Forest
Conference: Balancing development and conservation
|
| Participants at the panel
discussion (from left to right) Claude Martin
(WWF), Sunita Narain (CSE), Ranga Yogeshwar
(moderator), Achim Steiner (IUCN), El Hadji
Sene (FAO) and Juan Mayr (Colombia). Picture
by Eric Lichtenscheidt. |
|
|
|
|
More than 300 forest experts from international organizations,
civil society, industry, government and the media from
over 40 countries met in May for CIFOR’s "International
Conference on Rural Livelihoods, Forests and Biodiversity"
held in Bonn.
Opened by Erich Stather, State Secretary of the Federal
Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ),
the conference analyzed the role of forest research in
reducing poverty and protecting biodiversity. Mr. Stather
said the German Government placed considerable emphasis
on helping to ensure tropical forests remain a vital source
of both livelihoods and biodiversity, with support for
the Bonn conference being just one example of that commitment.
In his keynote speech, Ian Johnson, CGIAR Chairman and
World Bank Vice President for Environmentally and Socially
Sustainable Development, said the Bonn conference would
ultimately contribute to the well-being of hundreds of
millions of people who depend in varying degrees on forest
resources by guiding "a new generation of public
policies that can better reconcile the needs of people
with forest conservation." He highlighted the need
to move beyond the ideological divide separating those
supporting forest production and those supporting forest
protection.
These sentiments were echoed in the closing address by
David Kaimowitz, Director General, CIFOR, who noted the
simple rationale for organizing the conference: "People
working on poverty tend not to appreciate biological limits
and global biodiversity concerns. Likewise, most biodiversity
specialists do not fully understand or appreciate livelihood
issues," Kaimowitz said.
A panel discussion chaired by leading German TV environmental
presenter, Ranga Yogeshwar was a highlight of the conference.
Panelists included Achim Steiner of World Conservation
Union (IUCN), Sunita Narain of India’s Centre for
Science and the Environment, Claude Martin of WWF, Juan
Mayr, former Environment Minister of Colombia, and El
Hadji Sene, Director of Forest Resources, FAO.
The conference was a successful model of cooperation among
CGIAR Centers and key CGIAR members such as Germany. CIFOR
and World Agroforestry Centre worked closely with InWEnt,
the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and
Development (BMZ), and the German Agency for Technical
Cooperation (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische
Zusammenarbeit (GTZ)) to produce one of the leading forestry
events for 2003.
Other featured speakers at the conference included Henri
Djombo, the Republic of Congo’s Minister of Forestry,
Ulrich Popp, Director, InWEnt (Capacity Building International-Germany),
Pekka Patosaari, Head of the U.N. Forum on Forests, Phrang
Roy, Assistant President, IFAD, Dennis Garrity, Director
General, World Agroforestry Centre, and Alberto Chinchilla
who represented grassroots forestry associations in Latin
America.
Forest researchers presented 50 technical papers, and
the technical sessions focused on key themes such as forests
as safety nets; non-timber forest products and rural livelihoods;
the contribution of plantations and agroforestry to rural
livelihoods; improving livelihoods and protecting biodiversity;
forest certification and rural livelihoods; international
dimensions of forestry and rural livelihoods; and community
forestry and rural livelihoods.
The outcomes of the conference will be presented to the
United Nations Forum on Forests to be held in 2004. In
wrap-up remarks David Kaimowitz noted that the conference
was successful in bringing together disparate views on
forest use and conservation, and helped develop a pro-poor
policy agenda for sustainable management of the world’s
dwindling forest resources.
For more information, visit www.cifor.org
|
|
