable Forest Management; (iii) Adaptive Co-Management; (iv) Plantations; (v) Biodiversity and Managed Forests; (vi) Forest Products and People; (vii) Research Impacts and Priorities; (viii) Policies,Technologies and Global Changes; and (ix) Alternatives to Slash and Burn.
CIFOR’s Biodiversity and Managed Forests Programme (BIO), aims to, “facilitate improvements in the sustainable use of forest biological diversity at the landscape scale, (through) an improved capability to assess biodiversity and new insights into relationships between human interventions, biodiversity and ecosystem processes”, with the main aims to, “determine three different sets of causes and mechanisms of forest biological diversity: proximate, direct and indirect, and produce tools and recommendations improving the likelihood of sustainable use of forest biological diversity”. Related research includes: identification of the impacts of major threats to in situ conservation of forest biodiversity, especially by human disturbance, logging and fragmentation and forest fire; development of tools for assessing and monitoring biodiversity; development of testable models to help generate options for sustainable management under variable environments; development of options for policy interventions that promote sustainable resources use; development of survey techniques for efficient diagnosis and inventory of forested ecosystems; and development of integrated survey design and sampling procedures estimating biodiversity and related productivity for human needs.
Criteria and indicators for biological diversity are being field-tested. A synthesis on rapid biodiversity assessment methods and biodiversity assessment approaches will be produced. Information based on research on the landscape scale impact of non-timber forest product extraction and of burning and grazing on biodiversity (birds, butterflies, small mammals, trees, and herbs), will be “translated” into a conceptual model for field testing. Research efforts on the impact of plantation management on biodiversity both within and outside plantations will be conducted, including socio-economic components.
The biogeographic focus of CIFOR’s Medium Term Plan, 2000-2003, will be on the humid and sub-humid tropical lowlands in Asia and Latin America, and on the seasonally dry forests of India and tropical America. Activities will also be increased in Central and West Africa.
12 Main references: ICRAF 1999, 2000ICRAF is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, and aims to, “improve human welfare by alleviating poverty, improving food and nutritional security, and enhancing environmental resilience in the tropics”. ICRAF conducts strategic and applied research, in partnership with national agricultural research systems, for more sustainable and productive land use, grouped under five research and development themes: diversification and intensification of land use through domestication of agroforestry trees; soil fertility replenishment in nutrient-depleted lands with agroforestry and other nutrient inputs; socioeconomic and policy research to allow policies that will benefit smallholder farmers; acceleration of impact on farm by ensuring that research results are used; and capacity and institutional strengthening through training and the dissemination of information.
In line with the “Tree Domestication Programme 2001-2010” ICRAF will, “in collaboration with a range of partners and using a science-based approach to accelerate the identification, production, management and adoption of high quality tree germplasm of a diversity of tree species to increase the level and stability of income, food security and environmental benefits of cultivated trees in small-scale farming systems in developing countries”.
The work programme contained in the above Programme is centred around fulfilling four main objectives which are: (i) To understand the scope for domestication of individual tree species as well as the tree diversity in the agricultural landscape; (ii) To produce and supply information and nucleus amounts of quality germplasm of agroforestry tree species; (iii) To determine and promote better propagation and management systems for agroforestry trees; and (iv) To investigate the growth and variation in different tree germplasm as part of participatory field evaluation with farmers and other partners. The expected outcomes as they relate to each of the four objectives are:
- To understand the scope for domestication of individual tree species as well as the tree diversity in the agricultural landscape;The four projects into which corresponding activities of ICRAF’s Tree Domestication Programme are grouped, are: Genetic Improvement Strategies; Genetic Resources of Agroforestry Trees; Propagation Systems for Agroforestry Trees; Field Testing Agroforestry Trees.- To produce and supply information on quality germplasm of agroforestry tree species;
- To determine and promote better propagation and management systems for agroforestry trees;
- To investigate the growth and variation in different tree germplasm as part of participatory field evaluation with farmers and other partners.
13 Main references: Boffa et al. 2000; IPGRI 2000a, 2000IPGRI is headquartered in Rome, Italy. IPGRI’s mandate covers all plant genetic resources, including forest genetic resources. The stated overall goal of IPGRI’s forest genetic resources programme is, “to ensure the continuous availability of these resources for present and future use, through in situ and ex situ measures that allow species adaptation and evolution to changing environments”. Special attention is paid to generating knowledge and developing appropriate methodologies and tools for the conservation and use of forest genetic resources, the strengthening of institutional frameworks, and contributing to international collaboration.
