No. 09/02
1. New working papers on NWFP
2. World Forestry Congress - voluntary papers and posters: Last Call - Extended deadline
3. Vegetable leather constructs forest citizenship in Acre
4. Protected area in Amazonia will triple over the next ten years
5. The Equator Prize: The Talamanca Initiative, Costa Rica
6. River-dwellers in the Tapajos region hunt Amazonian manatees
7. NWFP North America initiative
8. Focus on biopiracy in Africa
9. Bushmeat hunting in Ghana
10. Making a killing or making a living? Wildlife trade, trade controls and rural livelihoods
11. Ethnobotany of the Loita Maasai
12. NWFPs in Paukkhaung Model Forest, Myanmar
13. Web sites
14. Events
15. Publications of interest
1. New working papers on NWFP
From: FAO's NWFP Programme
The following two new working papers have been produced by FAO's Non-Wood Forest Products Programme:
FOPW/02/2 "La Collecte et l'Analyse des Données Statistiques sur les Produits Forestiers Non Ligneux - Une Étude Pilote au Cameroun" ;
FOPW/02/4 "Data Collection and Analysis related to Non-Wood Forest Products - A Pilot Study in Suriname".
These case studies have been carried out within the context of the European Commission-FAO Partnership Programme, in order to propose appropriate methodologies on data collection and analysis related to NWFP. These methodologies should i) provide reasonable estimates of the production, consumption and trade in NWFP; ii) be widely applicable and relevant to other countries; and iii) be cost-effective, adaptable and feasible within the limited human and financial resources available.
Similar case studies have also been carried out in Madagascar and Zimbabwe. These reports are being finalized.
Hard copies of the publications are available free of charge from Sven Walter by sending an e-mailto[email protected]or[email protected]. Electronic versions of both publications and more information on our programme activity "Collection and dissemination of statistical data on NWFP" are available on the NWFP home page at www.fao.org/forestry/FOP/FOPW/NWFP/nwfp-e.stm.
Comments can also be sent to:
Non-Wood Forest Products Programme
Forest Products Division,
Forestry Department,
FAO
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla,
00100 Rome,
Italy
Tel: +39-06-570-52746 or -53853;
Fax: + 39-0657055618
2. World Forestry Congress - voluntary papers and posters: Last Call - Extended deadline
From: FAO's NWFP Programme
From 21-28 September 2003, the international forestry community will meet in Québec City, Canada, for the XII World Forestry Congress. For seven days, participants as individuals and from various governments, education and research, private and non-government organizations will get together to analyse, discuss and participate in the largest and most important forestry meeting worldwide. The XII World Forestry Congress will be an open forum where discussion will focus on individuals, communities and forests under the theme "Forests, source of life".
Individuals are invited to submit voluntary papers and posters as a means to express new ideas and provide information on practical experiences, conceptual models and interesting initiatives. All papers will be reviewed and considered for publication in the Congress Proceedings and posting on the Congress website.
On behalf of the XII World Forestry Congress, we are calling for papers (each with an abstract) or abstracts for posters to be submitted to the Forestry Department of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) by15 November 2002. The deadline has been extended in order to assist authors to submit papers of high quality.
Voluntary papers:Abstracts should not exceed 300 words, and papers should not exceed 3 000 words, including tables and bibliography. Voluntary papers will be selected for presentation to ensure a balanced geographic representation and different points of view.
Postersmay be submitted in electronic format.
Detailed guidelines for authors are available on the XII World Forestry Congress websitehttp://www.wfc2003.org and by mail, fax or e-mail on request at:
Documentation Officer
XII World Forestry Congress
Forestry Department, FAO
Via delle Terme di Caracalla
00100 Rome, Italy
Phone: 39.06.57055879
Fax: 39.06.57052151
E-mail:[email protected]
3. Vegetable leather constructs forest citizenship in Acre
Source: Amazon News, 26 September 2002,[email protected]
In 1988, ecologists began to look at what was happening in Amazonia with a certain reverence, particularly the struggle of forest peoples. In Rio de Janeiro, environmentalists participated in a march to Pão de Açúcar mountain and affixed a banner stating simply "Save Amazonia". The aim of the demonstration was to call attention to the struggle faced by rubber tappers in Acre to defend the forest. One month later, the leader of the rubber tappers, Chico Mendes, was murdered.
