14 SPECIALNEWS AND FEATURES NOTES

definitive conclusion, he said, but preliminary Environment Programme (UNEP), this results are promising. issue is more important than the Kyoto “Non-Wood Forest Products (NWFPs) Could bees be modern-day sentinels like Protocol because it is at the heart of consist of goods of biological origin the canaries once used as warning signals of sustainability of the Earth. other than wood, derived from forests, toxic gases in coal mines? President Hifikepunye Pohamba said other wooded land and trees outside Assessing environmental health using efforts are being made in Namibia to forests.” bees as “terrestrial bioindicators“ is a fairly ensure that indigenous communities can «Les produits forestiers non ligneux new undertaking, said Jamie Ellis, Assistant share in the benefits of the exploitation of sont des biens d’origine biologique Professor of Entomology at the Honey Bee indigenous plants such as devil’s claw autres que le bois, dérivés des forêts, Research and Extension Laboratory, (Harpagophytum procumbens) and hoodia des autres terres boisées, et des arbres University of Florida in Gainesville. “We all from the plant family Apocynaceae. hors forêts.» believe it can be done, but translating the The Convention on Biological Diversity «Productos forestales no madereros results into real-world solutions or answers (CBD) Secretariat has stated that species son los bienes de origen biológico may be a little premature.” Still, similar work are disappearing 50 to 100 more than they distintos de la madera derivados de los with insects to gauge water quality has long would have done naturally. An estimated bosques, de otras tierras boscosas y de been successful. (Source: New York Times, 34 000 plants face extinction. About 45 los árboles fuera de los bosques.» 28 June 2010.) percent of the forests, home to most of the (FAO’s working definition) world’s known terrestrial biodiversity, have disappeared and, while there are some regrowths, the world’s total forests are shrinking at an alarming rate, particularly in the tropical regions. BIOMONITORING: The World Health Organization said that % BEES HELP MONITOR 80 percent of the world’s population AIR QUALITY depends on health care provided by AT GERMAN AIRPORTS medicinal plants and the associated of indigenous Airports in Germany have come up with an communities forms up to 70 percent of the unusual approach to monitoring air quality. basis of modern pharmaceuticals. Düsseldorf International Airport and six other The Namibian Minister of Environment airports are using bees as “biodetectives”, / and Tourism Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah their honey regularly tested for toxins. % BENEFIT-SHARING said that 90 percent of medicinal plants are “Air quality at and around the airport is OR BIOPIRACY? found in developing countries on the lands excellent,” said Peter Nengelken, the airport’s of the indigenous communities. A further community liaison. The first batch of this Africa considers equitable access aspect to the loss of biodiversity, said year’s harvested honey from some 200 000 to genetic resources Nandi-Ndaitwah, is the loss of cultural bees was tested in early June, he said, and Namibia is hosting a continental conference diversity because culture is tied to indicated that toxins were far below official in preparation for the finalization of an resource-dependent ways of life, adding limits, consistent with results since 2006 international regime on access and benefit- that “lack of secure rights to sustainable when the airport began working with bees. sharing of the world’s biodiversity and livelihoods is rendering many African Beekeepers from the local neighbourhood genetic resources later in the year in communities extinct”. club keep the bees. The honey, “Düsseldorf Nagoya, Japan. This week, environmental Lucy Mulenkei of the Indigenous Natural”, is bottled and given away as gifts. ministers from 38 African states and three Information Network said there is a strong Biomonitoring, or the use of living European countries – Denmark, Germany need to accord indigenous communities organisms to test environmental health, does and Norway – are in Windhoek to finalize full and effective participation within the not replace traditional monitoring, said Martin Africa’s position before the negotiations convention of the biodiversity process to Bunkowski, an environmental engineer for continue in Japan later in the year. ensure that their rights and concerns are the Association of German Airports. But “it’s a African leaders have said that without fully taken into account in the ongoing very clear message for the public because it is effective and wide-ranging benefit-sharing negotiations – and beyond. (Source: easy to understand,” he added. to drive sustainable use, the cost of www.newera.com.na, 9 March 2010.) Volker Liebig, a chemist for Orga Lab, who conservation may simply be too high for analyses honey samples twice a year for many poor rural communities, which in Denmark to help Africa fight biopiracy Düsseldorf and six other German airports, Africa are the real custodians of Environment Minister Karen Ellemann was said results showed the absence of biodiversity. the opening speaker on Monday for an substances that the laboratory tested for, The consequences for biodiversity, said international ministerial conference on such as certain hydrocarbons and heavy Namibia’s Ministry of Environment and biopiracy in Windhoek, Namibia, aimed at metals, and the honey “was comparable to Tourism, will be dire because there will be stopping companies from obtaining genetic honey produced in areas without any no incentive and justification for poor resources from countries without providing industrial activity”. A much larger data people to conserve it. In fact, added Dr reciprocal economic benefits. Together with sampling over more time is needed for a Bakary Kante of the United Nations the country’s president, Ellemann hopes the

