New UN environmental commission
An independent high-level Special Commission, similar to the Brandt Commission, has been established by the Thirty-eighth Session of the United Nations General Assembly to prepare strategies for sustainable development to the year 2000 and beyond. The Special Commission, which will have its headquarters in Geneva, will prepare a document on world environmental problems, taking into account the North-South and other relevant issues. The Commission's report will be transmitted to the Governing Council of UNEP in 1987 for submission to the General Assembly.
Survey of dry-zone plants
The Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew, west London. have recently launched a survey of economic plants for arid and semi-arid tropics. It is intended to draw up an annotated world list of plants of actual and potential value for food. forage and firewood and indicate those species judged to be the most promising. Further details of this three-year programme may be obtained from Dr G.E. Wickens, Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, UK.
International inventors' awards, 1986
Four prizes, the equivalent of US$ 35000 each, will be awarded in 1986 by the Swedish Inventors' Association for innovations in the fields of water, energy. forestry and industrial processes in the rural environment. The innovations should contribute to the advancement of development and to solving social and economic problems, especially in the developing countries. Closing date for submission is 1 August 1985.
Further information can he obtained from The Executive Secretary, International Inventors' Awards. P.O. Box 16020. S-10321 Stockholm, Sweden.
TASK FOR NEW UN ENVIRONMENT COMMISSION trying to avoid this in development
Rangeland management in arid zones
"The sheer complexity of rangeland management is what makes the problem so challenging." This is the point Of departure for Michel Bauer's article on aspects of range management in arid zones in Forêt méditerranéenne (December 1983), which analyses and gives equal weight to the beneficial and the harmful effects of rangeland management on the environment.
Marginal land in arid zones is used as grazing land, particularly in Africa. for extensive livestock farming. The areas involved are immense and include a large population whose livelihood depends almost exclusively on livestock. The survival of the herds - the livestock farmer's sole source of income - is, on this highly degraded land. at the mercy of even minor changes in the weather. The range management expert's main concern, therefore, should be to ensure a constant fodder supply.
Unquestionably, the main constraint to development planning efforts is the world's shrinking arable land area. The solution, according to Bauer, lies in resource identification and management so that the same amount of land can produce more.
For grazing lands, this requires land management techniques that take into account the carrying capacity of rangelands in terms of forage - which means preserving the original capital (the land) without causing erosion, without overgrazing and without deforestation.
Deferred grazing is one of the methods used. along with the improvement in quality of grazing land through afforestation with fodder trees, and range expansion through sowing and protecting perennial grasses.
Despite the climatic hazards, the pursuit best suited to the arid and semiarid environments is livestock farming, which in sub-Saharan Africa provides a livelihood for 40 percent of the population. Livestock farming, if practiced wisely. can he profitable. so long as the stock selected is the best adapted to the environment. However. Bauer stresses that this does not imply making a profit as in industry. The aim of livestock production systems is to "meet the needs of a large human population living in marginal areas ante with a limited supply of natural resources, for as long as possible".
However, it is important to be aware of the substantial impact that the expansion of rangeland can have on the environment, in both physical and human terms. The author goes on to list some of, the more harmful effects: excessive trampling by livestock, which hastens erosion: clearing by fire; the increase of watering facilities, which often leads to the emergence or spread of water-borne diseases: and vast, mechanized resowing projects which exhaust the soil.
If rangeland development projects are to have any long-term impact, they must be designed with, and for, farmers". A sound sylvo-pastoral system must be based on improved. intensive, traditional production techniques that take natural resources into account and are self-sufficient. Seen in this light. range management is a first step toward resolving the land shortage problem and a genuine contribution to the New International Economic Order established by the UN General Assembly
Fuel from bananas
Colombian banana growers from the state of Antioquía along with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) are experimenting with a new distilling process to make ethyl alcohol from waste bananas.
CIDA and the state of Antioquía are troth donating US$ 170000 to construct a pilot distillery plant in Antioquía. A Toronto company, Harvest Fuel. has been testing a similar model distillery for three years and says that the new pilot plant in Colombia, when completed, should be capable of producing 750000 litres per year of 190-proof ethanol. This can be sold as fuel
At present, at least 20 percent of the banana crop in Colombia. Costa Rica and other banana-producing nations is rejected by importers. These waste bananas are either thrown into rivers. where they eventually kill fish. or buried, leading to harmful build-ups of calcium in the soil
OPEC Bulletin May 1884
SHEEP AND GOATS IN EGYPT OR GRAZING CATTLE IN BURKINA FASO can arid ecosystems be preserved? (a)
SHEEP AND GOATS IN EGYPT OR GRAZING CATTLE IN BURKINA FASO can arid ecosystems be preserved? (b)
NICARAGUAN BANANAS FOR EXPORT at least 20 percent are wasted
FAO FORESTRY PAPERS
42 (1983) Fuelwood supplies in the developing countries
FAO's pioneering study of the world fuelwood crisis
43 (1983) Forest revenue systems in developing countries
A practical guide to forest fees and charges in developing countries and in tropical forests in general
44/1 (1983) Food and fruits-bearing forest species - 1: Examples from Eastern Africa
40 SPECIES MONOGRAPHS - information on: ecology, distribution, main uses, cultivation periods, nutritional value, propagation, marketing
FAO - FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
The only international forestry magazine
Unasylva - 4 issues per year
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NINTH WORLD FORESTRY CONGRESS
Mexico City, 1-12 July 1985
"Forest resources in the integral development of society"
For information write to:
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Ninth World Forestry Congress
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