For the ecologists who participated in the demonstration, like Rio-based businesswoman, Bia Saldanha, one of the inventors of vegetable leather, this sad episode marked the lives of those involved in Brazil's environmental movement, inspiring them to seek alternatives and participate in the movement to defend the forest.
"We were at the march. It was as a result of Chico's death that, in 1990, my partner João Augusto Fortes and I decided to change our professional lives and open up the market to forest products. As business people, we thought that the best contribution we could make would be to open up a new horizon for the rubber tappers of Amazonia, through the development of economic alternatives", said Saldanha.
They established a shop called Ecomercado in Rio de Janeiro and began to research products, resulting in the discovery of 'vegetable leather', a traditional product of rubber production.
"We placed our first order for vegetable leather. During the Rio 92 summit, the product was well received. The customers liked it, we sold a lot. Then a month later, we saw that the rubber was becoming sticky, so we sought out specialists and discovered what everyone except us already knew: the product had to be vulcanised".
Saldanha and Fortes invested time and money in the development of the product. The result was a new fabric called Tree Tap which may be used in the production of accessories like bags, rucksacks, caps and other articles of clothing.
Today, 200 families produce the vegetable leather in the Alto Jurua Extractive Reserve and the Kaxinawa Indigenous Territory. Saldanha atributes the project's success to the social movement of forest citizenship which is legacy of Chico Mendes and the support of the state government. She added that the construction of 'forest citizenship' is the essence of the project.
She said that one of the most important results of the project is the improvement in the rubber tappers' quality of life through the creation of an alternative source of income. "The way in which we have developed the vegetable leather is in harmony with and valorises the rubber tappers' culture and environment".
The company hopes to establish a factory in the Xapuri region of Acre. "We are still not satisfied with what we have achieved in Acre, we want more. The rubber tappers have gained a source of income, but we know that vegetable leather can bring them other riches. There are certification projects involving vegetable leather, which could bring parallel benefits. We are going to work with issues of food security and even social questions".
Saldanha added that there is still a lot of work to be done, particularly in terms of opening up foreign markets. The award-winning project now exports to Italy, France and the United States, with support from the WWF. "It is not only vegetable leather which is successful. It is the whole concept of socially and environmentally responsible products, in which we are pioneers, which is expanding", she said.
(Please also see Digest 7/02 for more information on vegetable leather.)
4. Protected area in Amazonia will triple over the next ten years
Source: Amazon News, 5 September 2002
President Fernando Henrique Cardoso announced during the United Nations Summit of Sustainable Development that the Protected Areas of Amazonia will be tripled over the next ten years. US$ 395 million will be invested in the project with the money coming from the Global Environment Facility, World Bank, WWF and other partners.
The protected area of Amazonia should be increased to 500 000 km2, or 12 percent of the total area of Amazonia, including 23 different ecoregions, and benefiting diverse local communities.
The money will be used for the identification and demarcation of new areas, as well as the consolidation of existing areas.
The first phase of the programme will cost US$ 81.5 million over the next four years. The Brazilian government will contribute US$18.1 million. US$ 30 million will come from a new fund established by the GEF; US$ 16.5 million from WWF; US$ 14.4 million from the German development agency, KfW and a further US$ 2.5 million from other partners.
5. The Equator Prize: The Talamanca Initiative, Costa Rica
Source: www.undp.org/equatorinitiative/secondary/awards.htm
The Equator Prize 2002 Jury has selected the following seven outstanding community initiatives for recognition with the Equator Prize 2002. These communities received the Prizes and international recognition at an awards ceremony held on 30 August 2002 at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa. Drawn from a pool of over 420 total nominations and 27 remarkable finalists, these communities represent outstanding achievements in reducing poverty and conserving and sustainably using biodiversity.
In recognition of outstanding community efforts for poverty reduction and biodiversity conservation:
Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (TIDE) -Belize
Green Life Association of Amazônia (AVIVE) -Brazil
Uma Bawang Resident's Association (UBRA) -Malaysia
Fiji Locally-Managed Marine Area Network -Fiji
and
Il Ngwesi Group Ranch - Kenya / Suledo Forest Community -Tanzania
(Sharing an award for their innovative approaches, in similar cultural and ecological environments, to poverty reduction and sustainable use of biodiversity.)