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Danish cosponsored conference will assist said Ahmed Djoghlaf, the UN’s Executive Iniciativa andino-amazónica Africa in obtaining some of the significant Secretary to the CBD. de prevención de la biopiratería profits from its many genetic resources But the draft remains highly controversial, La Iniciativa andino-amazónica de often used by Western companies. and participants have been forced to arrange prevención de la piratería, tiene como Much of the material companies obtain a further week-long meeting to take place in objetivo principal prevenir el uso ilegal de is used to develop products such as Canada in July to prepare the draft for recursos genéticos y conocimientos cosmetics, medicines and genetically October’s meeting in Nagoya. tradicionales y fortalecer las capacidades modified organisms (GMOs). Biopiracy is Agreeing a protocol is one of the three nacionales y regionales para enfrentar, a common in Africa, however, where large objectives of the CBD. The goal is to ensure través de la colaboración e interacción entre international companies typically exploit that benefits arising from the use of instituciones, la biopiratería. Esto incluye la the countries’ resources. genetic resources from plants, animals or implementación efectiva de políticas y According to the Environment Ministry, micro-organisms are shared in a fair and normas en materia de acceso a recursos some companies have even gone so far as equitable way with local communities or genéticos y protección de conocimientos to take out patents on the development of countries that provide them. tradicionales. substances that have already been used for Krystyna Swiderska, a senior researcher Recursos como el ayahuasca, la maca o several hundred years in traditional at the International Institute for la quinua, y los conocimientos tradicionales medicines in developing countries. One Environment and Development in the asociados a ellos han pasado a formar notable example was chemical company United Kingdom, told SciDev.Net that “the parte de invenciones protegidas W.R. Grace’s attempted patent on products real negotiations on a draft protocol only legalmente por patentes u otros derechos from the Indian neem tree (Azadirachta started on Thursday and I was not entirely de propiedad intelectual, sin un indica). surprised to hear that the negotiations reconocimiento de su origen. El término de “It’s high time that we stop the broke down on Friday evening, given the biopiratería se refiere a la apropiación worldwide exploitation of natural genes,” very divergent positions between parties”. indebida o ilegal de recursos genéticos, said Ellemann. “Developing countries’ “The industrialized countries want easy semillas y conocimientos tradicionales de populations must also be a part of Western access to genetic resources in other los pueblos indígenas. companies’ profits on creams, medicines countries,” she said. “If they have their way, Desde el año 2004, la «Iniciativa» viene or agricultural crops, where the products the protocol will at most require trabajando en la creación de redes y en la were developed from those countries’ compliance with existing legislation in the búsqueda de sinergias entre las acciones genetic resources.” developing countries. On the other hand emprendidas por los países andino- “Fairtrade would benefit both sides the biodiversity-rich developing countries amazónicos destinadas a garantizar que el because it would be an incentive for want to assert national sovereignty over acceso a sus recursos genéticos y developing countries to protect their rich biological resources, and to ensure that the conocimientos tradicionales sean natural resources, while the companies protocol binds industrialized countries to utilizados con su consentimiento y would be allowed to retain access to those sharing any benefits.” participación. En el año 2007 se inició una resources,” she said. (Source: The Industrialized countries also want the segunda fase con la finalidad de Copenhagen Post Online, 9 March 2010.) protocol to focus only on genetic resources, profundizar en el fortalecimiento de las while developing countries want to ensure actuaciones de las instituciones públicas y Tensions remain over biological access that derivatives and traditional knowledge privadas nacionales frente a potenciales protocol are included, added Swiderska. “And casos de biopiratería. After nine years of meetings about industrialized nations want compliance international rules on providing equitable with the protocol to be enforced through PARA MÁS INFORMACIÓN, DIRIGIRSE A: resources, a major step was reached at the individual contracts for example between Manuel Ricardo Ruiz-Muller, Co-director end of March with agreement on a draft text drug companies and governments while del Programa de Asuntos Internacionales that is intended to form the basis of a developing nations want to include [legal] y Biodiversidad, Sociedad Peruana de Derecho protocol on access and benefit-sharing. measures for compliance with the protocol Ambiental (SPDA), Prolongación Arenales At the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working itself,” she said. (Source: SciDev.Net, No. 437, Lima 27, Perú. Fax: +511-422-4365; Group on Access and Benefit-sharing of the 2 April 2010.) correo electrónico: [email protected]; Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), www.biopirateria.org/spa/proyecto.php which met in Cali, Colombia from 22 to 28 March, representatives from 193 countries agreed to use the draft as the basis of a COMPANIES FUND protocol to be submitted to the Tenth PROJECTS TO Conference of the Parties to the CBD, % PRESERVE AMAZON which will be held in October in Nagoya, RAIN FOREST Japan. The UN hailed the meeting as a great Deep in the Amazon, in a village accessible step forward in the quest to use the world’s only by boat, river dwellers for generations biodiversity fairly. “Cali has entered history have survived on fish, sparse crops and as the birthplace of the draft Nagoya nuts from the forest. Now they have a new Protocol on access and benefit-sharing,” resource: debit cards.