Some information on IPGRI’s programme on priority setting for forest genetic resources priorities is found in Annex 3.
IPGRI supports networking activities in a number of regions of the world. The European Forest Genetic Resources Programme, EUFORGEN, was established in October 1994 in response to Resolution S2, “Conservation of Forest Genetic Resources”, adopted at the first Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe (Strasbourg 1990). The Programme, which is financed by participating countries and coordinated by IPGRI, is overseen by a Steering Committee composed of National Coordinators from all participating countries, and guided by a Management Committee, in which both IPGRI and FAO participate. Within the framework of EUFORGEN, five species networks have been developed, in which forest geneticists and other forestry specialists work together to analyze needs, exchange experiences and develop conservation strategies and methodologies for selected groups of species (Conifers, European Poplars, Mediterranean Oaks, Noble Hardwoods and Social Broadleaves). Members of the networks also contribute to the development of conservation strategies for the ecosystems to which targeted species and groups of species belong. Collaborative tasks include exchange of data and information, development of technical guidelines, common information standards and databases, preparation of joint project proposals, exchange of genetic materials, and literature overviews. The second five-year phase of EUFORGEN was launched in January 2000.
Another network, the Sub-Saharan Forest Genetic Resources Programme SAFORGEN, partly modelled on EUFORGEN and also coordinated by IPGRI, aims to promote collaboration in research and development of forest genetic resources in the Sahel. The stated aims of SAFORGEN are to, (i) assemble knowledge and analyze needs in forest genetic resources; (ii) develop technical concepts and methodologies; and (iii) promote the exchange of expertise and information among participating countries. SAFORGEN is initially structured around four networks, including species providing food, fodder, medicines and wood.
IUFRO is a non-governmental organization which was established more than 100 years ago. The secretariat of IUFRO is located in Vienna, Austria, and includes the office of the Coordinator for the Special Programme for Developing Countries (SPDC). Currently (1999), some 15 000 scientists of 720 research institutions in 115 countries collaborate in the one or several of the eight Divisions and the some 260 research networks underpinning the work of IUFRO. Inter-Divisional Task Forces address given and specific topical issues, having a predefined and limited mandate. IUFRO has, notably, collaborated with FAO in the organization of four World Consultations on forest tree breeding: Stockholm 1963, Washington 1969, Canberra 1977 and Beijing 1998. IUFRO working party 2.04.06, Molecular Biology of Forest Trees, recently (1999) published a position statement on benefits and risks of transgenic trees (see Annex 4, Box 5).
Genetics and forest genetic resources are addressed, principally, in the work of Division 2 of IUFRO. A Task Force on the Management and Conservation of Forest Gene Resources was established in January 1998, following a recommendation of the 10th Session of the FAO Panel of Experts on Forest Gene Resources. The Task Force was requested to: (i) collect, evaluate and organize the scientific knowledge, necessary for the management of forests for sustainable utilization and conservation of the genetic diversity of forest trees; (ii) promote the integration of forest genetic resource considerations into overall resource management; (iii) bridge research on forest genetic resources with other branches of forest research, emphasizing the mutual effects of genetic aspects and forest management; (iv) enhance research on the interaction between human activities and forest genetic resources, such as land use and land use planning, silviculture, forest operations, agroforestry forest and landscape management; (v) provide the scientific knowledge necessary for the maintenance of representative diversity, including rare population studies in in situ and ex situ populations, as well as for the management of base and breeding populations; and (vi) compile a state of art report and subsequent list of knowledge gaps and research needs.
The Task Force collaborated closely with FAO and IPGRI throughout its mandate, and provided a report on its work to the XXI IUFRO Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in August 2000.