In recognition of an outstanding community initiative associated with a World Heritage Site:
The Talamanca Initiative -Costa Rica
A collaborative partnership of three community-focused organizations - Associacion ANAI, APPTA, and CBTC - the Talamanca Initiative has worked since 1983 to integrate biodiversity conservation and socio-economic development in the Talamanca region of Costa Rica. The initiative's biodiversity conservation efforts include establishment of Gandoca-Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge, a last sanctuary for the endangered Manatee, and development of Central America's only permanent raptor migration monitoring program. To encourage sustainable socio-economic development, the initiative has promoted crop diversification and organic agriculture, with APPTA's processing system becoming the largest volume producer and exporter of organic products in Central America.
Since 1991, the initiative has also run a Regional Training Center and has helped establish 13 local ecotourism ventures.
As an example of the gains that have been made through the initiative's work, income in villages has risen up to six-fold and communities have been able to engage in sustainable income generating pursuits that also work to protect their natural environment.
6. River-dwellers in the Tapajos region hunt Amazonian manatees
Source: Amazon News, 5 September 2002
Subject to predatory hunting since the Seventeenth Century, the Amazonian manatee is among the wild animals most threatened with extinction in the world.
The true risk of extinction is still unknown to researchers. A group of scientists linked to Project Manatee at the Centre for Aquatic Mammals are in the region to carry out research that will facilitate the conservation of the species. The expedition will carry out research along the Solimões, Negro, Purus, Madeira and Amazon rivers. In September, further research is being carried out in more than seventy communities in the Tapajos-Arapiuns Extractivist Reserve and the Tapajos National Forest. The research is being supported by the National Rubber Tappers Council.
Equipment used to hunt the manatee can be found in practically all the communities visited by the expedition. In Vila Franca in the Tapajos-Arapiuns Extractivist Reserve, a fisherman said that he learnt the art of capturing a manatee with his brother. The practice is passed down through the generations and is part of the river-dwellers' culture.
Historical records show that between 1776 and 1778 Vila Franca exported 58 tonnes of manatee meat and 1 613 barrels of manatee fat to Europe. With the advent of the leather industry in the region - between 1935 and 1954 - it is estimated that more than 20 000 manatees were killed to supply glue factories and for the manufacture of subproducts made from the manatee's tough skin. The warehouses are now in ruins. The hunting of the manatee is now prohibited by law.
Locals however still hunt the mammal for subsistence and for sale on the black market in Santarem. A kilo of meat is worth just R$1 to the fishermen.
The women of the communities are not directly involved in the capture of the manatees but many have extensive knowledge about the preparation of the meat (More evidence than the animal is widely hunted for food).
Locals believe that a rub made from manatee fat cures rheumatism and other inflammations. This belief is unanimous among interviewees.
The disappearance of the manatee from the waters of Amazonia could have an impact of the whole cycle of life in the region. In hunting the manatee, fishermen are threatening their own source of survival: fish. The herbivorous manatee consumes up to 20 kilos of aquatic plants per day. If the excess of these plants is not eaten by the manatee, they could restrict the amount of light reaching the water, resulting in the death of fish. The manatee contributes to the growth of phytoplankton and zooplankton, which are the foundation of life in the rivers. Without them, all the food chain will suffer.
7. NWFP North America initiative
Source: H. Gyde Lund [[email protected]], FIU 16 SEP 02
Jim Chamberlain writes, "An initiative is underway in North American to get non-timber forest products more integrated into forest research and management institutions. As part of this initiative several activities are underway.
First, a NTFP list-serve has been started to serve as a forum to exchange information concerning these products. Folks interested in joining the list serve need to visit the ULERN Website: www.ulern.on.ca .
In addition, a special session will held at the upcoming Society of American Foresters (SAF) annual convention to explore the issues that impede research and management of NTFPs, and to develop an action plan to address these issues. The session will be held onMonday7 October, 1:30-5:00. For information on the SAF convention visit: www.safnet.org/index.shtml . For the announcement and background materials on the NTFP session visit the ULERN website.
We hope folks get involved and that the list-serve serves as an initial forum to improve communications among NTFP stakeholders. More actions are just over the horizon."
8. Focus on biopiracy in Africa
Source: BIO-IPR, 2/9/02 GRAIN Los Banos ([email protected]) citing UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
Africa stands to lose huge benefits from its biodiversity for lack of legal protection against biopiracy, concluded the Second South-South Biopiracy Summit held in Johannesburg during the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD).
"Legislation is required and it is required yesterday," said Nolwazi Gcaba, a South African patent and copyright attorney, referring to her country's legislative vacuum on this matter.