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Families in Boa Frente receive USD29 a distributor now pays USD7 for a 5-gallon can Congo, the Democratic Republic of the month to spend in a town upriver. The village – up from USD3 – because quality has Congo, the Central African Republic, Gabon also has a new brick walkway, rainwater improved. and Equatorial Guinea. Only the forested cisterns and a new school with solar panels “The forest has riches,” village leader terrain in the is larger. and Internet access. In exchange, residents Aderbal de Oliveira said, thwacking dry Unlike the Amazon rain forest, the agree to protect the forest surrounding their leaves with his machete to uncover fallen ecosystems are still intact and functioning, plots instead of clearing more trees for nuts. “We must be its guardians.” (Source: as indicated by the presence of elephants, farming or fuel. The windfall comes courtesy latimes.com, 21 February 2010.) great apes and other large animals; the of Marriott International Inc., the USD12- Amazon has long since lost its terrestrial billion hotel chain. It is part of a complex – megafauna. Studies cited in the report note and controversial – plan to save the world’s that the Congo Basin hosts exceptional rain forests with the help of big business. species diversity and is among the world’s Rules for Reducing Emissions from richest areas in vertebrate and plant and Forest Degradation – or species. REDD – are being designed under the The area is also home to more than auspices of the United Nations as part of a 90 million people, most of whom subsist by global effort to cut greenhouse gas harvesting forest products or through emissions. Around the world, dozens of small-scale slash-and-burn shifting REDD projects are under way. So far, these agriculture – a practice that uses the forest REDD projects are voluntary, often funded by for expansion. firms that want to burnish their green Deforestation of the dense tropical forest credentials. But eventually these “avoided is estimated in the report at a relatively low deforestation” efforts could be included in CONGO BASIN average rate of 0.17 percent. However, mandatory carbon cap-and-trade systems, % FORESTS AT A “CRITICAL forests represent a major source of such as one already in place in Europe. TURNING POINT” economic revenue, in both formal and But nowhere has the idea been embraced informal sectors, and the easing of the civil more keenly than in Brazil, home to Deforestation has remained relatively low war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 27 percent of the world’s tropical rain forests in the Congo Basin, the world’s second has brought economic opportunities. and 18 REDD projects, including the one in largest tropical forest expanse, but is likely Accompanying these opportunities are Boa Frente. Although 98 percent of the to increase as the region looks towards great environmental risks, as forest surrounding state of Amazonas remains economic development, a new report management takes place against a forested, ranchers, farmers, loggers and warns. background of widespread impoverishment miners are rapidly moving in. The state The forests of the Congo Basin: state of – and the population is expected to double calculates that it could lose a third of its trees the forest 2008, released in late 2009, in the next 20 years. by 2050. states that the Congo Basin forest is at a “With 73 percent of people living below The first project is in the Juma Reserve, “critical turning point”. the poverty line, the development needs are located 125 miles (201.17 km) south of the “Because there’s been very little huge,” says the lead editor of the report, state capital, Manaus. It is home to 380 development in the Congo Basin, forests Carlos de Wasseige of the International families in 43 villages, including Boa Frente. have been protected by default,” says Cooperation Centre of Agricultural In exchange for their bolsa floresta – or forest Robert Nasi, Center for International Research for Development (CIRAD), Head allowance – villagers also attend two-day Forestry Research (CIFOR) scientist and of the Central African Forest Observatory workshops on global warming. Their promise co-editor of the report. “It is the one area (FORAF) coordination unit in the not to expand their plots is enforced: the land with a low rate of deforestation. But it’s Democratic Republic of the Congo. is mapped and the forest monitored by also an area with weak government, lots of Balancing economic development with satellite. If a family reneges, its debit card is land development, lots of resource sustainable forest practices and cancelled. development and lots of people looking for conservation is a major challenge facing Forest dwellers are also trained in land and resources.” the region. Accepting the “sustainable yet sustainable livelihoods, including harvesting A key objective of the report is to provide multiple use of forest resources” is an seeds, berries, rubber and other products regional decision-makers with up-to-date important step to winning support for needed by researchers and industry. information to assist with strategic planning. intervention strategies, de Wasseige says. So far, 14 villagers have been trained. In The new trend of making payments to While the complex problems are local, the coming months, 70 more will learn to stakeholders for the environmental the issues remain global because of the gather seeds from dozens of species, services that forests provide may be effects that increased deforestation and including varieties used in medicines and essential to balance development and forest degradation could have on climate cosmetics. conservation, the report notes, but change. “The whole world should be Downriver, in the village of Fleixal, eight challenges remain immense in the face of involved in searching for solutions that families occupy thatched-roof shacks shaded weak governance and infrastructure. improve the livelihoods of Central African by 200-foot (61-m) Brazil nut trees. Villagers The vast forest ecosystems of the Congo people while preserving forests,” de attended workshops on how to build wire- Basin cover some 160 million ha across six Wasseige says. (Source: Thinking beyond mesh, plastic-covered nut dryers. A nations: Cameroon, the Republic of the the canopy (CIFOR), 20 April 2010.)