The World Bank includes a group of three UN affiliated institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD); the International Finance Corporation (IFC); and the International Development Association (IDA). The World Bank is the world’s largest provider of loans in support of development programmes. In its mission statement, the WB notes: “The Bank uses its financial resources, its trained staff and its extensive knowledge base to individually help each developing country onto a path of stable, sustainable and equitable growth”. An expert panel convened by the World Bank Institute in June 1999 recommended that the following specific objectives were important for promoting biological diversity conservation and sustainable use:
(a) To link biodiversity to economic growth, sustainable development and poverty alleviation; to identify the economic and social benefits of biodiversity conservation and use in development policies, programs and projects especially in terms of benefit sharing; to recognize the vital importance of biodiversity for subsistence livelihood especially among the poor; to understand the concept of ecosystem goods and services derived from biodiversity; to understand the centrality of biodiversity in the context of the World Bank’s safeguard policies.A recently entered allience between the World Bank and the World Wildlife Fund, WWF (USA) allience is aimed to, “... promote forest conservation and internationally recognized best practices in forest management.” “Specifically, the Alliance shall work together to support countries to achieve the targets of (i) an additional 50 million hectares of new forest protected areas plus a comparable area of existing reserves under effective protection; and (ii) 200 million hectares of the world’s production forests under independently certified sustainable management, by the year 2005. The Alliance will make every effort to achieve these targets in a broad ecological range of forest types.”(b) To recognize transboundary impacts and considerations, and explore opportunities for regional cooperation; to recognize and realize the international and domestic obligations for biodiversity conservation and use under international conventions and treaties, especially the Convention on Biological Diversity.
(c) To promote the dissemination of case examples of good practices concerning biodiversity conservation and use; to promote the strengthening of “learning institutions” at the national and regional levels for adaptation to a rapidly changing world and economic globalization; to promote the development and strengthening of “Knowledge Management Systems” for use interactively by all parties engaged in sustainable development; to promote the use of a holistic approach to sustainable development, inclusive of biodiversity, based on the WB Comprehensive Development Framework.
A Memorandum of Understanding signed in June 1999 between the World Bank and the World Conservation Union, IUCN, sets out basic principles and methodologies of collaboration including, “sharing knowledge to promote environmentally and socially sustainable development worldwide; building and strengthening national environmental institutions, especially in the areas of environmental law and policy, by working on environmental policies and economics, and especially in work programs focusing on sustainability issues in the context of progressive globalization”.
Convention on Biological Diversity
The overall aim of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED)14, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 3-14 June 1992, was to, “lay the foundation for a global partnership between developing and more industrialized countries, based on mutual need and common intersts, to ensure the future of the Planet”.
14 For a brief, factual report on the various mechanisms above, see e.g. Lanly 1992.Within the framework of the Rio Declaration, a non-legally binding document defining the major principles governing nations with regard to environmental protection and sustainable development and Agenda 21, the operational platform for the international community, countries agreed to the Non-Legally Binding Authoritative Statement of Principles for a Global Concensus on the Management, Conservation and Sustainable Development of All Types of Forests, “The Forest Principles”. This Statement outlined agreed-upon principles on the management, conservation and sustainable development of forests.
Three major, legally binding conventions were discussed at UNCED, and later agreed upon and ratified by a number of governments. These included the Convention on Biological Diversity, CBD; the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, CCD; and the Framework Convention on Climate Change and “the Kyoto Protocol”.
Some information is given below on the first of these, which is most relevant to the theme of the present paper.
The stated objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) are, “the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.” The Convention comprises a comprehensive agreement to address all aspects of biological diversity: genetic resources, species, and ecosystems. It recognizes that the conservation of biological diversity is “a common concern of humankind” and an integral part of the development process. To achieve its objectives, the Convention - in accordance with the spirit of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development - promotes partnership among countries. Its provisions on scientific and technical cooperation, access to genetic resources, and the transfer of environmentally sound technologies form the foundations of this partnership.
The Secretariat of the CBD is provided by the United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP. To date 178 countries have signed and ratified the Convention. Many of these countries have developed, or are preparing, national Biological Diversity Action Programmes.
Since the fourth meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP-4) to the CBD in May 1998, where Parties adopted decision IV/7 and the work programme for forest biological diversity, cooperation with partners has been intensified, a roster of experts generated, and a number of issues reviewed, including the ecosystem approach, indicators of forest biological diversity and causes of deforestation and forest degradation. COP-5 (Nairobi, May 2000) highlighted the need to expand the focus of the CBD programme of work for forest biological diversity from research issues to action-oriented programmes. Decision V/4, calls upon parties, governments and organisations to take practical actions within the scope of the existing work programme. Decision V/4 encourages the application of the ecosystem approach, a strategy for the integrated management of land, water and living resources that promotes conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way. Ecosystem management is defined by the CBD as being based on the application of appropriate scientific methodologies with due attention to the various levels of biological organisation, and to the essential structure, processes, functions and interactions among organisms and their environment. It recognises that humans, with their cultural diversity, are an integral component of many ecosystems.