Biodiversity -- the fifth thematic area of WSSD -- is Africa's richest asset. The knowledge its people have developed over centuries on the properties of plants, seeds, algae and other biological resources is now coveted by scientists for medicinal, agricultural and other purposes.
Biopiracy is the theft of biological matter, like plants, seeds and genes. In the absence of laws regulating access to these resources, pharmaceutical, agrochemical and seed multinationals exploit Africa's biological wealth and obtain rights of intellectual ownership to the resources and knowledge of communities.
Multinationals make huge profits from African biodiversity but do not share these with the communities who discovered, kept and transmitted the knowledge, activists argue.
"They are stealing the loaf and sharing the crumbs," said Dr Tewolde Berhan Egziabher, a leading expert on the topic at the Institute for Sustainable Development in Ethiopia.
Thousands of patents on African plants have been filed. To name just a few: brazzeine, a protein 500 times sweeter than sugar from a plant in Gabon; teff, the grain used in Ethiopia's flat "injera" bread; thaumatin, a natural sweetener from a plant in West Africa; the African soap berry and the Kunde Zulu cowpea; genetic material from the west African cocoa plant.
Increasingly, developing countries are going to court over patents on their indigenous plants. India overturned American patents for basmati rice and wound-healing turmeric. Thailand is appealing a patent on jasmine rice.
The latest patent to make headlines involves the Hoodia cactus from the Kalahari Desert. For centuries, the San people of Southern Africa ate pieces of the cactus to stave off hunger and thirst. Analysing the cactus, the parastatal Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa found the molecule that curbs appetite and sold the rights to develop an anti-obesity drug to pharmaceutical company Pfizer. It could be worth billions of US dollars. The San complained. Its council threatened a lawsuit. Earlier this year the CSIR agreed to share eventual royalties, and the Hoodia cactus became a landmark case whereby indigenous communities stake a claim on their knowledge and profits derived of it.
"Western medicine is protected. Wildlife is protected. But our knowledge isn't, like it's worth nothing," said T.J. Matiba, a Venda traditional healer, founder and president of South Africa's Council of Traditional Healers since 1985.
Paradoxically, the poorest people in the world live in the world's biodiversity hot spots. If they derive a benefit from their natural resources and indigenous knowledge, they would be keen to protect them. That approach, however, is in conflict with world trade rules.
The UN Convention on Biological Diversity, ratified by 183 countries and in force since 1993, recognizes the sovereignty of states and communities over their genetic resources.
But the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights agreement (TRIPS) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) does not. Since 1995, WTO requires its member countries to comply with TRIPS.
This contradiction creates "schizophrenia between patent legislation and protection of indigenous knowledge," said Rachel Wynberg, a South African researcher on biodiversity now with the University of Strathclyde in the UK.
The root problem is that the existing system of intellectual property rights and patents does not accommodate non-western systems of knowledge ownership and access.
"It serves the interests of industrialized countries and fails indigenous communities and holders of traditional knowledge," said Tom Suchanandan, of South Africa's Human Sciences Research Council.
Under international law, an invention qualifies for patent protection only if it is new and involves an inventive step. This excludes traditional products, developed and handed down over generations. The system is rooted in the European industrial and scientific tradition. It views knowledge as a commodity owned by an individual or a company with the goal of trade.
Indigenous knowledge has a transgenerational, communal and cultural nature.
"There is no way in which the intellectual property system can protect indigenous knowledge," said Gcaba. "We can't hijack it. We must create a new system."
The first line of defence, said Tewolde, is for developing countries to freeze biopatents, or patents on living things, from seeds to plants to genes.
At the WTO meeting in Seattle in 1999, the African group took the lead in opposing the patenting of life and protecting community rights over their agricultural and biological heritage.
They are inspired by the African Model Law adopted by the former Organisation of African Unity. It protects the rights of farmers, breeders and local communities to their biological resources, traditional knowledge and technologies. Their collective rights prevail over individual or corporate monopoly interests. The patenting of life in any of its forms violates these rights.
Last but not least, the state should ensure that at least half of benefits derived from commercial use of biological resources are channeled back to the local community.
African countries must now debate this model law and pass their own.
"After centuries of unjust and unfair extraction of our resources that continues today, this is a step towards justice," said Tewolde.
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
Copyright © 2002 UN Integrated Regional Information Networks.
9. Bushmeat hunting in Ghana
Source: Green Nature web site ( http://greennature.com/article1788.html)
An American-based environmental group says hunting wild animals in Ghana has become a serious problem. Conservation International reports that more than 30 percent of wild animal meat supplied to local markets in Ghana contains dangerous chemicals. This is creating serious health and environmental risks in the country.