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FOREST FOOTPRINT traditional community values and JEWELLER CREATES %DISCLOSURE ANNUAL communal ownership of more than 21 000 %RINGS EMBEDDED WITH REVIEW ha of pine and oak forest to run a successful LIVE PLANTS business that benefits the entire community. Forest Footprint Disclosure (FFD) is a There is no private property, and rather The ring collection from jeweller Hafsteinn special project of the Global Canopy than establishing a business to maximize Juliusson would not quite qualify as Foundation. Initiated in 2008, the project is profits, the people of Ixtlán – and in other ecofriendly, but it does come across as a designed to improve corporate Zapotec communities of Mexico with great way to spread the green message. understanding of a “forest footprint” similar forest-based enterprises – focus on Rings in the jeweller/designer’s collection generated by the use of forest risk job creation, reducing emigration to cities come with a stainless steel base, but have commodities: soy, palm oil, timber, cattle and enhancing the overall well-being of the the biggest jewel of them all: nature products and biofuels. community, Bray told participants at the embedded at the top. FFD designed a disclosure request asking Smallholder and Community Forestry These rings have Icelandic moss plants as about company policy on sustainable supply Conference in Montpellier. their crowning glory, leading the way for chains for these products and sent it out to “Communities will be more important in them to be called “clash of jewellery and 217 international companies in July 2009. the years to come because they can gardening”. The moss, like any other plant, This Annual Review describes the findings of address vital issues that the state and the needs some care. The wearer would have to that disclosure request and provides some market cannot,” Bray, an expert on water them; pruning though, will not be context on the subject. (Source: community forests in Mexico and Central necessary as the moss will not grow very www.amazonia.org.br, 10 February 2010.) America, told IPS. noticeably during the time. If cared for, the The survival of many of the world’s forests moss could last for nearly six months. may well depend on the survival of local However, the innovative green rings do not communities. A quarter of the world’s come cheap; each will cost £485 and we remaining forests are controlled by about hope that there is a way to get that moss one billion local people, says Estebancio growing and thriving again after the six Castro Diaz of the Kuna Nation in Panama, months are over. (Source: GreenPacks, who is Executive Director for the 6 January 2009.) International Alliance of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples of Tropical Forests. “Local control is good for the people and good for NETWORKS EMERGE the forest,” Castro Diaz told participants %AS KEY ACTORS IN attending the conference. COMMUNITY FORESTRY “The forest is a supermarket for us, it is not just about timber,” he said. Community networks have emerged as an For those reasons, more than 90 percent important force in enhancing forest tenure of the forests controlled by the Kuna people security and livelihood benefits for forest- FORESTS MAY DEPEND are still standing. “We need to communicate dependent communities. In many % ON SURVIVAL OF LOCAL that there are broad benefits to the larger countries, such networks have become COMMUNITIES society for local control of forests,” Diaz said. part of the forest tenure reform process. In sharp contrast to the usual nation- They develop at the grassroots level, and After the failures in Copenhagen to agree state or private enterprise overexploitation are proving to be effective agents for on a new climate protection treaty and, of commonly held lands, oceans or other collective action. more recently, at the Doha meetings on resources – characterized as the “tragedy The Federation of Community Forest User trade in endangered species, indigenous of the commons” – local communities can Groups, Nepal (FECOFUN), is one of the forest communities may offer examples of set and enforce rules to maintain their largest of these organizations. It emerged sensible governance for shared resources landscapes, conserve biodiversity and along with the growth of community forestry on a small planet. improve livelihoods for the long term, Bray in Nepal in the 1990s, and today represents Hundreds of poor Mexican Zapotec suggests. more than 14 000 community forest user indigenous farmers have become owners The World Bank, FAO, International Union groups (CFUGs) across the country. of a multimillion-dollar diversified forest for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and others FECOFUN has supported CFUGs by, for industry, offering an important model of a have formed a “Growing Forests Partnership” example, developing and implementing community-based enterprise that supports to find ways to support community-managed management plans, staging rallies, local people and conserves the natural forests, said Chris Buss of IUCN. Not only is running media campaigns and offering environment, says David Barton Bray, a this partnership trying to ensure that legal support and education. Its nationwide professor and associate chair in the indigenous and local people are involved in network and the broad populace it Department of Earth & Environment at their national government’s forestry policy, represents have helped it to challenge Florida International University in Miami. but also to find ways to channel financial power imbalances between the forest The farmers of Ixtlán de Juárez, a forest investment into local forest management be it bureaucracy and local communities. It has community in the Sierra Norte mountains of for timber, Brazil nuts or other uses. (Source: also increased user groups’ sense of central Mexico, utilize their strong Inter Press Service [IPS], 29 March 2010.) security over their forest rights.

