![]() |
![]() |
Your
source of information on natural resources in international cooperation - focusing on agriculture, forestry and environment |
Home | Research Service | Publications | About InfoResources | Contact | Français | Español |
Publications > |
InfoResources News No 2 / 03 (August 2003)Special feature Special FeatureEnvironmental services: their advantages and limits for the poor
The authors of “Silver bullet or fool’s gold?” try to
distinguish between the The authors’ arguments show that the ways and means of facilitating access to the new markets for the poor are well known: investing in education and training, supplying them with financial resources and information on market developments, and endowing them with greater formal rights over resource management, control and ownership. A realistic approach to strictly business issues will require the introduction of procedures that comply with current legislation and local strategies, and of funding mechanisms that are as “light” and therefore as cost-effective as possible. Consensual cooperation between the owners and beneficiaries of these services is being implemented, particularly as concerns cost distribution. To exemplify their reasoning the authors cite an interesting case study based on the direct involvement of an international NGO in Guinea’s forest regions. The NGO offers a 5% bonus on the official price for “shaded cocoa”, i.e. cocoa planted beneath a canopy of trees. The aim is to limit the conversion of forest areas to cocoa-growing ones, to produce local wood resources, and to limit the loss of soil fertility. Between 1998–1999, i.e. in just one year, the production of this cocoa doubled (from 650 t). Unfortunately, we do not know how long the subsidies from this NGO will keep flowing. The environmental services market must be innovative. As in past years, however, facilitators must build grass roots capacities and encourage the civil society to participate in official decision-making processes. Also, one must expect the environmental services market to be influenced by existing social and economic conditions, which are still largely inaccessible to the poor and which will not change without voluntary steps being taken by the State, decision-makers and the private sector. Source: Silver bullet or fool’s gold?
A global review of the market for forest environmental services and
their impacts on the poor. N. Landell-Mills and I. T. Porras. London,
IIED, 2002. ISBN 1-899825-92-4. Of current interest: Implementation Interactive Problem Solving Workshops - a method for transforming resource conflicts? Conflicts over dwindling natural resources are becoming increasingly
common. Interactive Problem-Solving Workshops (IPSW) offer politically
influential members of conflicting parties a platform to analyse
conflicts, This working paper focuses primarily on an evaluation of the Nile Basin Dialogue Workshop, 2002. The method is described in more detail in other publications, such as “Transformation of Resource Conflicts” (Bächler, 1999) and “From Resolution to Transformation” (Ropers, 2000). Sources:
A video on water use and the associated conflicts over the dwindling
water resources on Mount Kenya uses this example to demonstrate the
complex nature of sustainable water use. Regional water planning based
on findings derived from years of scientific research, coupled with the
initiation of local water user associations and the introduction of new,
cost-effective water irrigation technologies and new farming methods,
could contribute to improving ecological water management in the long
term. While the content is highly context- and situation-specific and
not really designed to address the associated problems in any depth,
this interesting video can be used also in other regions of the world to
raise Source: Solving Water conflicts in the
Mount Kenya Region. Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) and
Food and Agriculture
These lessons learnt may be of importance for rangeland regions also Source: Community-Based Grassland
Management in Western China -
Persons or institutions interested in the application can contact Fritz Häni or Christoph Studer for more details. Sources: Contact: Of current interest: Policy The Convention on Biological Diversity and its complex implementation The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is an ambitious undertaking, one of the first international inter-sectoral agreements since Rio 1992. It is based on three “pillars”: biodiversity conservation, the sustainable management of biodiversity components and an equitable sharing of its benefits. However, in the South, in which most biological diversity is found, the term is often only relevant to international funds involved in resource conservation. Its application is rendered difficult by the complex relations between the economy and conservation issues, and an unequal balance of strength between the different players. The book “Governing Global Biodiversity” contributes political analyses as well as useful descriptions of the mechanisms that have evolved within the CBD. The system of “prior informed consent” applicable to biotechnological deals, for example, is based on a concept from the world of medicine. This stipulates that the patient (targeted by new products) must be informed beforehand by his physician (the industry) of the possible risks of treatment (product launch). Being relatively complex, this compilation will above all be of interest to decision-makers, members of international organisations and students of political and environmental studies. Source: Governing Global Biodiversity -
The evolution and implementation of the Convention on Biological
Diversity. P.G. Le Prestre (ed.). Burlington, Ashgate Publ., 2002. 428
p. ISBN 0-7546-1744-0 Research, development and conservation specialists and political decisionmakers dealt with this issue at an international conference held in Bonn, Germany in May 2003. The conference opened with a round-table discussion, in which the demands of the participants from the South played a major role. They denounced the attitude of the United States and the general lack of ethical standards in international relations. One speaker insisted upon the fact that, “...forestry policies must be included in national poverty reduction strategies (PRSP). A ‘forester’ must be able to present his Finance Ministry with bundled, comprehensible data likely to promote investment in the development of the poor, notably by means of forest conservation and management”. This, unfortunately, is precisely one of the roots of the problem. Reports on relevant experiences often deal with local conditions only, making it difficult to extrapolate from them and explain them in the light of research. This notwithstanding, conservationists are beginning to use more sophisticated arguments and development specialists are less prone to come up with miracle solutions. Instead, they propose pluridisciplinary processes to be implemented with local communities and other concerned parties. Experts tend to take a more socially-oriented approach and show greater respect for local knowledge. Conference Announcement: www.cifor.cgiar.org/scripts/livelihoodconference.asp Summary: Of current interest: Research Maize research in the interest of farmers
Source: Does a multi-stakeholder approach lead to sustainable development? Experiences from southern Africa. Marianne Bänziger. Powerpoint presentation given at the ZIL/SFIAR Conference in Zurich on 6 June 2003. www.sfiar.ch/rioplus11_presentations.htm “Plant Journal” recently published a two-part article on this subject which is becoming increasingly topical, particularly for developing countries. The first part of the article provides an informative overview of the countries in which genetically modified (GM) crops are grown, and the extent to which such crops are grown. It also lists the dominant GM crops and discusses legislations regulating the release of GM crops around the world. One particularly interesting aspect examined in the article are the different methods of risk assessment applied in different countries: The U.S.A. favour a product- based form of risk assessment, while Europe bases its assessment on the production process as well as the product. The second part of the article discusses risks and their measurability. The authors are of the opinion that risk assessment should involve scientific methods and that the reference point should always be traditional plant breeding. Based on scientific experiments they conclude that in many cases, the impacts identified for GM crops are similar to the impacts of new cultivars derived by means of traditional breeding. The authors see a certain degree of risk in cross-variety gene transfer. Theoretically there is the possibility that genes with antibiotic resistance could be transferred to harmful pathogens. The study therefore advises against the use of such genes. Sources: EventsForests, source of life Information: In recent decades, more and more plant varieties have been introduced
- An international conference on invasive plants is to be held in Fort Lauderdale (Florida) from 3 to 7 November for scientists and practitioners. Conference topics and themes include: biological weed control, restoring plant communities, ecological impact of invasive plants on native ecosystems, economic evaluation, the benefits of mathematical models, and the role of genetics in the spread of invasive plants. Source: http://esa.org/ipinams-emapi7/
|
![]() |
© 2009 InfoResources, Länggasse 85, 3052 Zollikofen, Switzerland, Tel. +41 (0)31 910 21 91, Fax +41 (0)31 910 21 54 Design & Webmaster: ![]() InfoResources is financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) Legal Notice |