Conservation International says hunters use extreme methods to kill wild animals. These include poison, forest fires and guns. These methods are dangerous for people, wildlife and the environment. The country now suffers from a lack of wildlife because so many animals have been killed.
The crisis was the subject of a two-day conference in Accra in August 2002. More than two hundred people attended, including government officials, non-governmental organizations, tribal leaders and representatives of the animal meat trade. Their goal was to find ways to limit the amount of bushmeat eaten by Ghanaians and to create other economic possibilities. Currently, the country's animal meat trade is a US$ 350 million industry.
Officials released an action plan at the close of the Accra conference. It calls on the Ghanaian government to examine and improve its wildlife laws. It also urges a ban on the use of extreme hunting methods and a halt to wildlife exports. The action plan also calls for stronger government supervision of the bushmeat industry to protect public health and the dying out of rare animals.
In addition to health and environmental concerns created by this crisis, officials say Ghanaian culture also could be affected. Okyeame Ampadu-Agyei is the head of Conservation International in Ghana. He says that most ethnic groups in the country believe the animals being hunted are linked to the people's ancestors. Local tribes consider the animals to be signs of their history and family traditions.
Mr. Ampadu-Agyei says Ghanaian culture and history is in danger. In the past, local rulers helped protect the country's wild animals by enforcing traditional rules and customs. Mr. Ampadu-Agyei says if Ghana is not careful, all its wildlife will disappear and nothing will be left to show the nation's children.
Source: Jill Moss. VOA News. September 23, 2002.
10. Making a killing or making a living? Wildlife trade, trade controls and rural livelihoods
Source: Phytomedica List Manager [[email protected]], 14/9/02
Many rural households in developing countries depend heavily on wild resources, for both subsistence use and income generation through trade. However, there are many regulations - enshrined in national legislation and international agreements - which restrict trade in certain wildlife species both within and across national boundaries.
A study by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, found that despite the dependence of many rural populations on wildlife, few attempts have been made to investigate the effects that restricting trade in wildlife can have on local livelihoods.
For more information, please see: www.id21.org/society/s1bdr1g1.html
or contact
Dilys Roe
Senior Research Associate
Biodiversity and Livelihoods Group
IIED
3 Endsleigh Street
London WC1H 0DD
UK
11. Ethnobotany of the Loita Maasai
From: FAO's NWFP Programme
A new Working Paper (no. 8) from People and Plants focuses on Ethnobotany of the Loita Maasai in Kenya.
A section on plant inventory and uses includes:
Plants used in ceremonies and rituals
Ceremonies are an important part of Maasai life. This importance is demonstrated by the large number of species (24) found in this category and include:
Olea europaeassp.africana: the most commonly used ceremonial tree; it is used in all ceremonies as it is believed to bring good luck; it is the plant used for blessings.
Ficus thonningiiandFicus cordata: the ceremony for blessing women is conducted under fig trees;
Olea capensis: a sacred tree used during the ceremony of initiating the olorip-olasar (young leader);
Cordia monoica: used to settle disputes;
Lantana trifoliais used in many rituals involving livestock.
Food plants
Soups are probably the most important use of plants for food in Maasailand. It is a custom to take soup with plant extracts. This is done to improve the taste, to keep diseases away and for curative purposes. The moran (Young Maasai warriors) may however take some species in soup as a drug or stimulant. In most cases the root bark is used. Other forms include the root, stem bark or pieces of stem.
The most commonly used soup species are:
Acacia nilotica(olkiloriti)
Pappea capensis(oltimigomi)
Carissa edulis(olamuriaki)
Scutia myrtina(osananguruti)
Acacia niloticais the most frequently used soup plant. The root or stem bark is boiled in water and the decoction drunk alone or added to soup.
Medicinal plants
This survey lists about 90 species used for medicinal purposes in humans. This probably represents only half of the species used for medicine in Loita. The vast number is an indication of the important role played by plants in the health of the Loita Maasai. The importance of medicinal plants among the Maasai can be seen in the name,olchani, which is used both as a general name for all plants as well as for medicine.
Source:Maundu, P., Berger, D.J., ole Saitabau, C., Nasieku, J., Kipelian, M., Mathenge, S.G., Morimoto, Y., & Höft, R.2001.Ethnobotany of the Loita Maasai: Towards Community Management of the Forest of the Lost Child - Experiences from the Loita Ethnobotany Project.People and Plants working paper 8, UNESCO, Paris.