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“FECOFUN educated us about national NON-PROFIT FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: forest policies and other legal issues that %ORGANIZATIONS American Botanical Council, PO Box 144345, affect our relationship with the forest,” AND NGOS Austin, TX 78714-4345, of says Hemraj Kafle, a community member America. E-mail: [email protected]ò in Nepal’s Jhapa district. “Its guidance has Amazon Watch www.herbalgram.org/ helped us to reclaim access to diverse Amazon Watch is a non-profit organization forest products.” working to protect the rain forest and the FECOFUN is one of three community rights of in the networks featured in a new book that offers Amazon basin. Founded in 1996, the an in-depth case study analysis of organization collaborates with indigenous NGOs WORKING TO PROTECT community forestry across the globe. and environmental organizations, FORESTS: MAPPING THE LANDSCAPE Forests for people: community rights and campaigning for , corporate forest tenure reform is the culmination of a accountability and the preservation of the A new report published by the United three-year study in ten countries in three Amazon’s ecological habitat. Its work is Kingdom Environmental Funders regions of the world – Africa, Asia and Latin rooted in the belief that indigenous Network maps out the civil society America. The research project, led and knowledge, cultures and traditional organizations working to address coordinated by CIFOR (Center for practices contribute in a vital way to the deforestation. International Forestry Research), examined sustainable and equitable stewardship of The report, Saving the rainforests: civil 30 sites of differing size and the Earth. society mapping, profiles 65 characteristics. Amazon Watch hopes to broaden public environmental and social justice Anne Larson, CIFOR associate and co- awareness and support of indigenous organizations, enabling readers to editor of Forests for people, notes that peoples and their stewardship of the identify gaps and overlaps in the networks such as FECOFUN and the Amazon rain forest, particularly in light of landscape of groups working to reduce Association of Forest Communities of new challenges such as climate change. global forest loss. The report specifically Petén (ACOFOP) in Guatemala have aims to inform grant-makers providing become key actors in the forest policy FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: funds to civil society organizations. process. “These organizations have been Amazon Watch, 221 Pine St, 4th Floor, “The mapping was inspired by the important not only for the defence of San Francisco, CA 94104, United States observation that good philanthropy is community rights but also for opening of America. Fax: 415-487-9601; similar to acupuncture – philanthropic communication between communities and e-mail: [email protected]; grants may be small in size compared the state forestry administration on a new www.amazonwatch.org with the body politic, but when inserted level,” she says. in the right place they can have In recent years, governments in American Botanical Council, enormous impact,” said Harriet Williams, developing countries have transferred at United States of America lead author of the report. “The least 200 million ha of forests to Founded in 1988, the American Botanical methodology that we’re developing is communities living in and around them. Council (ABC) is a leading international applicable to any complex environmental Now, more than a quarter of forests in non-profit organization addressing issue.” developing countries are owned by or research and educational issues The report – together with a map, assigned to communities. (Source: regarding herbs and medicinal plants. published separately – classifies NGOs into Thinking beyond the canopy, 26 March ABC’s members include academic nine “storylines” to categorize 2010.) researchers and educators; libraries; organizational culture: “Knowledge health professionals and medical builders”; “Peoples’ heroes”; “Institution institutions; government agencies; watchers”; “Finance pioneers”; “Standard members of the herb, dietary setters”; “Parks, rangers”; “Brand supplement, cosmetic and attackers”; “Critical friends”; and pharmaceutical industries; journalists; “Consumer guides”. For example, the consumers; and others in nearly report distinguishes between groups that 70 countries. often work with business (“Critical The organization publishes the friends”) to those that expose quarterly journal HerbalGram, the environmental transgressors among monthly e-publication HerbalEGram, corporations (“Brand attackers”). HerbClips (summaries of scientific and The map evaluates the stance of clinical publications), reference books various organizations on issues including and other educational materials. ABC carbon offsets, REDD (Reducing Emissions also hosts HerbMedPro, a powerful from Deforestation and Forest herbal database, covering scientific Degradation), and certification schemes and clinical publications on more than for forest products. (Source: Amazon 220 herbs and coproduces the “Herbal News, 1 April 2010.) insights” segment for Healing quest, a television series on PBS.