Electronic version: www.rbgkew.org.uk/peopleplants/wp/
For more information or to send comments on this paper, please contact:
People and Plants Initiative,
Division of Ecological Sciences,
UNESCO,
7 Place de Fontenoy,
75352 Paris CEDEX 07 SP,
France.
12. NWFPs in Paukkhaung Model Forest, Myanmar
Source: Model Forest Approach News, April 2002
The forests of Myanmar are rich in a wide range of NWFPs. It is well accepted that NWFPs, if sustainably managed, are important potential sources of revenue. About 75 percent of the total populace in rural areas depend on forests to meet their social and economic needs. Most of the NWFPs are essential for domestic consumption as well as for cash income. As the population increases, so does the demand for NWFPs. The western parts of the Bago Yoma forests lying in PK MF are abundant in NWFPs, which fall into six categories:
Fibre products, including bamboo, grasses and plant fibres.
Food products (including bamboo shoots, mushrooms andZizyphus jujuba. Wild honey is seasonally collected for household use.
Medicinal and cosmetic products.
Extractive products. The most common oleo resin is found inthitsi(Melanorrhoea usitata) the product from which is used for caulking boats, as a non-fouling paint, as a coating upon surfaces to be gilded, and predominantly, for Burmese lacquer work.
Animal products other than food, including honey and beeswax, andpwenyeta dammar made by a small stingless bee (Melipona sp.) which is collected and used for caulking boats.
Miscellaneous products: leaves and thatch used for roofing and walls of buildings, and various kinds of orchids.
For more information, please contact:
Regional Model Forest Project (GCP/RAS/177/JPN)
FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
39 Phra Atit Road
Bangkok, Thailand
Fax: +66-2-6974445
E-mail:[email protected]
13. Web sites
From: FAO's NWFP Programme
Glossary of Biodiversity Terms
www.unep-wcmc.org/reception/glossaryA-E.htm; http://www.unep-wcmc.org/reception/glossaryA-E.htm
Governments on the Web
Gives a complete listing of every government website (including local governments, embassies, political parties).
http://www.ih.k12.oh.us/msesol/governments_on_the_web.htm
Green Nature
http://greennature.com/
Midwest Special Forest Products
www.specialforestproducts.com/
Sacred Earth
An educational forum and networking resource for ethnobotany and ecotravel
www.sacredearth.com
14. Events
From: FAO's NWFP Programme
The wild mushroom workshops
5 and 6 October (Module 1); 26 and 27 October (Module 2)
Port McNeill and nearby forests, Canada
Organized byThe North Island Non-Timber Forest Products Project.
Module 1: Introduction to Wild Mushrooms
(identification, harvesting, handling, preparing)
Module 2: Wild Mushrooms for Commercial Pickers and Buyers
(registrants in Module 2 must also register for Module 1)
These workshops are available for credit in the Royal Roads University Non-Timber Forest Products Certificate program.
For more information, please contact:
Diane Carley
Communications Coordinator
NTFP Demonstration Project
Sointula, BC,
Canada
[email protected]
www.island.net/~ntfp
Harvester involvement in inventorying and monitoring of non-timber forest products (aka Special Forest Products) in the western region states of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming and Montana
17 October 2002
Lakewood, Colorado, USA.
For more information, please contact:
Katie Lynch no later than11 October
(+1-503-320-1323)
E-mail:[email protected]
FSC General Assembly 2002 (with side meeting on NTFP)
22-26 November 2002
Oaxaca, Mexico
The Assembly will include side meetings organized by FSC members. One is the Non-timber Forest Products Focus Group Meeting being organized by Ramsey Hart of the Falls Brook Centre.
The focus group has members from over 20 countries and is being re-invigorated after two years of dormancy. The forum serves as a general information network for NTFPs and has focused specifically on the certification of NTFPs within the structure of the FSC certification program. As part of the work coordinating these meetings, Ramsey Hart is assembling a database of individuals and organizations active in the NTFP field. If they wish to be included in the database on a new NTFP listserve and inform them of events, publications etc., please send Ramsey ([email protected])your full name, email, position, organisation, address including country, phone and fax numbers are optional."