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Keystone, India wisdom that says biodiversity conservation Keystone is based in Kotagiri, a small town was not compatible with development in the Nilgiris, which is part of the Western goals. Ghats of India. It works with indigenous “The results are surprising. Most people communities in the Nilgiris Biosphere might expect that if you restrict resources, Reserve, declared a hotspot under the Man people on average will be worse off. In and the Biosphere Programme of UNESCO. contrast, the results indicate that the net It is an extremely biodiversity-rich area, impact of ecosystem protection was to both in terms of the flora and fauna, as well alleviate poverty,” he said. as the different communities that coexist The findings come as seven countries; here. Keystone has already completed 15 Norway, Germany, the United States of years of work in the Nilgiris. America, the United Kingdom, Australia, Keystone’s mission is “to enhance the Japan and France commit to funding THE RELATIONSHIP quality of life and the environment with projects that will protect rain forests. At a % BETWEEN INDIGENOUS indigenous communities using meeting in Oslo this week, they reached an PEOPLE AND FORESTS ecodevelopment approaches”. Some of the interim agreement to help get REDD thematic areas that it is involved in are: projects (Reducing Emissions from More than 1.6 billion people around the conservation, livelihoods, environmental Deforestation and Forest Degradation) up world depend to varying degrees on forests governance, culture and people, and and running while they wait for an for their livelihoods – not just for food but organic market development. This has international agreement on tackling also for fuel, for livestock grazing areas meant working with traditional agriculture, climate change. A new body to manage the and for medicine. At least 350 million NTFPs, drinking-water and micro- funds will be set up by the end of the year. people live inside or close to dense forests, irrigation, and processing and value Professor Ferraro admitted that the largely dependent on these areas for addition of agricultural and forest produce, countries analysed in his study, Costa Rica subsistence and income, while about 60 etc. It also means coming up with and Thailand, may not be representative of million indigenous people are almost innovative approaches for mountain all developing nations, having experienced wholly dependent on forests. systems that are simple but relevant. both rapid economic growth within Indigenous forest people use their land in Dialogue with the forest department and relatively stable political systems. He also many different ways – for fishing, hunting, other government agencies is integral in said the study did not look at the reasons shifting agriculture, the gathering of wild this effort. behind the fall in poverty. However, he forest products and other activities. For Keystone also works through various believes the expanding ecotourism sectors them, the forest is the very basis of survival networks and holds the current presidency in both countries may have played a and its resources have to be harvested in a of the NTFP Exchange Programme. significant part. sustainable manner. But when traditional “The question we need to answer now is lifestyles change and, for example, industrial FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: whether poverty is being reduced through logging or mining takes place, overuse of Ms Snehlata Nath, c/o Keystone Foundation, ecosystem protection per se or because resources can lead to conflict. Groves Hill Road, PB 35, Kotagiri 643217, tourists come to see the biological diversity Although indigenous people around the Tamil Nadu, India. or because the protection maintains the world often have very different sets of beliefs E-mail: [email protected]; supply of other valuable ecosystem and traditions, a special bond with the land is www.nilgiriswaterportal.in; services,” he said. “Or is poverty reduced a common factor. For example, the semi- www.keystone-foundation.org through donor investments in development nomadic Matses people of the Peruvian activities and enhanced roads and public Amazon call the rain forest titá, meaning services (e.g. electricity and water mother. Titá provides the Matses with PROTECTING RAIN infrastructure) that often accompany the everything they need – as long as they follow %FORESTS SHOWN establishment of a protected area?” her rules, including never taking more from TO REDUCE POVERTY The Rainforest Foundation said that the the forest than is needed and treating all findings indicated that protected areas things belonging to it with respect. Introduction of measures to protect rain could have a positive, rather than the As with the Matses, indigenous peoples’ forests and ecosystems in Costa Rica and usually negative impact on poverty ideas of territory are not only concerned Thailand over the past 40 years has alleviation in poor countries in and around with controlling a geographic area or using improved the livelihoods of the local areas for biodiversity. “However, they have forest resources: territory also embodies population. to be treated with caution, as we do not fundamental aspects of culture and Researchers from Georgia State know from the study whether specific ‘pro- geography. University (United States of America) community’ measures were in place in the Indigenous forest people see themselves looked at the long-term impacts for poor cases studied, as these tend to be the as inseparably linked to the forest and people living near parks and reserves set exception rather than the rule, and could everything in it – trees, plants, rivers, up before 1985 and found the net impact of distort the findings of this study,” said animals and mountains. It is impossible, the protection was to alleviate poverty. United Kingdom Executive Director Simon according to community beliefs, to Study author Professor Paul Ferraro said Counsell. (Source: The Ecologist, 28 May separate any single object or living thing in the findings went against the conventional 2010.) the forest – such as a particular plant,