Regular registration deadline: 15 October 2002
For more information, please contact:
FSC Secretariat:
Forest Stewardship Council FSC
Avenida Hidalgo 502
Oaxaca 68000
Oaxaca, Mexico
Tel: +52 951 5146905
Fax: +52 951 5162110
E-mail:[email protected] ; mailto:[email protected]
www.fscoax.org/ga_2002/default.htm
Rural Livelihoods, Forests and Biodiversity
26-30 May 2003
Bonn, Germany.
This event will be held to commemorate CIFOR's tenth anniversary and will be organized in collaboration with Germany's BMZ, DSE and GTZ.
The conference will examine the role of forests in supporting rural livelihoods in developing countries and the maintenance of biodiversity. Its key objectives are to survey current knowledge and identify policy lessons and a future research strategy.
A call for paper is open until31 October 2002.
For more information, please contact:
Levania Santoso,
Research Assistant,
Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR),
P.O. Box 6596 JKPWB,
Jakarta 10065, Indonesia.
Tel.: 251-622-622,
Fax: 251-622-100,
Email:[email protected]
www.cifor.cgiar.org/livelihoodconference.asp; http://www.cifor.cgiar.org/livelihoodconference.asp
15. Publications of interest
From: FAO's NWFP Programme
Altan, Y.2001. Some interesting endemic plants collected from the east and northeast of Turkey and their threatened categories.Pakistan J. Bot.33(2):157-166
Ashton, Elizabeth C.; and Macintosh, Donald J.2002. Preliminary assessment of the plant diversity and community ecology of the Sematan mangrove forest, Sarawak, Malaysia.Forest Ecology and Management166 (1-3):111-129.www.elsevier.nl/locate/foreco;http://www.elsevier.nl/locate/foreco
Branco, C.D.C., de Almeida, R., and de Albuquerque, U.P.2002. Use and conservation of medicinal plants and animals in Pernambuco State (northeast Brasil): a case study.Interciencia27(6):276
Bunyard, Britt A.2002?Preserving Biodiversity in Northeast Ohio II. A Two-year Survey of Fungal Diversity Within The West Woods Park of the Geauga County Park District.www.ursuline.edu;http://www.ursuline.edu
Casagrandi, R. and S. Rinaldi.2002. A theoretical approach to tourism sustainability.Conservation Ecology6(1): 13. [online] URL: www.consecol.org/vol6/iss1/art13.
Costa, F. and Magnusson, W.2002. Selective logging effects on abundance, diversity and composition of tropical understory herbs.Ecol. Appl. 12(3):807-819.
Draulans, D., and Van Krunkelsven, E.2002. The impact of war on forest areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo.Oryx36(1):35-40.
Eriksen, M., Bjureke, K.E., and Dhillion, S.S.2002. Mycorrhizal plants of traditionally managed boreal grasslands in Norway.Mycorrhiza12(3):117-123.
Fisher, J.B., and Jayachandran, K.2002. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi enhance seedling growth in two endangered plant species from south Florida.Int. J. Plant Sci.163(4):559-566.
Groombridge, B.; Jenkins, M.D.2002.World Atlas of Biodiversity: Earth's Living Resources for the 21st Century.Berkeley: University of California Press, 340 p.
Contact: Rachel Holdsworth, UNEP-WCMC. Tel: +44 1954 202789. Mobile: +44 7931 561956. E-mail:[email protected]
For images from the Atlas, including the front cover and sample maps, see: www.unep-wcmc.org/information_services/publications/biodiversityatlas/presspack/;http://www.unep-wcmc.org/information_services/publications/biodiversityatlas/presspack/.
Interactive maps are available at; http://stort.unep-wcmc.org/imaps/gb2002/book/viewer.htm
Honnay, O., Verheyen, K., Butaye, J., Jacquemyn, H., Bossuyt, B., and Hermy, M.2002. Possible effects of habitat fragmentation and climate change on the range of forest plant species.Ecol. Lett.5(4):525-530.
Kessler, M.2002. Species richness and ecophysiological types among Bolivian bromeliad communities.Biodivers. Conserv.11(6):987-1010.
Matola, S.2002. Mesoamerican biological corridor threatened by hydroelectric dam.Oryx36(1):12.
Milner-Gulland, E.J.2002. Is bushmeat just another conservation bandwagon?Oryx36(1):1-2.
Mitaliya, K.D., Bhatt, D.C., Patel, D.M., and Joshi, P.N. 2001. Medicinal value of some selected stembark used by tribals and rural folk in Gujarat.Advances in Plant Sciences. 2001, 14: 1, 191-195
The stem bark patterns and colours of 21 medicinal angiosperms from Gujarat, India were investigated. A survey of tribal and rural people was conducted to determine the medicinal uses of these plants.
Montambault, J., and Alonso, L.2002. High biodiversity discovered in remote region of Guyana.Oryx36(2):113-114.
Osemeobo, G.J.2001. Wild plants in everyday use: conservation towards sustainable livelihoods in Nigeria.Int. J. Sust. Dev. Worlds8(4):369-379.
Parrotta, J.A.2001.Healing plants of peninsular India. CABI Publishing; Wallingford; UK. For more information, please contact: USDA Forest Service, International Institute of Tropical Forestry, Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico.
This book, of interest to researchers working in botany, ecology, medicine and pharmacology; naturalists within and outside India; and the general public, provides information on the healing plants of peninsular India. Five-hundred and forty-five species of trees, shrubs, climbers, herbs, grasses and ferns used in traditional Indian medicine are listed in alphabetical order of their respective families, with botanical synonyms, common names, morphological descriptions, details of their geographical distribution and habitat, and their medicinal properties and uses. Colour plates are included for all the species. Indexes of scientific names, common names (in Bengali, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Konkani, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telegu and Urdu) and medicinal uses, 2 glossaries (medical and botanical terms), and a bibliography are provided.
Parungao, M.M., Fryar, S.C., and Hyde, K.D.2002. Diversity of fungi on rainforest litter in North Queensland, Australia.Biodivers. Conserv.11(7):1185-1194.
Sambou, B., Goudiaby, A., Ervik, F., Diallo, D., and Camara, M.C.2002. Palm wine harvesting by the Bassari threatensBorassus aethiopumpopulations in north-western Guinea.Biodivers. Conserv.11(7):1149-1161.
Satyal, G.S., Samant, S.S. and Kumar, K.2002. Indigenous knowledge and conservation of medicinal plants used by the Bhotia tribes in Kumaun Himalaya, India.Int. J. Sust. Dev. World 9(2):159-166.
Singh, S.P.2002. Balancing the approaches of environmental conservation by considering ecosystem services as well as biodiversity.Curr. Sci.82(11):1331-1335.
Thiollay, J.M.2002. Forest ecosystems: threats, sustainable use and biodiversity conservation.Biodivers. Conserv.11(6):943-946.
Uniyal, S.K., Awasthi, A. and Rawat G.S.2002. Current status and distribution of commercially exploited medicinal and aromatic plants in upper Gori valley, Kumaon Himalaya, Uttaranchal.Curr. Sci. 82(10):1246-1252.
Visscher, A.2002.Medicinal plants of the canopy: a selection from the Amazon rainforest of Peru.On-line publication, Treemail, August 2002. www.treemail.nl/download; http://www.treemail.nl/download
Vormisto, J.2002. Palms as rainforest resources: how evenly are they distributed in Peruvian Amazonia?Biodivers. Conserv. 11(6):1025-1045.
16.The Role of Medicinal Plants Industry in Fostering Biodiversity Conservation and Rural Development
From: FAO's NWFP Programme
The growing demand of consumers worldwide for herbal and natural products to meet both their healthcare needs and dietary supplements has opened up new opportunities for the medicinal plants-based industries. However, this market-propelled demand has created tremendous pressure on the natural resources, which contribute more than 90 percent of the current demand for the raw materials of medicinal plants. The local communities mostly belonging to tribals and rural poor do not benefit from the increased commercial activities as only a fraction of the total markets return reaches them.
The publication collates information describing concepts, approaches and practical experiences of the researchers, practitioners and commercialization experts in the field of medicinal plant use in the South Asian region. The research findings and case studies reported provide models and mechanisms not only on how to use the threatened medicinal plants resources wisely but also how to enhance local benefits on a sustainable manner. The views expressed and recommendations suggested by the representatives of the Ayurvedic drug industry of India provide the perspectives from the industry and local communities is the thrust of this publication which has been reflected in the resolution adopted by the Workshops.
Editors: Madhav Karki and Radhika Johari
For more information, please contact:
International Development Research Centre (IDRC), 208, Jor Bagh, New Delhi- 110 003, India
Tel: (91-11) 461 9411-2-3,
Fax: (91-11)462 2707.
Email :[email protected] ; mailto:[email protected]
www.idrc.ca/saro/research/mappa/role%20of%20medicinal%20plants.html
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