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residence in, and use of, forest areas. In the compounds the human body does not Democratic Republic of the Congo, absorb, the syrup is a low-calorie, low- indigenous groups and other forest- glycemic sweetener. According to a study in dependent communities are participating Clinical Nutrition, “daily intake of yacón in the mapping of their traditional syrup produced a significant decrease in territories. Such maps are likely to be a body weight, waist circumference and body vital tool in the future as indigenous people mass index”. around the world struggle to gain formal Luo han guo (Siraitia grosvenorii ) has recognition of their rights. (Source: Vital been cultivated for centuries in southwest Forest Graphics, 2009.) China. In 1995, Procter & Gamble patented a process to isolate the fruit’s sweet mogrosides compounds, creating a powder THE STICKY TRUTH: that is 250–300 times sweeter than sugar. %WEIGHING THE SUGAR Today, several companies sell ALTERNATIVES commercially prepared luo han guo products, some combined with herbs or animal or mineral – from its symbolic Americans love sweets. The sweetness we sugar alcohols. position in the cosmology of the people. crave can come from refined sugar, Stevia (Asteraceae family) is an extremely These ideas are expressed through chemically derived artificial sweeteners sweet herb native to Paraguay, where it has mythology, religious practices and systems (such as aspartame), or a host of “natural” been used for over 1 500 years. In Japan, it is of social regulation, including management products that are less processed, so they more common than sugar. The herb is of the environment and systems of contain nutrients that are otherwise 200–300 times sweeter than sugar, but has production and exchange. removed in the refining process. Natural no calories or carbohydrates and a low Because of their special relationship sweeteners cause less environmental glycemic index. The leaves also contain fibre, with the land, many indigenous people damage than sugar-cane plantations, and vitamins A and C and minerals. But there are cannot comprehend the idea that forests many offer more complex flavours than many concerns about its safety. Studies and land can be bought and sold. However, plain old sugar. suggest stevia may interfere with this does not mean that they do not have a Organic honey that has not been metabolism and absorption of clear notion of their rights. The use of pasteurized, clarified or filtered is the most carbohydrates, lead to male reproductive certain areas or resources may be granted ecofriendly sweetener. It is raw, problems and cause genetic mutations. The based on a number of criteria, such as unprocessed, minimally packaged and, if herb is not approved for use in the European belonging to a particular group, tribe or you are lucky, local. Union or Canada and was banned as a clan. Land use can also be based on Maple and sorghum syrups are also sweetener in the United States of America reciprocal agreements with neighbouring minimally processed; the sap or juice is until December 2008, when the Food and groups or individuals. boiled to remove the water, concentrating Drug Administration approved certain sweet In many countries, the state is the the sugars and minerals. compounds extracted from its leaves. official owner of most forest areas, even Palm sugar is a traditional sweetener in Agave syrup, a sweetener developed in though some of the land may have been Southeast Asia and India. The collected the last decade, comes from the sap of the inhabited for generations by large numbers flower nectars are kettle-boiled into thick Agave tequilana plant. The syrup (also of people. In some cases, the rights of such syrup, then dried and ground to produce a called “nectar”) is marketed as a healthy people are recognized. In the Philippines, grainy, crumbly sugar that is organic, alternative to sugar: raw, 100 percent for example, land issues in such areas are unbleached, contains amino acids, B governed by the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights vitamins and minerals, and has a low Act. Unfortunately such regulations are glycemic index. Palms grow in diverse often contravened by powerful local agro-ecosystems that support wildlife interests. habitats, restore damaged soils and require Moreover, traditional tenure systems are little water. Per acre (0.40 ha), coconut not always recognized by governments, palms produce 50–75 percent more sugar leaving indigenous forest people without than sugar-cane plantations, and use less formal rights to their territories. This than one-fifth of the nutrients for that violates the United Nations Declaration on production. Indigenous Peoples’ Rights (UNDIPR) as The yacón (Smallanthus sonchifolius) is well as ILO Convention 169 – both of which related to the sunflower and native to the place a clear obligation on states legally to Andes. Its crisp, sweet tuberous roots have recognize, demarcate and effectively long been eaten by the Incas of Peru and protect indigenous peoples’ territories and Bolivia (now the Plurinational State of). The natural resources. syrup is made by juicing the tubers, then One strategy that is increasingly being concentrating the liquid by boiling. used by forest people in order to defend Because the yacón’s sweetness comes their rights is to provide proof of their chiefly from fructo-oligosaccharides, Asteracae family

NON-WOOD NEWS No. 21 October 2010 SPECIALNEWS AND FEATURES NOTES 21

natural, with a low glycemic index. But, crops. This might result from the group of first one is compulsory, and several of the according to Dr Ingrid Kohlstadt, a fellow of toxic biomolecules possessing insecticidal others should be met for a species to be the American College of Nutrition, it is just properties present in annona leaves. included in this list: high-fructose syrup “with great Similarly, some tree species (Alangium • the food was/is/could be used for marketing”. That is because converting the salvifolium, Annona squamosa and Aegle human consumption; plant’s juicy sap into syrupy nectar is a marmelos) have been found to have effects • may have great potential for complicated process involving heat and on the growth and development of crops contributing to food security and enzymes. To keep the syrup from because of the growth-promoting nutrition; fermenting, the natural enzymes are substances present in their leaf extract. • mainly local and traditional removed. When chemically processed, the The annona leaf extract, containing crops/animals (including insects, sap becomes hydrolysed high-fructose annonacin and annonidines, could enhance amphibians and reptiles) whose inulin syrup devoid of nutrients. (Source: the physiological activity and growth of distribution, biology, cultivation and Yvona Fast, The Environmental Magazine, cultivated crops or plants. uses are poorly documented; XXI: 2. March/April 2010.) The Albizzia amara leaf extract has • receive little attention from research, desirable attributes on plant growth and farmers, policy- and decision-makers, yield. Being an ecofriendly and cost- technology providers and consumers; TREE PRODUCTS: effective alternative, a 2-percent spray of • have weak or no formal seed/animal % A RESOURCE BASE young leaf extract of Albizzia amara could germplasm supply systems; FOR SUSTAINABLE be used in the absence of GA3 for rice • farmed, reared, gathered or caught on AGRICULTURE production. a small scale; Hence, many herbs and trees, • the species must be grown/raised in Ancient India was blessed with a rich particularly wild species, possess varied the country/region where it is knowledge of herbal remedies for humans alkaloids and compounds that can be underutilized. Species that are called Ayurveda, as well as for plants, extracted and used for sustainable imported do not count as underutilized called Vrikshayurveda. agriculture. in that region; According to the World Health (Contributed by: C. Harisudan, C. Sivaraj, • information on country/region of origin Organization, many people die every year M. Velmurugan and P. Hemalatha, should be given. because of pesticide poisoning and Directorate of Extension Education, Tamil These criteria, only intended to be used agrochemicals. The immediate effect has Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore- to report on the two nutrition indicators for also appeared in the environment and 641 003, India. biodiversity, should not replace the broad ecosystems. These pesticides, besides E-mail: [email protected]) criteria that have been defined for creating atmospheric pollution and categorizing underutilized species as such consequent health hazards, are also toxic (www.underutilized-species.org/spotlight/ to non-target organisms such as animals, UNDERUTILIZED FOODS what_are_underutilized_species.asp). The predators and pollinators. Hence, the use AND NUTRITIONAL integration of these specific criteria and the of herbal insecticides in agriculture has % INDICATORS FOR reference list of underutilized foods assumed a greater importance as a result BIODIVERSITY accounting for food biodiversity will be of the growing awareness of the harmful uploaded on the Web sites of the Global environmental effects of chemical The development of nutritional indicators Facilitation Unit for Underutilized Species pesticides. for biodiversity is a collaborative at www.underutilized-species.org/species/ Trees and plants, particularly wild international process, led by FAO, together about_species.asp and of INFOODS at species, have been an essential part of with Bioversity International and other www.fao.org/infoods/biodiversity/ human life. Plant products are naturally partners. The task is part of the cross- index_en.stm/ (Source: various, including evolved ingredients of the biosphere; they cutting initiative on biodiversity for food and Crops for the Future, Special Issue, March not only have an edge over synthetic alien nutrition. It is expected that these 2010. p molecules, but also preference and indicators will become an advocacy tool to acceptance from an environmental safety promote awareness of the importance of viewpoint and an ecofriendly approach. The food biodiversity – including wild, use of legumes as green manure, because indigenous and traditional foods – while of its high nutrient content and faster contributing to nutrition security and the decomposition rate, is very well known. conservation and sustainable use of food Leaf extracts from neem, pungam and biodiversity. bael trees have been found to have When reporting on these indicators, With courage you will dare to take insecticidal properties on pests such as difficulties were encountered in defining risks, have the strength to be Earias vitella, Helicoverpa armigera and underutilized foods. Therefore, FAO and compassionate and the wisdom to be Spodoptera litura, either by directly killing Crops for the Future have developed humble. Courage is the foundation of them or interfering with their specific criteria in order to establish the integrity. metamorphosis. reference list for underutilized foods Keshavan Nair The application of annona tree leaf accounting for the nutritional indicators for extract has checked pest incidence in biodiversity. Of the following criteria, the

NON-WOOD NEWS No. 21 October 2010